I mentioned in another thread about my "Blackjack Strategy" and wanted to explain further here.
On another forum that I am on, there is an arcade section and members play games to get the best score among the group. Obviously it's a more casual forum than here. I was playing a number of the games, but kept coming back to Blackjack. Just in case you need more info on Blackjack, here's a couple sites I found thru google:
Blackjack Rules, How To Play How to Play Blackjack - Blackjack 101
The game of blackjack is fairly straightforward once you have your rules in place, like trading. What I found myself doing the first few times playing was that there was no rhyme or reason to hitting or standing when my initial cards totaled 16 or lower. And that is where you make or break your game - what to do when you have 16 or lower and what to do based on the dealer's top card showing as well.
So, like trading, after getting fed up of losing my $2000 initial fake money stake, I took a step back and said that I should have a plan (no matter how basic) if I wanted to stand a chance at making fake money. I then told myself that based on what I had and what the dealer's top card was I would do the exact same thing over and over again.
The reason I bring this up is that I found myself losing twice instead of breaking even on many hands. Example - one hand I would have under 16 and hit and the next have under 16 and not hit. Turns out that over and over again, I was constantly wrong and lost twice when I should have at least broke even on the hands. The odds of picking the right way to play each time randomly is not in your favor.
Once I realized that, the light bulb went on. You cannot in Blackjack or trading sometimes follow your rules and expect to make money. You simply cannot take one trade and then pass on the exact same setup the next time. Over time, the odds will work against you and you will lose twice. You'll lose actual money the first trade and you will lose the money you should have made on the subsequent trade.
And it's not just about taking your setups. It's about how you manage the trade - entry, stop, profit taking, etc. You must do the same thing over and over again. Just entering the trade is part 1. For example, in the
WRB thread I mentioned that when exiting using WRB's, you have to make the decision to either wait till the close of the WRB or exit while the WRB is being formed. You have to pick one and go with that each time.
So now anytime I find myself over-thinking things, I just refer back to my Blackjack strategy and the example reminds me of what to do.
After putting my basic plan in place I took over the first place ranking. My score was 10,400 with a starting stake of 2,000. It took 21.5 minutes to take my initial stake and increase it by 420%.