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Up to this point we have focused on giving you the basics of the Counting Edge blackjack system. These basic elements are very important and cannot be ignored. Take a few days to go back over what you have learned so far and if you have not begun to memorize basic strategy or practice card counting please do so now.
There are many blackjack systems on the market. The Counting Edge system is different from many blackjack systems you will find because it goes beyond the basic, mechanical actions you need to master in order to become a successful blackjack player. What makes our system truly different is that it focuses you on building your blackjack bankroll steadily over time so that you can play at higher limits and increase your profits. This is the heart and soul of the system. We call it small ball blackjack.
What is Small Ball Blackjack?
Small ball blackjack is a method of playing that is designed to increase your winning sessions and build your bankroll by taking small profits on a consistent basis. These profits accumulate until your bankroll is completely built of your profits. As your bankroll grows you can then begin to increase your profits because you will be playing in bigger blackjack games.
A mistake that many blackjack players make is expecting to win large amounts of money and refusing to take small profits. They want a win they can feel. Winning a small amount of money does not appeal to the gambling nature of most blackjack players. Unfortunately, this can lead to greed. Greed will keep you in a blackjack session too long and cause you to walk away with a loss.
Small ball blackjack can prevent you from succumbing to greed and make you a consistent winner.
It is One Long Game
The first step to mastering small ball blackjack is to start thinking of your blackjack playing as one long game instead of many sessions. It is possible to have a losing session. You will have them, to be sure. What you must do is realize that one losing session does not affect your overall success at the blackjack table. Look at the big picture. Instead of thinking about how much you won or lost in today’s game, you need to be thinking about how much you have won or lost since you started playing. Are you ahead or behind?
When you learn to think this way about blackjack you will not be upset over one losing session. Getting upset over a losing session can cause you to go “on tilt” and lose your composure. When this happens your decisions are affected in a negative way.
Setting Win/Loss Limits
In small ball blackjack the goal is to set strict win/ loss limits for each session. Doing this will maximize your chances of making a profit, and it will minimize your losses when you have a losing session.
To begin, your win/loss limits are going to be 20% of your bankroll. Our system advises you to begin with a bankroll of $250 for play at a $5 minimum table. Therefore, 20% of your bankroll is $50. What this means is that if you win $50 in a blackjack session, that session is over and you leave the table. Likewise, if you lose $50 in a session you must quit and return again for a new session.
The purpose of a win limit is to help you consistently walk away with a profit. How many times have you heard a gambler say, “I should have quit while I was ahead!” Well, a win limit helps you to do that. It establishes a specific amount that you will walk away with in profit. When you get up and leave the blackjack table after reaching your win limit you have had a winning session. Nothing can take away that profit.
A loss limit serves the purpose of protecting your bankroll from a devastating loss. To win at blackjack you must have the money to play. If you lose your entire bankroll in one session you are out of the game until you build it back up again. Setting a loss limit guarantees that you cannot lose your entire bankroll in one blackjack session.
Smart Players Know How to Walk Away
A smart blackjack player can walk away with a small profit or a small loss. They know that in the long run the results of today’s session do not matter because blackjack is one long game. This is how a professional blackjack player acts. A professional blackjack player treats blackjack like a business.
A degenerate gambler, on the other hand, shows no restraint. They are not thinking like a business person. They are too caught up in the action at the table. All they care about is making the next bet, and they will keep betting until they lose everything because no amount of winnings is ever big enough.
If you want to be a professional blackjack player you need to make a decision right now. Do you have enough self-discipline to walk away from a table with a profit? Do you have enough self-discipline to walk away from a table with a small loss instead of losing your entire bankroll? If you cannot answer yes to these questions then maybe a career in blackjack is not for you. That’s okay. The world can always use another fast food worker making minimum wage and struggling to get by.
The world of big money blackjack is out there waiting for you. The ability to make a living playing a game you love, eating free meals at the casino and getting comps for free hotel rooms, and the chance to make a lot of money is like a gold ring right before your eyes. Do you have what it takes to reach out and grab it?
Building your Bankroll with Small Ball Blackjack
As we have stated previously, your starting bankroll requirement is 50x the minimum bet at the blackjack table. We suggest you begin at a $5 table with a starting bankroll of $250. Now, the goal of small ball blackjack is to build your bankroll so that you can begin to play in bigger blackjack games for more money. We’re about to show you the beauty of small ball blackjack!
