Anyway, still doing ok. Playing some low-stakes poker home games amongst friends as the only form of gambling — and seeing as that’s in a game I pretty much beat on a 75% win-session basis I feel pretty confident that’s not gambling.

Oh well — wish me luck, hope not to gamble in March at all — we’ll see how long I hang in there.

3 players at the table, I’m playing 3 boxes — all in front. Two other playes both play a single box — one is behind me on one of the boxes.

Cards come out — I’ve got:

- A/A
- 7/3
- 6/6

Dealer’s upcard is a 6.

Yay — that’s excellent news! I split the aces — and in the casino I’m playing that means ONE card extra only — no blackjacks. I get a 7 (18) and a 9 (20). Not awesome — but good enough against a six.

Second box is an obvious double down. I get a ten. 20.

Last box isn’t too tricky — i split my sixes. First card: 5. I double down on 11 and get a 3. 14.  Second split six gets a 4. I double down on ten and get a 10.  20.

At this point, there’s a good deal of money on the table due to all the double downs and the splits.

Dealer goes:

6-10-5.

I’ve seen this happen before (it still hurts but oh well), but that seemed to be the start of a cold run for me. I went on to lose more than I wanted to that night — and have decided to take the second week of January off from playing blackjack and play some low-stakes poker… Let’s turn the tide!

Only Play with Money that you don’t need
Never gamble with money you can not afford to lose. Gambling with rent, bills or food money is bad. If you are doing that, you might want to consider taking a break from gambling for a while. If money in your bankroll has an emotional attachment you will make bad decisions. Bad decisions lead to losing play. You need to think of you gambling bankroll as units to play with, not as the amount of stuff it can buy you.

You need to have enough
You need a bankroll large enough to sustain the short swings of bad luck that you will encounter at the blackjack tables. You still need money to keep playing and ride out the short swings. You need to have at least 30 times the amount you bet at the table and the same again in your bankroll for reloading. So if you bet in $1 bets then you need at least $30 at the table, if you bet in $20 bets than you need $600 at the table.

Don’t Bet Too Much
Don’t double up or triple up to try an regain your losses. You will lose more money and then you will be grumpy. Stick to your betting system. Have a fixed amount that you will lose in a session and when you reach it WALK AWAY. Write yourself out some little guidelines and stick to them. Many players will accept 20 times the amount they bet at as a loss but no more. Set up reloading limits if you play online. Many sites will help you restrict the amount you can reload in 24 hours.

If you are winning, put aside some of your spoils to use another day. Have guidelines about what to do with your winnings and stick to them. Don’t use a winning streak as an excuse to increase your betting: you will regret it.