---
title: 'Determining Your Blackjack Bets: A Card Counter''s Guide'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=PR5v_Lrpti0'
video_id: 'PR5v_Lrpti0'
date: 2026-07-07
duration_sec: 0
---

# Determining Your Blackjack Bets: A Card Counter's Guide

> Source: [Determining Your Blackjack Bets: A Card Counter's Guide](https://youtube.com/watch?v=PR5v_Lrpti0)

## Summary

This video discusses the importance of proper betting strategy in card counting, covering the risks of over-betting and under-betting, and how to determine the correct bet spread based on bankroll size, risk tolerance, and game conditions.

### Key Points

- **Over-betting risks** [00:29] — Over-betting occurs when overestimating advantage (e.g., true 10 gives only 4.5% edge) or chasing losses. Card counting is a marathon, not a sprint; over-betting can wipe out bankroll.
- **Under-betting risks** [02:11] — Under-betting happens due to fear or wanting to protect winnings. If you don't bet enough, you may not have a winning game; you might as well stay home.
- **Bet spread complexity** [03:04] — Determining exact bet spread involves number of decks, rules, bankroll size, deck penetration, and risk tolerance. Simple spreads like 1-to-8 or 1-to-12 are starting points but not universally optimal.
- **Bankroll management tools** [03:35] — Blackjack Apprenticeship offers a bankroll management web app for 90-95% of card counters. For professionals, CV CX (Windows software) allows custom simulations. Custom coaching is also available.
- **Best advice: aggressive bet spreads** [05:20] — Tommy Highland advised using very aggressive bet spreads (e.g., $5 to $200) to keep risk low and EV high. This means large spread, not over-betting.

### Conclusion

Proper betting is crucial for card counting success. Use tools to determine your optimal bet spread based on your bankroll and risk tolerance, and avoid guessing to protect your bankroll and maximize long-term profits.

## Transcript

counting and deviations but you're not sure exactly what you should bet the card counter in this video I'm going to talk about betting how important it is the best advice I ever received and how to figure out exactly what you should
to figure out exactly what you should bet I'm calling from blackjack apprenticeship and I'm gonna talk about betting so I've met people that our
to their bedding they just kind of wing it I mean it's not that difficult right bet less when the casino has the advantage but more when you have the advantage but unfortunately it's not that simple there are risks to both
gonna cover those right now first let's talk about over bang there are two times when I see people do this the first is when they're overestimating their advantage so this is when they've got let's say a true ten and they're
their entire stack of chips out there but you have to understand a true 10 is really only a four and a half percent advantage and that's great but it's no guarantee you're going to win that hand or even that shoe with a high true count
and so if you put too much money out there you are risking more proportionately than you can afford to the second time I see this happen is when someone's losing and they're chasing their money and they're thinking
I've got to get my money back so they're betting more trying to get their money what people are chasing their money I say they're looking at karkenny as a sprint not a marathon but car King is a marathon where you're not trying to win
any given hand or shoe or Knight you're being a disciplined investor that plays the long haul and if you over bet in the short term you're trying to win tonight and that could jeopardize your entire
bankroll I tell people that a car key owner has two assets their brains and their bankroll and if you over expose your bankroll the problem is your risk is going to skyrocket and if you continue to over bet I guarantee you you
will hit a streak where you're gonna wipe out your bankroll so you cannot over bet you have to bet according to your risk tolerance and your bankroll size so let's talk about under betting and one one of the reasons why I see
afraid of you know maybe they're afraid they're best Fred says they should be betting $200 they only put out $100 or when their best Fred says to put out $100 they only put out fifty another time you
might be under betting is if you're winning and you don't want to lose this money you just won so even though it says to put out $100 out you don't want to lose a hundred so you just put out fifty the problem with under betting is
that's very likely you're not even playing a winning game if you're not betting enough then you're playing a breakeven game or maybe even a losing game you might as well just stay home I know what some people are thinking which
is Colin just tell me how to bet but unfortunately I can't do that for a implementing a bet spread isn't very difficult if you've mastered every other part just using your best friend it isn't very difficult but knowing exactly
complex because it involves though a number of decks you're playing the rules of the game your bankroll size deck penetration your risk tolerance there are a lot of factors that come into it and so I can't just say bet like this
some people say oh use a 1 to 8 spread or 1 to 12 it's not that simple it casinos how much risk you can handle your bankroll size all these factors so bet with your bankroll size the games you're gonna play and your goals well
member of our site we have a bankroll management app it's really easy to use and I would say for 90 to 95 percent of card carriers it's gonna be all that you size the rules of the game you're going to play and it'll give you some
different options and you choose the one that fits your goals and your risk tolerance another option that is going to be for someone that is professional the 5 or 10% of people that need something more is CB CX it's a
windows-based software so that can be a little bit difficult if you don't use a Windows computer and it can be pretty confusing to figure out how to use but options you can even run your own simulations I use it to help people with
more advanced stuff and so that's that's an option for you some people that are custom bankroll coaching where I will help you figure out exactly the bet bit higher priced but that's an option too and if
you're just in the beginning stages and just starting to learn how to master card cutting just choose something simple like a 1 to 8 bet spread or a 1 to 12 vet spread and get really good at it but at some point you're going to
need to know what you should bet for your risk tolerance to protect your bankroll what you should bet to maximize your Eevee at the tables and to reach your goals as far as heat and tolerance longevity all those things if you are a
member of blackjack apprenticeship I also have recorded a tutorial both for CV CX and for a bankroll management web app so you can watch this cb6 tutorial professional uses it to figure out their bet spreads and for the bankroll
management web app exactly how to use it how I would use it to figure out my bet spreads if I was going to Vegas or anywhere in the country so the best advice I ever received was from my hero and he's now become a friend Tommy
Highland and what he said is when he was running teams that they were not necessarily the smartest card counters but they made up for a lot by having very aggressive bet spreads was aggressive mean it doesn't mean over
betting what it means is a very large bet spread from what they're betting what they're being when they have the advantage so maybe this is going from five dollars all the way up to $200 or two spots of $200 that they use very
aggressive BET spreads because that keeps risk low and your Evie high you're not over betting and risking too much Maya nor are you under betting and risking not having a winning game I know some people are thinking but then I'm
backed off and that might be the case but if you want to get money you wanna actually are some very creative ways to avoid this I'm not willing to share it ways to bet we talked about at our boot camps and their discussions in our forum
but again I'm not gonna put it on a public format but in general the default public format but in general the default way for Karkare to make money is to know spread so whatever you decide don't guess at this stuff when I first started
friend based on what I thought I understood from professional blackjack by Stanford Wang and it turns out when I talk to some smarter card counters I had to insane risk I really just got lucky that I didn't get wiped out and
I'm so thankful that those car carriers pointed me to the resources to really manage my risk my bankroll sighs so be smart master card counting figure out what your bet spread should be to manage your bankroll size and your risk and
make sure you end up with the casinos money