Whenever you reach your win limit of $50, you walk away from the blackjack table with a profit and add that profit to your bankroll. So, let’s look at what happens after just five winning sessions with small ball blackjack. After five winning sessions you will have added a total of $250 to your bankroll. Now you have $500 in betting capital. Guess what this means? You now have a bankroll that is big enough to play blackjack at a $10 table (50 x $10 = $500). But wait, it gets even better. With a larger bankroll you now have a larger win limit. 20% of $500 = $100. So, now your win goal for each session is $100. Instead of making $50 per session you can now make $100 after just five winning sessions with the Counting Edge system.
Let’s go even farther. You win another five sessions with your win limit of $100 and add the $500 profit to your bankroll. Now you have a bankroll of $1000 and can play at a $20 table (50 x $20 = $1000). We are sure you have done the math already. When you get to this stage you now have a win limit of $200 but you are still just risking 20% of your bankroll on a blackjack session.
Can you see the beauty of small ball blackjack? In just ten winning blackjack sessions using our system you can go from playing at a $5 table and making $50 per session to playing at a $20 table and making $200 per session. All of this is possible because you were willing to set a win/loss limit and stick to it. Who wouldn’t like a job making $200 per day for a couple hours of work?
Minimizing Losses with Small Ball Blackjack
If every blackjack session was a winning one, life would be grand. Unfortunately, that is not the reality in any game of chance. There is always a chance that when you sit down to play the game you will lose.
It is a good thing to be confident at the blackjack table, but believing that you will never have a losing session is unrealistic. It is also a dangerous attitude to have because you can become cocky and play too loose. You must accept that sometimes you will have a losing session. The trick is to minimize your losses so that you can return for another session.
Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose. You can make all the right decisions, keep the count perfectly, and make the right bets but still come up short. If everyone won all of the time there wouldn’t be any casinos. All of them would be out of business.
Small ball blackjack helps you to manage your losses with a strict loss limit for each session. This loss limit of 20% guarantees that you can take ten losing hands in a row before you must end the session. Losing ten hands in a row at the blackjack table is very rare but it does happen. If it does, our system will make sure you lose a minimum amount of your bankroll.
Never Chase your Losses
A common mistake many blackjack players and gamblers make is that they chase their losses in an effort to get even. This is a losing strategy and you must learn how to control the urge to recoup your losses in a session. If you reach your loss limit, the session is over no questions asked. Take a walk, have something to eat, but do not remain at the table believing that you will turn things around and get even.
ALL casinos games are designed to favor the house. If you remain at the table long enough the casino will win each time. The casino knows this and they count on it. The casino is counting on the gambling urge to take over and keep you at the table.
To win consistently at blackjack you must be smarter than the casino. This means setting your win/loss limits and sticking to them no matter what.
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Hello, I have been reading the articles on the site, but I’m in doubt about the required size bankroll if you need 50x the value of the minimum bet the table, that restrict limit losses by 20% if this percentage is easily achieved due to the variations game?
Hello, Guilherme! Thanks for your question and for being one of our regular readers.
You are correct. A 20% loss limit can be achieved quickly. That’s exactly the point. If you reach that limit within minutes of sitting down, the table is not a favorable one at the moment. Take a break. Watch for a while, get the count, and enter the game when the count gets high.
Small ball blackjack is designed to keep you in the game long enough to make a profit. At a $5 table your minimum buy-in (bankroll) should be $250–50x$5. The reason we say limit your losses to 20% is to prevent you from taking a long run of losses as soon as you sit down. 20% of $250 is $50. That means you could lose up to 10 straight hands in a row when you first sit down before having to get up and leave. Losing ten hands in a row is rare, but it does happen. So does losing 15. The whole point of a loss limit is to get you separated from a cold deck. If you lose ten hands in a row right away, find another table.
Remember, making money in blackjack is a slow and steady process. It isn’t a lottery ticket. Minimize your losses and bet big when the deck is hot.
Good luck and keep winning!
Do you adjust BR and Win/Loss limit linearly, or only when you reach the next betting limit? For example, if you won $50, would your next BR be $300 with win/loss limits of $360/$240?
Do you adjust your win/loss limit based on each +/- of %20, or keep it at $250 +/- 20% until the next stage is reached of a $500 BR? For example, if you won $50 would your next parameters be BR=$300, with limits of $360/$240
Do you increase your win/loss limit % every time you add/lose bankroll, or only when you are able to progress to a higher limit? For example, if you added 50$ to your 250$ bankroll, would you then set your limits to 300+/-(300*.2)? Or do you pocket the 50$, continue playing with a $250 BR and wait until you read the $500 mark?
