Blackjack Strategy
Buried deep in the strategy list of online blackjack enthusiasts is this little trick you often see at the roulette table…possibly a spot where it makes more sense to practice.
Called many things from the “go for broke” method to the “bank it all” method, it’s designed for people who want to take a huge chance at exponentially increasing the size of their bankroll in a small period of time. This entails betting huge, and if you happen to catch a huge positive wave of cards, you end up with the huge chip stack. If you get to that point, however, you make a complete U-turn and reduce your wagers to meager, calculated amounts over the long hall.
In the event that you lose your “go for broke” wager, you still follow the same principle of reducing your bet, then playing smart and conservatively until you slowly but steadily build up your bankroll back to that “go for broke” level, and then do it all over again. Of course, you have to be confident enough in your skill to even entertain the idea of implementing this strategy, if for no other reason than to be prepared (and be honest with yourself) that your “go for broke” play isn’t going to hit most of the time. So you’ll be knocked down and climbing back to the starting point more often that leaping far ahead of the pack.
I’ll offer one benefit and one negative to this strategy. The benefit is that you’re not playing against the clock – in fact, you can’t if you want this to work for you in the end. Understanding that this is an up-and-down strategy that will rely on you to factor in how long you plan to play before you sit down, allowing yourself that time to regenerate your bankroll if you fall behind is crucial to your success here. I like the ability to utilize patience, something that doesn’t necessarily enter the picture in blackjack as much as it does in poker.
The negative in my opinion is risk/return. As I alluded to earlier, you can play the basic principles of this strategy in almost every casino game. It’s not necessarily exclusive to blackjack – at least the initial major bet. So if you’re determined to “go for broke” no matter what, why not put your money up on something that’s likely to yield a higher return than a 1:1 or 3:2 blackjack hand? Sure the odds are more in your favor than most roulette bets. But I’d just as soon make a major bet in poker where I have the opportunity to claim an equal bet from three to four people than just fight the dealer for a single return on my money in blackjack.
