First time BlackJack player, won "big", how is my strategy? ^_^;

[AnonymousPlayer]

First off let me tell you my first experiance playing blackjack, online with real money. Before this it was just for giggles, between friends with chips and the like. If you don't want to hear about my first time you can skip down to the next paragraph where I talk about my strategy. OK, I started off small, with a minimum bet of a dollar. I won, lost, won, lost, and wasn't really getting anywhere, neither signifigantly winning or loosing. I decided to throw caution to the wind and bet a 50 on one hand....I won! I stood up, took a breather, and after a while came back and started playing again. Ok, it was just 50, I mean, not that big of a deal I guess, so, I bet 100! xD, and I won again! I kept stopping and going, betting bigger and bigger without loosing a single hand! Needless to say....I was hooked! I made about $2500 that night...and I had made up my mind...that I was doing this again.

It has been about oh, two or three weeks since my first time, and I have continued playing blackjack. So far I have made about $8,000 all together. So, here is my strategy, I think its pretty simple. Every night I start out with one "high stakes" bet of about $100-$300. If I win, I walk away, if I loose, I double my bet. If I loose again? I double THAT bet. Sooner or later I'm going to win a hand, and when I do, I'm going to walk away with everything I came with, and the winnings I would have gotten if I had won the first bet.

Its sorta like this.....
Bet $200, loose $200, Bet $400, loose $400, Bet $800, win $800.

I just invested $1400 on three hands of blackjack, lost twice, and walked away with $1600. It sounds so simple, I don't get why anyone else looses at blackjack...as long as you have enough capital to hold out for that ONE single win. I very rarely make it past three hands without winning, and often win my first hand right off the bat. You guys are probably veterans at this so if I'm making some big mistake that I'm not seeing I'm sure you will be able to point it out. My boyfriend absolutely HATES the idea of me me gambling and has a HUGE phobia about it. He often keeps me from gambling for a night, and I listen to make him happy. However, this "blackjack" seems to be an easy game, is there something I'm missing? This is easy money!

[Wuddle]

....If you lose all three hands you're $1400 down... That's how people lose

[hyperman]

Martin Gale

this guy is every shrewd gamblers friend

[AnonymousPlayer]

Hah! So it has a name! I figured it was so simple that someone would have thought of it before but, I didn't think it would be so popular.

I researched "Martingale" and took a look at a lot of tests that have been done. I also took note that even if I went into debt, the maximum amount of hands I would be allowed to consecutivly loose is TEN before I hit their bet cap per hand. Coincidently, ten is the exact number that they use in one of the tests I was researching. Now, loosing ten hands in a row isn't something I do every night, or, well, its not something I have done ever and I used to play blackjack with my grandmother all the time. >.< .....but, if I DID loose 10 hands in a row TONIGHT that would put me at around $90,000 in debt.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm going to keep doing it, christ, I just won $400 last night...but I'm going to look into this...good long and hard.

[jjh]

This system of betting, especially if starting out with $100 is a recipe for disaster.

This strategy will not work as sooner or later, you'll lose 10 hands in a row, whether you like it or not. Is risking potentially $90,000 to win $100 or $200 worth it?

There are a few threads on this forum about the Martingale system and they all show that it will end in you going bust...

[croup]

JJH is right. For gods sake stop. You will get burned baaaad.

I deal blackjack for an average of 4 hours a night. 10 hands in a row to win or lose is nothing. I had a chap last year who was playing two boxes and counted his streaks. The best was 23 wins in a row and the worst 46 losses STRAIGHT! Calculate how much you would have lost if you were playing for that streak.....This was just in one session of 1hr40 or so. Luckily he is not short of a bob or two and was more concerned that he was missing emmerdale while seeing just how far the losing streak could go (and taking a really masochistic enjoyment in pushing it as far as possible).

The Martingale system will clear you out. You cannot compete with the casinos bankroll. Your pockets arent deep enough. And if you do happen to be Bill Gates, the house limits will still stop you from winning in the long run. There are still legends in the casino industry of the GREAT British aristocratic families ruined or who are still to this day suffering the effects of their ancestors gambling higher and higher in a martingalesque way when the first casinos sprang up in London.

You will get screwed im afraid. Dont get greedy. If you have had a good run, wipe your forehead, say "phew!" and stop now.