First off, the team at Counting Edge congratulates you for posting some of the best questions we have seen on the site. The subject of bankroll and money management is so important to success at blackjack and not enough players focus on it. It is obvious that you grasp how important money management is at blackjack!
In adjusting the bankroll and win/loss limits, our preference is to do it in even increments of $50 or $100 as you suggest. It needs to be as linear as possible to give you the biggest chance of success. At the same time, making adjustments on the fly can be difficult and disrupt someone’s game concentration. Some players may find it better to finish a session completely and make adjustments before heading back to the blackjack tables.
We actually think the last thing you mentioned–pocketing a profit and then making the adjustments for your next session–is best. But, if you are running hot you can always use this little method to get through the session and still maximize profits: play with the house’s money. Let’s say you really hit a hot table and win $100 quickly. Pocket the $100 and start over with a $250 bankroll. Theoretically, your loss limit has now increased because only $150 of the bankroll money on the table is yours. The other hundred is “the house’s money.” Sometimes this mentality can be a big benefit.
At the end of the day the important thing is to have a strategy in place and follow it. If your strategy is to adjust bankroll and win/loss limits on the fly, we think that is great. Just be sure you can maintain the concentration and focus needed to pull it off.
Thanks for a great question!
I have a question. This is something I have thought about for awhile but have t been able to figure out if it would work. So let’s say I have 50,000$ . I say that amount because I found that is the highest max bet in a Vegas casino. My question is if I went to that casino with the idea to win 300$ a day. I would start by betting 300$ to double my money. If I win then I leave and come back the next day and try again. If I won 300$ a day for 365 days that would be 109,500$ for the year. If I went to play and lost the first hand then I would need to double my bet for the second hand to win back my lost money and then win 300$. I determined I could play a total of 166 hands to get to 50000$. Is it stupid to play the odds that I wouldn’t lose 166 hands in a row?
Hey, Josh! Thanks for being a Counting Edge reader and for taking time to discuss your plan. At first glance it looks like a good plan, doesn’t it? I mean, there is no way you’re going to lose 166 hands in a row! We see that you multipled $300 x 166 for a total of $49,800, so your math is correct insofar as it relates to your $50,000 bankroll. There is only one small problem. It won’t take losing anywhere near 166 hands in a row to wipe out your $50,000. In fact, it will only take 8. Just 8 losing hands in a row, Josh, and you’ll be $50,000 poorer. If that happens, the drinks are on us because you are going to need to drown your sorrows.
Don’t feel bad. A lot of folks make the same mistake you did when considering this kind of betting strategy. There is actually a name for the strategy. It’s called a Martingale System . In a Martingale the goal is to double up after each loss to stay even. In doing that, any two wins in a row will double your original bet. Here’s the problem. Losing multiple hands in a row requires you to double each loss, not each original bet. In the example you gave, here’s what you would have to do to break even:
Bet 1-$300-Lose
Bet 2-$600-Lose (Now you must double the $300 to win and break even)
Bet 3-$1200-Lose
Bet 4-$2400-Lose (This can’t be happening!)
Bet 5-$4800-Lose
Bet 6-$9600-Lose (Oh, God…)
Bet 7-$19,200-Lose
Uh, oh. Guess what? You don’t have enough money to make the next bet. Game over. Most gamblers will just push it in anyway. I mean, they have to win sooner or later, right? Wrong. We don’t have to tell you that losing eight hands in a row happens in blackjack. Maybe not often, but often enough to wipe you out.
Josh, have you checked out some of the strategies we advocate? Granted, they promote slow and steady growth. But, if you take some time to build up your bankroll by playing in an online casino like the ones we recommend, you can soon be in a position to win the $300 goal each day.
Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables!
I started with 10,000 yen (100 USD) . Thats all I could afford at first. According to your win/loss limits I should be trying for 2,000 yen (20 USD) a session. Which I have done. Only been a few days but I am at 18,000 yen (180 USD). I have won these amounts pretty fast. (I play online,no casinos here) I have a question about sessions. Should I wait a day for next session, or a few hours or so? I have won my first few sessions pretty quickly,usually in 15-20 mins. (20 USD not that hard to do, lol)
Mike,
First of all, congratulations on your success! You have almost doubled your bankroll and that is something to be very happy about. We love hearing success stories from our readers.
