The Martingale System from A to Z
Fact Checked
Martingale Strategy originated in the 18th century and was designed for games with 50/50 chances of winning. It has quickly gained popularity in Europe and spread across the ocean to the United States. Nowadays, it is difficult to find a casino player who hasn’t heard of the Martingale winning strategy.
But is it worth your attention? Can it be used to make a profit in the long run? Do you need to have much money for doubling? In the guide below, we are going to answer these and many other questions about this popular and controversial betting system.
Martingale System Pros and Cons
Martingale System, like any other gaming strategy, has its strong and weak sides. Here are the main things to consider when deciding whether you should choose it to place bets or not.
- Pros
- When betting after every loss, you eventually win back the money
- Suitable for experienced players who want to feel the adrenaline rush
- The best options for those who need fast winnings
- If you still master the rules of the particular game, this strategy helps to reduce the risk of losing much
- Cons
- You need a significant bankroll to double after every loss
- The casino mustn’t have a betting limit
- Not suitable for slow and careful gamblers
- You can’t stop amidst the game without losing everything
What is a Martingale Strategy?
Before we move on to discussing how to apply this system, let’s refer to the theory. The Martingale Strategy routes back to the 18th century and most experts believe that it was first used by John Henry Martindale, a casino owner from London. His surname was lost in translation and transformed into Martingale with time.
Its main idea is very simple: you should double the losing bet amount until you win. For example, if you bet $10 and win, you bet $10 again. But if you lose, the next bet should be $20. If losing again, bet $40, and so on until you return all the losses.
In a nutshell, this system gives a 100% guarantee of winning and that’s what makes Martingale so attractive. But it works well only in casinos that don’t have table limits and for players with sufficient funds. Plus, there are lots of regulations involved, so you should read the terms and conditions attentively when joining a certain gambling site.
Does This System Actually Work?
As we have already mentioned, the Martingale System is applied for games with only two outcomes: either you win or lose. And when you double the initial bet size after losing, you eventually return the losses. But one of the most important responsible gambling strategies says that you should never chase losses. And that’s exactly what you do when applying Martingale.
Let’s take a simple coin game as an example. You are going to flip a coin for $1/spin and use the mentioned strategy. You give wrong guesses three times in a row but win on the fourth attempt. During the first three attempts, you bet $7 ($1, $2, and $4) and $8 on the fourth. Thus, the winnings exceed the losses and you have $1 in winnings ($8 – $7 = $1).
When opening a casino account and starting to play, this strategy looks very appealing but remember about the risk. If you won’t have enough funds and will have to leave the table, you’ll lose everything. Gamblers with limited funds or an absence of experience should turn to more reliable options like bonus offers and bankroll management. Martingale may be advantageous only when a player has a big budget and wants to experience a bit of the adrenaline rush. But even in such a case, you should remember about responsible gambling.
Martingale System For Roulette
Roulette is surely the most popular and fun casino game at the moment. It has decent odds of winning, doesn’t require many skills, and comes with numerous variations both online and offline.
If you consider playing roulette online for real money, make sure to read the rules attentively and choose a betting system that suits your needs and gambling style. The Martingale Strategy at a roulette table is very straightforward: you double the bets with every loss and start the sequence from the very beginning after returning the initial money. Let us break the process into five simple steps:
- Choose a bet type that has a win-what-you-bet return;
- Bet the basic amount. For example, $5 or $10;
- Select any outcome you want: red/black, odd/even, and so on;
- Bet the same amount if you win or double if you lose. For instance, $10, $20, $40, $80, etc.;
- Once you win and return the losses, start with the basic bet again.
These steps are followed until you decide to leave the roulette game with the winnings or lose all the money and are not able to afford another bet. This leads us to a reminder that the Martingale System should be applied only if you have enough funds.
Martingale Strategy For Blackjack
If you want to play something apart from roulette, try blackjack card games which also have 50/50 odds and are presented in the majority of online and land-based venues. The starting bet is rather low and players can sharpen their skills along with users from other parts of the world.
Blackjack allows using the Martingale System as well. For example, you enter the table with $10 and your hand with a flush or three of a kind loses. The next bet should be $20. If you lose again, bet $40, $80, and so forth until you return the losses. Once your hand wins, you get a reward of the one-unit profit, i.e. the first bet. When it comes to our example, after applying this system you will be able to leave the table with $10. Is it worth the risk?
Martingale Strategy variations
Martingale Strategy has become very popular and derived into lots of variations. Let us discussed the most popular of them to let you decide whether there’s a suitable system waiting for you.
Reverse Martingale System
Instead of doubling the bet after losses, this approach encourages you to double after winning. It is good for preventing big losses but you need to know when to stop because once you lose, you lose all the money collected. On the Internet, you can find lots of free calculators that evaluate the chances of winning and losing before making a decision whether to use this strategy or not.
Mini Martingale
This approach is similar to the classic one but offers to set limits on the amount of the doubling bets. As you understand, it is a great opportunity to prevent significant losses. Evaluation of numerous outcomes proves that this approach works better and helps gamblers lose money slowlier which results in less stress. But it is still Martingale where you should be ready to increase the bets with every single loss.
Grand Martingale
When discussing the rules of the strategy, we have mentioned that your profits equal the sum of the first bet. If you join the game with $5 or $10, the profit doesn’t seem significant. Especially considering the risks involved. Grand Martingale aims to solve this problem and offers adding an extra bet unit after each loss. Thus, when finally winning, you earn back not only the first bet but the added units as well. The drawback of this approach is evident – you risk lots of money.
Is It Legal To Use?
You have probably heard about people being kicked out of land-based casinos for using gambling strategies. However, they differ from one another and if you decide to use Martingale, go for it. This approach is completely legal and is not restricted like counting cards or attempting to rig pokies. Most venues don’t mind their users doubling up the bets. However, this doesn’t mean that you won’t experience any inconveniences: rather often betting limits make this approach pointless because it works only when you increase the wager consistently.
Remember, gambling sites and sportsbooks will eagerly take your money. And the more you lose, the happier they become.
Gamble Wisely
For many years, the Martingale System remains one of the most controversial gambling strategies. And while it is tempting to use when playing roulette, blackjack, and a few other games, a gambler should be ready to double the bets until winning. If the process is interrupted in any way, it fails and you need to start from the very beginning.
This means that before using the martingale system, you need to make sure that your budget is big and the casino doesn’t have a betting limit. And even if Martingale can be used as a one-time measure, it shouldn’t be a long-term strategy. We recommend turning to more reliable and less risky approaches: benefiting from free spins and other promotions, sticking to the budget, and playing games with a lower house edge. There are some casinos that offer Book of Dead free spins upon first deposit, it is a fun way to start online gabling for beginners.
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