The Martingale System
The martingale system is a progressive system that can be applied to almost all types of games in any kind of casino. This is the oldest betting system there is. Although it looks like a flawless system, we have to analyze it thoroughly before deciding whether to use it or not. So, let us look at this martingale system.
The martingale system: what is it?
The main idea behind this is simple. You have to double your bet as long as you lose. And when you lose, you will be able to get all your losing money and some extra. Let us look at an example: A craps player who is using the martingale system starts his pass line bet with $1.
So, the summary of his game will look like this
Bet Size ---- Win/Loss ---- Net Winnings
1 ---- W ---- 1
1 ---- L ---- 0
2 ---- L ---- (-2)
4 ---- L ---- (-6)
8 ---- W ---- 2
1 ---- L ---- 1
2 ---- W ---- 3
So, we can see that the player has to double his bet size after every losing bet and when he wins finally, he has to go back to his starting bet. This will give him an additional amount equal to the starting bet every time he wins.
How to use the martingale system properly
A player has to keep only four basic rules when playing with this system. It is as simple as that.
Use even money bets only
Start bets with small amount
Double your losing bets all the time
After a win, go back to the starting bet
The limits
There are two limits you should be aware of when using this system and they are: your bankroll and the casino's table limits. It is possible that you will not get a win for 10 or 20 consecutive rows. Also, the table limit stops you from playing when the amount reaches the maximum limit. So, at a $10/$1000 limit table you will only get to bet six times. The example given below shows you how.
Loss# ---- Bet Size ---- Net-Loss
# ---- 10 ---- 10
1 ---- 20 ---- 30
2 ---- 40 ---- 70
3 ---- 80 ---- 150
4 ---- 160 ---- 310
5 ---- 320 ---- 630
6 ---- 640 ---- 1270
So Does It Work?
In the above mentioned example you can lose up to six times and if we calculate the chances of losing then it would be 58.8 (each pass line bet has a 50.71% chance of losing). In the long run, this will give the house an edge and as a result they do not discourse the use of this. However, this is not bad for making some money in the short run.