You pose a great question. The answer to it really depends on the individual player. Our answer would be to begin a new session anytime that you feel you can give it your complete focus. If you can’t then wait a few hours or a day and come back fresh. As you stated, $20 US might not take a very long time to win and this can be difficult especially if you really just enjoy the game. But think about this: your bankroll is growing. Soon your win limit will be $40 and that will take a little bit longer to achieve. Stick with the plan, Mike, and don’t be tempted to push it. With patience you are headed for some great profits.
You might also want to check out the casinos we recommend, too. As you start to build that bankroll you might want to cash out and start over at a new online casino to take advantage of the bonuses they offer.
Good luck and keep playing!
Thanks for the comments. Unfortunately, I have some bad luck recently. Had a few losing sessions. Went down to 6000 yen(60 USD) but back up to 8000yen (80 USD). Do you recommend the same plan, just trying to get 2000 yen (20 USD) at a time? Next I will try to get to10,000 yen 100 USD and so on til 200. Or change based on Bankroll? also, which online blackjack game do you recommend more Blackjack Surrender or Pro?
Mike,
We’re assuming that you are able to play for $1 USD per hand. If that is the case you can still use our bankroll suggestion of 50X the table minimum as a starting bankroll. If you set a 20% win limit you would end the session after a $10 USD profit. That’s a small amount and it can be frustrating in the early stages but we always recommend to stick with a sound money management/bankroll plan for the best chance of success. As your bankroll grows so will your win limit.
Good luck!
Hi, I have recently gone from being quite profitable to £400 down. It is now-£280 but I was just wondering, what would your advice be on getting back to even? Should I follow this strategy and roughly how long would it take?
Hey, Chris! Thanks for your question and for being a Counting Edge reader.
We are sorry to hear that you have had a bad run of luck at the blackjack tables, but our advice would be to definitely stick to small ball blackjack until the ship is righted again. You need to take small profits to climb out of the hole and resist the urge to increase bets in an effort to get even. That strategy almost never works.
One extra thing we might suggest, however, would be spreading your action between a few different casinos. It may sound strange but sometimes a player can get into a sort of mindset that they cannot win at a certain casino. This, of course, is a mental perception but those perceptions can impact the decisions a player makes at the table. It may be that a change of scenery will give you some fresh perspective and clear your head so that you aren’t dwelling on a losing streak. You might even be able to scoop up some bonuses, too, by checking out some new online casinos! Here you can find 2: https://www.countingedge.com/play-blackjack/
Remember, your biggest enemy at the blackjack table is you. Just be patient, stick with the plan, and very soon you will be back on top where our readers belong. Good luck at the tables!
Right, I’ve had some very bad luck recently and my money is now down a few hundred more. Will it be possible for me to eventually get back on top by being patient and maybe leaving it for the day after a loss of £50? Or should I just give up for good. Thanks.
Chris, Your position is a difficult one and we understand. Prudence mandates that we say this: it is critically important that you do not play with money you cannot afford to lose. It has often been said, “Don’t chase bad money with good money” and this is true. If you try to recoup your losses with money that you need for your other responsibilities, trouble will soon come. Sometimes the best thing to do is just take a break and refresh yourself. That doesn’t mean you have to stop playing. There are plenty of sites where you can play for free and work on your skills while you replenish your bankroll. We definitely don’t advise you to give up and quit. If you still have an adequate bankroll (50X the table minimum) then stick to the patient small ball plan and you will build it back up. It make take some time and the first days are the hardest, but if you are patient and bet with your head instead of betting over it, you will be back on top again.
Back again. I recently staryed back on the Small Ball Blackjack and am up to 500 USD in 3 days.. Lucky i guess. According to your system, I should bet 10 USD a hand and try for 100 USD a session/day? Or could I halve it and do 2 session s at 50 USD a day? Seems easier to accomplish. Just wondering is all. Thanks again
Mike, Wow! Congratulations on your success using small ball blackjack! It always makes us happy to hear from our readers that are doing well. To answer your question, yes, the numbers you provide are correct. We do, however, LOVE your willingness to take a smaller profit of $50 as you build your bankroll. Greed is the biggest enemy of the blackjack player. If more players had your willingness to take smaller profits during any given session, there would be more success stories out there like yours. Great job!!!
Hi there… I just started your system 2 days ago and I’m already up 310 dollars!!! I have a question for you though these casino is a small casino in Northern California and they have maybe 4 tables that offer 21. They have a 5 dollar table and then they jump to up to a 25 table nothing in between. Can you tell me what’s my next play should I jump up to the 25 table? I really enjoy your site!!! Thanks
Hey, Bill!
