Blackjack Articles

Blackjack Profits

In order to calculate the profits made by a blackjack system or traditional card counting against the house, we have to talk about your gambling wins in terms of advantage and disadvantage.

Your average card counter will play basic strategy, and modify their actions based on the running count. They spend time researching the best local casino, with weakest dealers that they can find. They also only play tables with the most favorable blackjack rules that can be expected. When you add up all of their advantages, blackjack card counters are usually looking for at least a 0.5% advantage over the long term.

Let us use an example of someone who yields a 0.6% advantage over the house, when all advantages are tallied. If this player has regular 8-hour sessions over the course of a month, and they have a $3000 blackjack bankroll, they should make just about $25 an hour on average, depending on how consistently weak the dealers were that month. If you want to subtract travel expenses, travel time, and time spent scouting for good table conditions and bad dealers, and profits might go down to $20 an hour.

Now, money spent on expenses might not be totally lost. If your blackjack play is a significant enough gain to report on your taxes, and you’re treating your blackjack play as a business, you might be able to write off those expenses as a tax deduction. You’ll want to record the costs, save all your receipts, and present them to your tax person or CPA when tax time comes.

To continue the above example, a steady average gain of $20 yields about $40,000 a year if played as a full time job. This isn’t bad in certain parts of the world, and is downright great in other parts of the world. Remember though, that this isn’t free and clear. You still owe taxes and need to spring for any benefits that a company might normally provide. That means insurance, retirement fund, and the like.

I suggest that you add at least 10 percent of your winnings to your permanent bankroll, even if you’re living off of the rest of your winnings. As your bankroll grows, so will the level of play that you can afford. But be careful not to move up too quickly, as violating your bankroll limits by overextending your count-to-bankroll ratios is a sure way to go bust. Take your time, track your results, and remember to re-invest some of your winnings into your permanent bankroll.

Finally, I suggest dedicating at least a small amount of your winnings towards further education. New blackjack books, regular gaming industry magazines, and the like are all good investments that will keep you abreast of developments in your chosen field.

Bill Ricardi
Blackjack Expert