The Martingale System is one of the most common and easy to learn betting systems in the world and has wide application in a variety of games of chance, betting strategies and more.
But does it work flawlessly and always lead to success?
Martingale Strategy Origins
Martingale strategy dates back to the 18th century and is named after John Henry Martingale, who owned several casinos in the UK at the time. Although the name of the system differs slightly from his surname (no, it’s not a typo), it was inspired by his sincere belief in it. Martindale ambitioned his customers to use and implement it fanatically in his casinos, claiming that the biggest profits came precisely because of this system.
It is important to note that the strategy is applied in games where the odds of winning are close to 50/50. For example, in roulette, these are bets on: black, red, even, odd, 1-18, 19-36, etc. Your biggest enemy is the zero (0), and in American roulette the extra double zero (00).
The basics of the Martingale system
If you win a bet, you place another bet of the same size. If you lose the bet, you double the amount for the next bet.
You double your bet after each loss until you win. After a win, you go back to the original bet amount.
Example. If you win, you bet 1$ again. If you lose, your next bet should be 2$. If you lose again – 4$ etc.
What are the pros of the Martingale system:
If you keep doubling your bet every time you lose, when you eventually win, you will be in profit.
It’s suitable for short term game plan.
You can quickly recover losses while learning a new casino game.
Martingale Strategy Cons
You’ll need a big bankroll to keep steadily doubling your bets if you fall into a bad streak.
It’s not suitable for players who want to play longer.
However, since casinos are also aware of the existence of the Martingale system, many of them have a maximum on bets. This maximum is in direct conflict with the basis of your strategy and prevents endless doubling down on bets.
Anti-Martingale System – Paroli
The reverse strategy to Martingale system is called Paroli. The essence of this technique is this ;
If you lose a bet, you halve the next bet.
If you win a bet, you double the next bet.
The idea of this strategy is to take advantage of “hot” winning streaks.
Martingale strategy can also be used when playing blackjack, especially if the casino only has a minimum bet requirement and no maximum bet limit. Sports betting fans also often rely on Martingale. The system can even be applied to Forex trading, because very often the trades there are 50/50.
In Conclusion
Mathematically, the Martingale system is eminently sound, but players often remember only the moments when they won, and underestimate the frequency of bad streaks. Furthermore, not everyone can secure the necessary amount of money they will need to wait until a winning bet. As previously mentioned, casinos often have a betting limit for individual games and will not allow you to bet higher than the maximum. This strategy may bring you small profits in the short term, but it is extremely risky and it is not recommended to use it for a long time because the losses will surely exceed your profits.
It goes without saying, that adopting similar strategy in poker, is not only ineffective, but can also hurt severely your bankroll. Martingale system is developed for games, which follow strict pattern and ruleset.
Similar strategy, will be useless in poker and, most of the time, result in trainwreck.
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