with a $5000 bankroll, in vegas, what is the best spread and game to play? i recall ken uston stating that a min. $5000 would be needed to bet red chips with a 1:5 spread. This seems too low. any ideas?
i usually go with $1000 and play red, sometimes green after winning. but with $5000, not sure what to do? when u hit a run of wins at $5 to $25 a hand, u wish u would have bet a lot more than minimums, u know?
> with a $5000 bankroll, in vegas, what is the
> best spread and game to play? i recall ken
> uston stating that a min. $5000 would be
> needed to bet red chips with a 1:5 spread.
> This seems too low. any ideas?
> i usually go with $1000 and play red,
> sometimes green after winning. but with
> $5000, not sure what to do? when u hit a run
> of wins at $5 to $25 a hand, u wish u would
> have bet a lot more than minimums, u know?
It really depends on what level of risk you are willing to expose your bankroll to. Myself I tend to be fairly Risk Averse. How often do you play? How many hours a year? With 5000 I know I would probably spread 5 - 50 in DD, the risk over 400 hours with a 1000 unit bank is approaching 0, if you are willing to accept a 5% RoR over 400 hours you could probably go with 10 dollar units... Read BJA chap 8 Risk of Ruin and determine the Risk you are willing to take.
In case you don't have BJA, here are a couple examples of what you'd find. . . hopefully one will address your situation. More info is ultimately needed to answer your question. Are you comfortable backcounting? Do you play SD, DD, or shoe? etc.
But for a good wholesome splash of ice water to the face, let's assume some of the very best conditions one could hope for in Vegas: 5.5/6, DAS, LS, H17, backcounted, 1-12 spread. Chapter 10 of BJA gives us the relevant stats for this game(based on Hi-Lo): Win/100 = 4.08 SD/100 = 36.04. Bringing this information to Richard Reid's mind-numbingly useful website (www.bjmath.com > TOC > Reference/Reference tables, etc. > General Risk of Ruin Calculation), we get the following answers:
Case 1: Green chip units
Risk of Ruin: 28.3%
Case 2: Red chip units
ROR: .2%
Case 3: Unit size = $15
ROR: 12.2%
Risk of $15 increments sticking out like a sore thumb: Pretty Damn High
Considering these figures represent pretty ideal gaming conditions, you definitely shouldn't use greens as a base unit. My understanding is that you should size bets such that ROR = 13.5%, less if necessary, though never more. I'm guessing in real Vegas you'll want to use $10 units, switch to $5s if things get ugly, or to greens if things(cards willing) get pretty.
hope this helps,
Myoo
BTW, You can get the SD/100 and Win/100 for the game conditions and count system of your choice at bjstats.com using the "summary" table"
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