Playing multiple hands simultaneously when you have the advantage can also cut fluctuations in the long run. Your overall fluctuations go down when you place twice as many bets with smaller amounts on each hand. Some pros, as a rule, always play two hands when they have the edge, and only one hand when they don't. As your expectation rises, multiple simultaneous hands are also often a good idea because they will camouflage your spread, and let you get more money into action when you have the edge.
There are also many other reasons why pros may occasionally want to play multiple hands. If the casino you are playing in is infested with table-hopping card counters, increasing to multiple-hand play at positive counts keeps these players off your table. Likewise, if you're "shuffle tracking" (an advanced technique covered in a later chapter), multiple-hand play works to get the greatest proportion of high cards in a "slug" delivered to you.
But playing two simultaneous hands will increase the fluctuation of your bankroll if you place the same big bet on both hands based on your true edge. To decrease this fluctuation, you must cut back on the size of your multiple high bets. If you play two hands, both hands together should be about 1 1/2 times the standard high bet you'd place if you were playing only one hand.
Example: if your standard high bet is $100, then play two hands of $75 each. Do not play more than two simultaneous hands unless you believe it is the last round of the shoe, and you also believe the advantage is high enough to justify the extra bets. With three simultaneous hands, do not bet more than 60% of your single-hand high bet on each hand.
Also note that even with only one hand on the table, when you have a full 1.0% advantage, your "ideal" full-Kelly bet is only 0.75% of your bank, not a full 1.0%. This is to compensate for the double/split options at blackjack, which increase fluctuations.
The two charts on the following pages present your ideal half-Kelly bets when you are playing one, two, or three hands. I suggest that before you begin play in a casino, you draw up a betting chart that shows "correct" bets for your actual bankroll. I've used a "generic" $10,000 bankroll for these charts, so if you have a $30,000 bankroll, you can just multiply these bets by three. It should not be difficult to figure out your ideal half-Kelly bets with any size bank, using these charts as a guide. Obviously, if you have the bankroll to play a less risky quarter-Kelly betting strategy, then you can just cut all of the bets in the charts in half.
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