Stories like yours always put a smile on our face. We love knowing that our strategies help people become better blackjack players and win more money. That is what Counting Edge is all about.
We understand your dilemma. Many casinos, especially the smaller ones, have eliminated intermediate table limits like $10 and $15, but guess what? That is okay because you can easily turn a $5 table into a $10 one. Just keep the system the same and make your minimum bet $10 instead of $5. That would be much wiser than making the jump to $25 before you are ready or have enough bankroll. Remember, the casino wants you to play their game, not yours. Don’t do it. Keep playing the $5 table until you have the bankroll requirements to play $10, which would be $500 (50X the table minimum).
In the meantime, remember that you can always use online casinos to keep your card counting skills sharp. With betting limits as low as $1 per hand, playing online blackjack is a great way to stay in the game and enjoy the thrill while becoming a better card counter without risking a large bankroll. https://www.countingedge.com/play-blackjack/
Keep us updated on your progress and good luck at the tables!
Thank you for the advise I will for sure put into play. I have one other things I would like to hear from you on is the casino that offers the 5 dollar table plays with only one deck and of course everything is down. My question is does a player generally have a slight edge when playing with just one deck. Also the issue of counting becomes a huge issue. Again Ill wait to hear what you think.
Hey, Bill!
This is a great question. Kindly see answer here: https://www.countingedge.com/edge-when-playing-blackjack-with-1-deck/
Back again. Had a few highs and lows last month or so, but finally doing well. I am up to 140,000 yen(1400 USD) I kinda tweaked your idea about the win/loss amounts. Once I hit 100,000yen(1000 USD) according to your system, I should be playing 20 dollar hands and going for 200 USD win sessions? I am doing that, except i broke it down into 2 parts of 100 USD each. Basically each day, try for 200 USD (100 x2) Seems to work better for me. Once I hit 2000 USD (pray, pray) It will jump to 40 USD hands and 400 USD win/loss sessions?
Mike, Let us just say that you are one of our favorite Counting Edge readers. You take the advice we offer, apply discipline, and just look at the results. As they like to say, “Be like Mike!”
The idea of splitting the win goal over two sessions is fantastic! That shows that you have overcome one of the gambler’s worst enemies–greed. When you get greedy, things never work out well. When you stick with the plan like you are doing, great things happen. And yes, by all means go up to the next level when you hit that goal!
Keep us posted and good luck at the tables!
The casino I go to only has computerized blackjack, even though they may have a live “dealer” behind the table, it’s all computer play. Some days the house gets every break in every hand it seems. Are these computer games legit? I won my first five session, but the last one I could never get a decent hand, and neither could the other players. Are they programmed to go on runs like that? Seems really shady.
Hello James! Thank you for posting the question. We can certainly appreciate your concerns over the various forms of electronic blackjack which are now being found in more and more live casinos. There are a few reasons for this. Check out this link for the full reply https://www.countingedge.com/computerized-blackjack-legit/
I have a question about the bankroll. If you start with a bankroll of $250 as you suggest and you lose 20% or $50, now you have $200 left. Do you start the next session with the same goal of win/loss of $50? I only have $200 when I sit down at the next session, the day or whatever. Or do I need to find another $50 from my savings to start the next session?
Debbie, thank you for being a Counting Edge reader and for your question. This is an important question that gets asked from time to time. Bankroll management is one of the most important aspects of blackjack. As you may have read in our discussions of bankroll, we recommend a starting bankroll of 50X the table minimum. In most live casinos, a $5 minimum bet is about the smallest you will find. So, if you were playing in a physical casino the safest move would be to wait until you could once again begin with $250.
If you’re playing online, however, you can find games for $1 per hand. Your $200 would be more than sufficient for one of these games. We would encourage online play if it is available where you live and that you try one of our recommended casinos. Start with $50 and follow the system as you have been doing. We’ve had reports from many of our readers who have done exactly that and built up a large bankroll over time.
One final word on the 50X the table minimum suggestion. The reason for this is that it gives you the chance to take advantage of streaks in which you win many hands in row. If you are playing a progression betting scheme which calls for increases when you win, you need that extra bankroll to be able to double down or split when necessary. As an example, let’s say you were to sit down at a live $5 table with $50. The first hand you receive is 8-8 against a dealer 6. Basic strategy would call for you to split that hand. You do and receive a 3 on each 8. Now, you should double the two hands. You do so and then the dealer turns over a 4, hits the hand with another 10, and you lose to a 20. Your original $5 bet became $10 and then $20, and you lost almost half your bankroll. If you had the bankroll to absorb such a devilish turn of events, your chances of a winning session improve. See some casinos!.
