The Martingale system is incredibly simple, and yet it remains a topic of debate hundreds of years after its invention. The concept is simple: double your bets after any loss and you’ll eventually recoup all your money. In practice, the system takes a bit more thought than that to implement. Also, we should mention that: is not without its caveats.
In this article, we’ll cover what the Martingale strategy is, how to use it for yourself, and a few other important considerations. Remember: if it could guarantee wins for everyone, we would all use it all the time. But we know that’s not the case, so let’s dig a bit deeper and find out when and how to use this classic betting strategy.
What is Martingale betting? How the system works
Martingale betting follows a basic idea: if you double your wager after each loss, you’ll eventually win back all that you lost plus a nice prize to go with it. Here’s a quick illustration where we bet on coin flips:
- Bet $10 on heads. The coin comes up tails.
- Result: -$10
- Bet $20 on heads. The coin comes up tails again.
- Result: -$20. Total loss is now -$30.
- Bet $40 on heads. The coin is being annoying and comes up tails one more time.
- Result: -$40. Total loss is now -$70.
- Bet $80 on heads. The coin finally shows heads.
- Result: +80. The total win is now +$10. We’ve recovered our lost seventy dollars and added a little bit of cash on top of it.
After each loss, we doubled the wager amount. The math stays very simple and straightforward. Once we win, we can reset and start betting $10 again. As you can see, the only limits are your bankroll size and any wager size limits that might be imposed by the online casino or game itself.
Who developed the Martingale system?
The Martingale was developed in the 18th century in France. It was later analyzed academically by French mathematician Paul Pierre Levy, who studied probabilities. And from there, it continued to gain attention, especially from gamblers. Eventually, it entered mainstream casino culture as players sought to gain an edge over the house and guarantee a win. It is often discussed alongside the d’Alembert, Fibonacci, and other betting sequences that strive to give players a level of control over the randomness of casino game results.
But wait, where did the system get its name from? Well, according to a writer at Unabated, it was named after John H. Martindale, who owned a casino in London. How the “g” got into the name, we do not know.
Keeping tabs on your bets – a Martingale betting calculator
Need a Martingale chart? The only calculation you need to perform is multiplication by two, and you can do that in any Google browser. Just google [your wager] x 2 and hit “enter.” That’s it!
We recommend using a starting bet size that is easy to multiply, like $10. Here’s how the doubling would play out over ten rounds of betting:
- 10
- 20
- 40
- 80
- 160
- 320
- 640
- 1280
- 2560
- 5120
We hope you never see a loss streak like that, but this brings us to an important point about Martingale betting: not everyone can go on doubling their wagers forever if they hit a cold streak. Let’s get more into that point, actually – by first watching a video about the most famous betting systems:
Drawbacks of the system – bankrolls aren’t infinite
Mathematically the system isn’t hard to implement. And on paper, it’s perfect. The problem is, we can’t gamble on paper. We have to do it in the real world, at a real casino, playing a real game.
The first issue is that games have bet size limits. What happens when you hit the wager size limit after a few bad rounds? The game isn’t going to let you double your bet and you’re going to hit a brick wall in trying to execute your strategy. So, you’ll need to use an initial bet size that can handle at least 6 or 7 doublings.
Surprisingly, even that may not be enough. In a simulation over 10,000 rounds of 50/50 bets, there can be streaks of ten or more where a particular result keeps coming up. Statistical aberrations and outliers exist, and if you wind up being super unlucky, it’s going to break your Martingale sequence.
This raises the second issue: bankrolls are not infinite. If you are doubling your wagers again and again, you’re eventually going to run out of money, even if you have a ton of crypto to wager. If you start the system at $100, your tenth bet on a cold streak would be over $50,000. Make sure that you understand the risks before you dive into this “foolproof” system. You don’t want your bankroll to run out before you can turn things around.
Is there a time to abandon the Martingale? Riding out hot streaks
Some people wonder, why diminish your bet amount when you’re winning? What they’re really asking is when to use the reverse Martingale strategy (aka the “Paroli” system). This is a counter to the betting system that would have players increase their bet amounts when winning, not losing. Of course, this does nothing to anticipate the next result or recoup losses, but instead is a fun idea that makes winning more enjoyable.
Won a round? Bump it up!
Won again? Another bump!
You can probably already see the danger here. Eventually, we’re going to lose, and the loss amount could be quite painful. Not all players can deal with risks and results like this, and so the reverse Martingale is a lot less popular than the sensible logic of the standard Martingale.
Fortune, however, favors the bold. If you want to ride out a hot streak and keep things small on your losing streaks, you do you. (Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.)
FAQs
Does the Martingale system actually work?
The Martingale system definitely works but is not without its drawbacks when you attempt to implement it at an actual casino. Check out the section above for more info.
Can you make a living off the Martingale strategy?
In theory, it is possible if you have enough of a bankroll and don’t run afoul of casino wager limits or statistical outlier loss streaks.
Do casinos allow Martingale betting?
Yes, absolutely.
Is there a better strategy than Martingale?
Each particular game has a strategy that may be optimal. Check out our writeups discussing the use of Martingale roulette systems, Martingale blackjack strategies, and Martingale system baccarat implementation.