Casino Gambling Strategies
The Martingale System
The Martingale system is probably the oldest of betting systems, many other
systems are based on the basic theory of the Martingale, and so to evaluate
most systems you need a full understanding of the Martingale.
Note: All calculations in this article assume you are playing on a single
zero roulette wheel with no ‘en prison’ rule (i.e. even chance bets are lost
when zero hits).
Concept
The Martingale is a progression system (i.e. you increase your bet after a
losing spin) played on the even chance bets on a roulette table although it
can be used on even chance bets on other games, and the basic idea is that
if you bet on one of the even chance bets (e.g. Red) eventually it will hit.
With this in mind, if you increase your bets after each losing spin so that
you win back your entire losses plus one unit you will always walk away a winner.
In order to win all previous losses back plus one unit you simply need to double
your bet each time:
e.g. If you lost four consecutive spins and then won on the fifth spin the
outcome of each spin would be (-1) + (-2) + (-4) + (-8) + (+16) = +1
You would have placed a total of 31 units at the start of the fifth spin,
and when red hit on the fifth spin you would pick up 32 units.
The Catch
Most (all?) systems will fail at some point and the Martingale is no exception.
When you double your bet after each loss you will eventually reach the table
maximum. If the table you are playing at has a minimum of $1 and a maximum
of $1000 then this point will be reached after just 10 spins e.g.
1+2+4+8+16+32+64+128+256+512 = 1023
On your eleventh spin you would need to place $1024, which is over the table
maximum. If you think that runs of 10 consecutive losses are rare then you
must read the next section.
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