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Blackjack Progressive Betting: An Overview

Progressive Betting is a betting system designed to capitalize on something which is manifested on almost any given night at the Blackjack table - Streaks. Using a Progressive Betting system will win you some big dollars when the play is streaky.

There are many different betting systems used by Blackjack players throughout the world. Some are very simple and easy to implement. Others are very complex. What they all attempt to do is give the player more paths to a win and less paths to a loss. They are generally designed to trade off a number of paths to small losses for a few paths to large gains.

WARNING: There is a tradeoff. When play is not streaky, (when you are winning one hand and losing the next all night long) Progressive Betting will backfire on you. You will lose more money than if you were betting a flat amount every time.

Progressive Betting - Different Types

There are many different types of betting systems. For the purpose of this mini-course, I will not go into detail on how each works, or discuss their relative advantages and disadvantages. I will, however, point out the two different types of systems:
  1. Increase as You Lose Systems

    With this type of betting system you increase the amount of your bet each time you lose a hand. Example: Bet one unit, lose, bet two units, lose, bet three units win, bet one unit. In this progression, the player increases his bet after ever loss and returns to his original bet after a win.

  2. Increase as You Win Systems

    With this type of betting system, you increase your bet after every win. Example: Bet one unit, win, bet two units, win, bet three units, win, bet four units, lose, bet one unit. In this progression, the player increases his bet after every win and returns to his original bet after a loss.
Each system has advantages and disadvantages. The "Increase as You Lose Systems" have the advantage that after you have won a hand, you will have recouped all your losses and will be up one betting unit. The disadvantage of this system is if you encounter a long losing streak, your bet will escalate to impossible levels. Consider for instance a system where you start off with a $10 bet and double it every time you lose - Bet $10, lose, bet $20, lose, bet $40, lose. . . A losing streak of 7 or 8 hands (which is not uncommon by any means) can result in losses in the thousands starting off with just a $10 bet. In my opinion, this is an unacceptable risk given the potential payoff of one unit ($10 in the above example). These systems have a tremendously high risk of ruin.

The "Increase as You Win Systems" have the following advantages. First, you are only increasing your bet when you win. You are essentially playing with the Casino's money at that point and not putting your hard earned cash at risk. Instead, you only raise your bet when you have actually taken money from the Casino with a prior winning hand. Second, at the end of a long winning streak, you will have won a great deal of money. Consider the following progression: Bet $10, win, Bet $20, win, Bet $30, win, Bet $40, win, bet $50, lose. This progression will have won $60 in total after only 4 winning hands and one loss. A flat line betting of $10 per hand would have only won $50. For even longer streaks, the potential winnings are incredible. The disadvantage of this type of system is that during periods where you are trading wins and losses with the dealer, you will lose more money than if you were flat betting each time.

Remember to practice before you play.
Practice at our Play For Fun Flash Black Jack table with no need to download.

Ralated Articles: Quick Reference i BlackJack Card | Shuffle Tracking | Card Counting | Basic Playing Strategy | Martingale System | Labouchere | Progressive Betting

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