Online BJ : 1 session vs. multiple

I'm a newbee to online BJ. I'm using Bovada. My goal is to try to win $10 - $20 a day. I have been following strict rules (lose $30; quit and come back tomorrow).

So far I have played for 17 days and have won an average of $19 a day. Some sessions are short, 50-60 hands. Others longer.

I know in the long run the house edge cannot be beat. But here is my question: Is playing a 500 hand single session the same as playing 5 100 hand sessions? Does playing more, shorter sessions give you a better chance to get in and out with a net gain?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks

Hey Pipe, and welcome to the forums.

Yes, playing one 500 hand session is the exact same as playing five 100 hand separate sessions. Think of it in terms of a bankroll graph with dollars on the left and number of hands on the bottom. As the number of hands increases your bankroll will change in regards to the house edge and standard deviations (the plus or minus confidence intervals that come with any expected value). So playing short sessions literally means nothing to your graph, as it's not measured in time... it's measured by number of hands. If you play 100 hands tonight, then stop playing for 1 month, your graph is just on pause until you play more hands.

I'm glad you're having fun, and that you're having some good luck, but I hope you know that if you continue along your path you will inevitably go broke. No betting system or money management system will EVER change the house edge, which is the real culprit to where your money will be lost.

Quote: PipeTabak123

I'm a newbee to online BJ. I'm using Bovada. My goal is to try to win $10 - $20 a day. I have been following strict rules (lose $30; quit and come back tomorrow).

So far I have played for 17 days and have won an average of $19 a day. Some sessions are short, 50-60 hands. Others longer.

I know in the long run the house edge cannot be beat. But here is my question: Is playing a 500 hand single session the same as playing 5 100 hand sessions? Does playing more, shorter sessions give you a better chance to get in and out with a net gain?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks

Hi PT. Welcome.

As Romes says, the cards and the universe don't know that you have left the table. Nothing resets, and (ignoring card counting) when you return to the table, you are just continuing to play.

Beware, though. If you do the sort of target betting where you quit for the day if you are $20 up or $30 down, it can make it that you are winning more sessions than you are losing. Winning more sessions than losing feels good and can make you cocky. It means nothing good, if you you are having a few big losing sessions. Your walking away just puts artificial pauses into your playing time. While your play is paused, so is your losing, which is good :o)

Be absolutely advised that betting systems, money management systems, hit and run, exit when ahead and target betting and using stop losses does nothing at all to improve your chances of having a winning year or a winning lifetime. They are nothing but fun ways to lose your money. I've had stupidly good luck while trying to debunk target betting and progressive betting systems. You and I are more likely to have stupidly bad luck in doing so.

The only way you can be confident of steadily making $20 per day is to put at real risk some really massive bankrolls. If you have such massive bankroll, then the $20 a day is hardly likely to be important to you.

Oh! And never leave yourself unable to cover the next potential split or double opportunity.

Romes, Wow, I did not think I would get a response so fast. I guess I kinda new session length did not matter. Somehow I think if you had incredible discipline you could come out ahead. I'm sure for many net losing sessions the player was up at some point during the session. But of course I saw one thread where the guy claimed he lost 30 hands in a row from the get go...whoa.. Anyway, thanks for your good advice.

Once, thanks for the good advice.

Quote: PipeTabak123

Romes, Wow, I did not think I would get a response so fast. I guess I kinda new session length did not matter. Somehow I think if you had incredible discipline you could come out ahead. I'm sure for many net losing sessions the player was up at some point during the session. But of course I saw one thread where the guy claimed he lost 30 hands in a row from the get go...whoa.. Anyway, thanks for your good advice.

That 30 Loss claim was contentious, but I can tell you that I had 14 consecutive losses interspersed with pushes, at a time when I was trying to Marty from £498 to target of £500. I had doubled up from an initial £1 to £128 before I toned down my wager size significantly, but the losses just kept going. It was gut wrenching. I was only trying to make £2 to hit a psychological target, for goodness sake. This was a £1 min rng game.

I still do sometime marty when I'm close to such a target, eg £970 trying to round up to £1000 and it's not unusual to pass through about £250 before succeeding. It's dumb, but tbh it's also an adrenalin rush.

You might want to check out my blog where I chart some successes. But come back next time those charts are updated and you'll see how far south things can go when you get cocky :o)

With Incredible discipline you can engineer a situation where you have more winning sessions than losing sessions. But Jeez, those losing sessions will smash you over the head and rob you of all your profit to date and all your starting bankroll. Plenty of charts on this forum to show you the progress of how disciplined players can crash and burn.

Play for fun. Embrace the variance. Don't expect any monetary gain and never get cocky. Been there, done that.*

Quote: PipeTabak123

Somehow I think if you had incredible discipline you could come out ahead.

Only in one situation: Where it was your intention to take a large bankroll to the casino with the intention of making an insignificant profit and then WALKING AWAY FOREVER. To do that would be a doddle.

Probability of success approximately = Initial Bankroll/(Target profit+Initial Bankroll)

So, you could have almost a 99% probability of turning $1000 into £1010 . . . . ONCE!!!!

But you'd have to be prepared to put all of that bankroll at risk!!!!!

*ps. still a lifetime winner though.

Quote: PipeTabak123

I'm a newbee to online BJ. I'm using Bovada. My goal is to try to win $10 - $20 a day. I have been following strict rules (lose $30; quit and come back tomorrow).

So far I have played for 17 days and have won an average of $19 a day. Some sessions are short, 50-60 hands. Others longer.

I know in the long run the house edge cannot be beat. But here is my question: Is playing a 500 hand single session the same as playing 5 100 hand sessions? Does playing more, shorter sessions give you a better chance to get in and out with a net gain?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks

how much are you betting per hand?

How long have you had your account?

Are you using bonuses?
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You're assuming it's random?

Quote: AxelWolf

how much are you betting per hand?

How long have you had your account?

Are you using bonuses?
-----------------------------------------------------------

You're assuming it's random?

I assume Axel is alluding to the possibility that some online casinos don't play with the utmost integrity: E.g. being generous with house edge until the player ramps up his bet, then gaffing the games a bit or a lot. I doubt it could either be easily ruled out or easily proved. The live dealer games are at least very visible and open to scrutiny.

Note to OP. Taking bonuses from online casinos is generally a mugs game.

Ensure you can easily cash-out before overcommitting deposited funds. You might get a shock.

Quote: OnceDear

E.g. being generous with house edge until the player ramps up his bet, then gaffing the games a bit or a lot. .

This.