You might think that there are not a lot of commonalities between betting on sports and playing online blackjack games, but many of the habits and practices that you apply in sports betting, especially structured staking and strategy you might study in sports betting strategies, can be beneficial to you when playing blackjack.

If you are one of the many people who enjoy both placing sports bets and playing competitive blackjack online for real money, one of the key skills that you can hone across both types of betting activity is your bankroll management. Whether you rely on your own handicapping or premium selections from Service Plays, the same bankroll rules apply.

If you are an experienced sports bettor, you will probably already have your own approach set up to make sure that you manage your funds carefully. From setting yourself limits, to analyzing bets that offer value in relation to the level of risk, your approach to managing your bankroll in sports betting will help you when you play blackjack too. A structured bankroll framework like the one outlined in the Bettors Handbook can also reinforce these principles and give you a repeatable process to lean on.

These are some of the ways you can apply your bankroll management in sports betting to blackjack:

Monitoring Performance

Experienced sports bettors often closely monitor their betting performance by recording details of their betting activities. Some people like to set up a spreadsheet to log performance of different types of bets, including information such as bet type, odds, stake, profit/loss, time of bet, mood/emotional state and other relevant details.

They can then use this information to track any patterns that identify bad betting habits so that they can avoid placing these types of bets. If performance dips after a certain time of day, players know that they should apply a cutoff time so that they are not betting when they are tired.

Understanding which types of bets generate the greatest success will also enable players to stick to bets that they tend to get better results at. While tracking performance can take up some time, it provides more in-depth data than your app’s betting history so that you can make more informed decisions in the future.

Monitoring performance in blackjack is just as important, as it can help identify tilt patterns and gain more control over your bankroll. You can record details such as game type (RNG/live dealer), bet size range, session time (start and end), starting and ending bankroll. You should also record how you were feeling at the time of playing, as your mood might have hampered your performance if you were feeling frustrated or tired.

Self-discipline

Once you have a system set up to monitor performance, you can use this to identify where you need to be more disciplined. If you are losing money when you increase betting stakes, then setting yourself stake limits can help to overcome this problem. A clear staking plan—similar to the disciplined approach you’d use when following model-driven computer picks in sports—can stop you from improvising under pressure.

If you uncover patterns of chasing losses which are leading to you spending more money, this is another area you need to apply better discipline to. If you have the data in front of you that tells you that nine times out of ten, chasing losses is going to lead to further losses, then you know when to walk away.

Understanding Risk and Variance

Regular sports bettors have a good feel for evaluating risk/reward and this will come in useful for blackjack too. If you are betting frequently on an NHL daily line in Canada, then you will probably base your bets on your knowledge of player injuries, form and other key information to see whether a bet offers good value. 

Calculating the element of risk involved in a hand at blackjack is based more around assessing the probabilities from the cards that have already been turned. You should also take time to understand the different rules and edges for different blackjack variations. For example, 3:2 blackjack offers a better payout compared to 6:5 blackjack. 

Losing streaks are always going to happen and it does not necessarily mean that you are playing badly, it just means that you are not getting much luck from the cards dealt. Knowing that this is always going to happen but not letting it frustrate you will help you to avoid emotional betting.

Blackjack can have a high variance but you can minimize volatility to your bankroll by keeping stakes lower and avoiding habits such as frequent doubling and splits which can produce even higher swings in variance.

Conclusion

If you have adopted a good approach to your bankroll management in sports betting then you will have an advantage by using a similar approach when playing blackjack. By monitoring performance, identifying trends and setting yourself limits and controls, you can give yourself a better opportunity to experience long-term success in blackjack games, using the same disciplined mindset you’d apply when reviewing the handicapper roster or building a structured plan around your preferred Service Plays, strategies and educational resources.