I think it’s fair to say that most card counters begin as part-time players and stay that way; only a very few players go on to play professionally and rely on blackjack as their primary source of income. Naturally, proper money management is important to both types of players, but the "non-pro" can be more aggressive because losing a big portion of their bankroll has less of an impact on day-to-day living.

Very few of us like taking big risks, otherwise, we’d be talking about roulette or baccarat here. But defined risk is something we can all live with or we’d be at a savings and loan Website, not a "gambling" site. I put the word gambling in quotes because where we are now, and what we’re doing here, isn’t really gambling, per se, but is more the acceptance of a clearly defined risk, which – in the long run – is no gamble at all, if certain criteria are met.

You will make money at card counting if firstly, you’re playing a winning game (it’s beatable in the first place and you’re utilizing a method that has been proven to succeed), and secondly, you make enough bets of the proper size that will allow your edge over the game to be realized. It’s really quite simple: with even an edge of, say, 10%, if you were to bet half of your bankroll on each hand, you’re highly favored to lose whatever amount you’re willing to risk. No matter how well you do in the beginning, if your bets are too big in relation to your total bankroll, the result will usually be financial disaster; it’s just a matter of time (this is known as risk-of-ruin).

A lot has been written about money management in blackjack, so I don’t have any original research to share, but I too was once a part-time counter and like most, made a lot of mistakes. The difference is that I learned from those mistakes – at least enough to advance to the "professional" level - and that’s what I want to share with you today. Of course, if you already have a lot of money, how it’s managed isn’t critical, but then why play blackjack? Sure, it’s fun, but only for a little while; it eventually becomes somewhat boring and repetitive. It’s really only good for making $$$; beyond that, the thrill has left the game, at least for me.

Perhaps you’re new to the game and it’s still exciting to win. If that’s the case, I’m sure it’s also depressing when you lose, and nothing but time and self-confidence will remove those emotions. If you’re like most part-time players, your bankroll is whatever spare $$$ you have at the moment, which is fine, but it’s not a plan. Playing blackjack with winning in mind is a business, whether you want it to be or not. Playing blackjack like 99% of the gamblers out there is a form of recreation, which is also fine – after all, without the "ploppies", we can’t exist – because the casinos would stop offering the game if everyone was a winning player.

What I’m suggesting here is that...

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