Awsome i was kinda leaning towards that though after looking around. I think anytime you're messing with real money you should be looking intently anyway even if its money you can loose you shouldn't invest just to loose money you can do that at the casino.
yes i'm serious, its a simple question, looking at the facts a) i'm 22 years old (money ain't fall out the sky yet) b) its a simple question, everyone has to start somewere, i'm just asking to see what people are starting out with/have started out with. so yes i guess i'd have to say i'm serious :-/. either way at my age i can afford to loose money cause i can start over . yeah so anyways just looking for some insight and thank you to those of you who have responded with intelligent answers and sources of information i am following up on it .
dude $500 save your money. let me put it this way: Assume your expectancy in blackjack normally is 0.48. and you want to play it successfully. Imagine you begin to card count so that you turn your expectancy to 0.52. I.e you have a winnign edge. Now just because you have a mathematical edge doesnt mean ull make money. U'll make money only in the long run after X'00 simulations and only if you can survive drawdowns. Now imagine you take 100 into the casino and begin to bet on $20 blackjack tables. even with expectancy of 0.52 the probability of you going bankrupt is 0.48^5 = 2.5% you expect to lose your entire bankroll statistically 2.5 times every 100 hands, yet you expect to win only two hands against the house every 100 hands. i.e 40.00. Essentially u will be bankrupt before you are able to realise your positive mathematical expectancy Now imagine you take $2000 onto the tables and play $20 blackjack. The probability of your going bankrupt is losing 100 hands in a row. essentially 0. u have a greater chance of dying by an asteroid or winning the lottery. Therefore you can play on and exploit your mathematical edge and beat the house without the danger of going bankrupt before you can realise your edge. Trading profitably on insufficient capital is one of the most difficult things to do. and certainly not for a beginner. take your time and study and save, the market just like the casino will still be there when your ready.
Could you please explain why with this example you only expect to win 2 hands out of 100? Isn't your edge 52%?
OK. but let me get this clear: your edge is 52%. You therefore win 52 out of 100 trades. you are a net winner over 100 trades, (52 > 48), am I not correct?
do yourself a favor kid with only $500 ... better not to think you will find instant riches or "holy grail" here with this amount get a good education if possible and in a few yrs maybe , maybe you will have something to offer some prop firm or wall street firm some skill set