Martingale betting system
Martingale betting system is played using negative progression, which helps to quickly compensate for the player’s loss. The biggest drawback is if you are having a bad streak. The stake increases bets and the table limit is reached quickly.
Let’s face it Gambling is about winning. Sure, the whole thing is fun and an enjoyable pastime, but it is only really entertaining when you win playing the game you like. Therefore, sooner or later every player wonders how they can optimise the game to achieve the best financial result. For this reason, over time there have been various betting systems that have been tried and tested.
We have also looked at the Paroli betting system, also called Reverse Martingale. On average, the bet is doubled with every win, with the Martingale system, which is the topic of this article, the bet is doubled at each loss. The martingale betting system is a negative progressive game system or in other words, a system with negative progression.
The system was first used in the 18th century when playing the game ” Faro ” and was later used mainly in roulette. Its name comes from the system of the French city of “Martigues”, whose inhabitants used to be somewhat naive, and so the name of the city became synonymous with a very daring game “jouga a la martegalo” and later “martingale” for the said game system,
“Martingale” also refers to a field of probability theory: the “martingale” is a stochastic process that was introduced by the mathematician Paul Lévy.
Martingales as a game system
Martingale betting system uses negative progression.
If lost, the last bet is doubled.
So it’s a loss progression. The Martingale system is most commonly used in roulette, but it can also be used as a betting strategy in blackjack, bingo and slot machine games.
The idea behind it is. After each loss, the bet is doubled, after each win, the stake is reduced to the original amount. The assumption is, sooner or later the profits are to compensate all net losses of the previous bets.
In general, the Martingale game is set to a simple chance. When roulette z. Red / Black, Even / Odd or 1-18 or 19-36 – but even this apparent 50:50 chance is deceptive because there is still the green zero, which pulls the advantage on the side of the bank.
Although the Martingale system is one of the most popular and well-known systems, it has its limits and is only partially suitable for playing in the online casino.
The reason for this is simple: the betting limits at the casino tables are quickly reached in this game. So you do not have the opportunity to make up for your losses with this strategy.
Why is the martingale betting system still so popular? Probably because – especially in roulette – the assumption is misleading again and again, that the ball lands ten times in red but certainly in the eleventh time in the black field. But that is a misconception, the probability is the same for every litter, namely almost 50% (note the 0 or 00).
How is the martingale system played?
Let’s look at the Martingale betting system strategy for an example. Let’s say a player wants to use the Martingale system in roulette and chooses a simple chance of “red” for his bet. The player is a beginner and gropes slowly, with a small bet of 2 British pounds.
In the first round, it does not work with the profit, so he has to double his bet to four euros. Also next time it will not work, he has to double his bet to £8. Finally, the player is lucky, the ball lands on “red” and he wins. The player gets paid £8, but he has spent £8 (2 4 8) – his net profit is therefore only two GBP. After winning, the player begins his progression again with 2 pounds from the beginning – until the next win.
This system could be continued randomly. If there were not the table limits or the financial limits of the players themselves. For who can already set random high amounts, only to compensate for his losses again?. In addition, you should always set your own limit before the game and stick to it – for this reason alone, the Martingale system fails in the long run.
Table limits
The same applies to the table limits in the online casinos, but also in the stationary casinos. Even if you play at a table with a limit of £1,000, this limit is reached with a starting bet of £10 after ten losing rounds.
Last but not least, there is the likelihood that the Martingale system is beating us. Because the chances are in a casino always at the bank, no matter what game. In roulette, this is quite obvious because there are still the 0 and sometimes even the 00, which quickly make a 48-65% chance from a 50-50 chance.
The mathematics behind the martingale system
Mathematically, there is a loss progression behind the Martingale system. In the table, it’s particularly good to see that even using only one GBP is not a good idea to use this game system, because even with ten rounds lost – and that happens more often than expected – the loss is £511 and it would have been £512, in the end with only one pound profit to go home. Not a really worthwhile goal, is it?
round | commitment | Result | loss | Chance of profit |
1 | £1 | loss | £1 | 0493 |
2 | £2 | loss | £3 | 0250 |
3 | £4 | loss | £7 | 0127 |
4 | £8 | loss | £15 | 0064 |
5 | £16 | loss | £31 | 0033 |
6 | £32 | loss | £63 | 0017 |
7 | £64 | loss | £127 | 0008 |
8th | £128 | loss | £255 | 0004 |
9 | £256 | loss | £511 | 0002 |
10 | £512 | loss | £1023 | 0001 |
The martingale system for blackjack and slot machines
While the martingale system is most commonly played at the roulette table. Players of blackjack can also take advantage of this strategy.
If you want to use the martingale system in blackjack, it works the same way as in roulette. You double your bet after every lost hand you win. After each win start over with the original bet. It’s that easy. Although so dangerous.
Variant: Grand Martingale
The Grand Martingale is a variant of the classic Martingale system.
In this variant, the wagers are doubled in case of loss even further and this doubling is added again as a unit.
With a use of 5 euros, the whole thing looks like this:
round | commitment | Result |
1 | € 5 | loss |
2 | € 11 (5 5 1) | |
3 | € 23 (11 11 1) | |
4 | € 47 (23 23 1) | |
5 | € 95 (47 47 1) | |
6 | € 191 (95 95 1) | |
7 | € 383 (191 191 1) | |
8th | € 767 (383 383 1) | |
9 | € 1,535 (767 767 1) | profit |
10 | € 6 (5 1) | etc. |
In the event of a win, the Grand Martingale System will also add one unit to the original bet. With this system, the missions and thus the losses climb even faster to dizzying heights.
Conclusion
The martingale system should be shunned by any sensible player. Yes, as a beginner you can orient yourself quite well, but then you should only play for play money.
If you want your game orientation, you should rather stick to the Paroli system. There is no question that with the Martingale strategy, you can also make a profit. Although to achieve that you often need more money than you have available. The longer you play with the Martingale system, the higher the losses. So best: Stay away!
Advantages
- easy to apply
- short-term success possible
Disadvantage
- big losses
- not capital-saving
- high risk
- not effective in the long-term
- low profit