Keep reading and good luck at the tables!
Hello,
I have got a question. Maybe I overlooked something, but…
To use the advantage of card counting I must have some betting spread. So, if i have 1-10 spread and table minimum is 2% of my bankroll, I will have much less possibilities to bet in higher count. Even, if I bet 10 units and loose I will just reach the loss limit (and maybe I will be under it, due to bets placed before). And without spreads card counting is useless. Maybe wonging would be the solution, because I should use flatter spreads with system?
Anyway, thank you for your reply.
Dusan, thanks for being a Counting Edge reader and for posing a very good question. You are indeed correct in stating that you need to have some variation in your betting amounts to take advantage of card counting. The basic premise is to be the minimum or close to it when the deck is cold and increase your bet when the deck becomes favorable. “Wonging” is a technique that was used with massive success by the MIT blackjack team when they took Vegas for millions. For those who don’t know, Wonging is waiting for a deck to become hot before jumping in the game. It can be effective, to be sure, but it also carries some risks. For one, standing around and trying to get a count on a shoe in progress can attract a lot of bad attention. If you are marked as someone who consistently joins a show when the deck is hot, the jig is up. You will be branded as a counter and likely banned from the casino. Secondly, there is no guarantee that the deck will stay hot long enough for you to make a profit. For example, what if you jump in when the shoe is almost empty? The deck may be hot but there may only be enough cards in the shoe to deal three or four hands. Then you will be starting all over and if you get up and leave this will look suspicious at some point. We understand what you are saying about the right spread being dependent upon your total bankroll investment. Even so, we recommend sitting down and keeping your bets at a minimum until the deck gets hot. To achieve the right spread you may need to play a game with a lower minimum bet.
Hello
I have a question.If for example one plays at a live online casino with 250 bankroll 1 session acording to your artcikle for small ball is 50 euros.My qyestion is how many session per day do you recommend??
Hey, Kostas. Thanks for a great question and for being a Counting Edge reader. The simple answer to your question is that you should play as many sessions as you feel comfortable playing within the small ball guidelines. In a live casino we would recommend at least three or four if you can handle it. The thing is, some people only get to make occasional trips to the live casino because they live far away. Those folks probably want to get in as many sessions as they can on each visit. The important thing to remember is to never play when you are mentally or physically fatigued. Being tired will cause you to make poor decisions, and poor decisions cost you money.
We also recommend that players consider online blackjack if they are wanting to play a lot of sessions. Being able to play from the comfort of your home on your own schedule is a huge advantage. You can play for a while, take a dinner break, play again, and just keep pausing and restarting at your convenience. Online blackjack at one of our recommended online casinos is a perfect fit for small ball blackjack. It’s a lot easier to walk away from a winning session when you know you can start again anytime you want. Much harder to do that when you are visiting the live casino for an evening and don’t know when you can return.
We wish you continued success as you apply the Counting Edge principles of small ball blackjack. Good luck at the tables!
thank you for replying so fast you are really helping me out but i have 2 more questions.
1.When i play smallball i play with flat bets or i play with count and spread cause until now i was playing with flat bets and default basic strategy and i really feel its only luck if i win the session or lose
2.If i play with count and spread has any poitn of playing with 8 decks and 55% penetration?
Great questions, Kostas. With small ball blackjack you are trying to take smaller average wins as you build a bankroll. Either method that you mention will work fine, but we prefer a betting spread if you are counting cards. A spread is essential if you want to maximize the potential of counting. In truth, if you are just flat betting there is little point in counting. Now, what you may want to try is reducing your spread when playing small ball. You can opt for a 1-5 unit spread instead of 1-10 units. Look for opportunities when the deck is very favorable, get your money in, and hope for the best. Of course, using a spread can also make you reach your loss limit sooner if things aren’t falling your way.
As for the second part of your question, it is indeed difficult to get an advantage with 8 decks in play and only 55% penetration. That’s very shallow. You should be able to find a six-deck game with 2/3 penetration perhaps, but at any rate look for the best scenario. This might be an appropriate time for another betting strategy like the Up and Pull. Begin with a two unit bet. If you win the first hand, the second bet is 1 unit. Keep adding 1 unit to the bet with each win. What that initial pull back does is keep you from getting over anxious. With this method what you are looking to do is string together some streaks. Hope this helps and good luck at the tables!