The Martingale Roulette System

The Martingale System is probably one of the most well known betting strategies in any game of chance, including roulette. Not only is it simple, but mathematically, it appears unbeatable. Here is the story of the Martingale System, how it is used, and how modern casinos have tried to defend against it.

The Martingale System became popular in 18th century France for all types of games of luck. The game that was most fit for the Martingale System was the simple toss of a coin, which demonstrates an important aspect of this betting system: the Martingale System only works, in its most basic form, with bets that offer an even, 1:1 payout. In roulette, this means betting red/black, even/odd, or low/high 18.

To use the Martingale System, you only need to know a very basic betting pattern. Essentially you are just making one small bet that pays of 1:1. This bet can do one of two things: win or lose. If you win, the system wasn't needed, congratulations you made some money and it is time to start over again with the same small bet. But what if you don't win this bet? Are we leaving everything up to chance here?

The Loss Trigger

If you keep winning this small bet (whether it is due to luck, or karma, or cheating) you have no need for any system. It is only once you lose that the Martingale System kicks in. Your loss is the trigger for the system. The round after you lose your bet, you need to make a second bet, this time worth double your original bet. Once again, if you win here, the system is over: make a new small bet. If however, you lose this doubled bet, the Martingale is triggered once again. Your third bet should be twice the size of your second bet, and four times the size of your first bet.

As you continue to play, you simply keep running this pattern. When you win, you revert to your small original bet. When you lose, you make another bet worth twice as much as your last. Lets look at an example to see how this works in your favor.

Example
So you just sat down at a roulette table and you make a $5 bet on red to get things started. You win this bet, and being a disciplined Martingale-user, you collect your winnings and make the same $5 bet on red. This time, the ball lands in a black pocket and your bet is swept from the table. The Martingale System is triggered by this loss and you make a $10 bet on red. Lady luck does not come through, and you lose this bet as well. Once again, your loss triggers the martingale and you make a $20 bet on red. This time you win, and you start over again with a $5 bet.

In the example above, even ignoring your first lucky win, you made a profit. But how did that happen, you lost two bets and only won one. After your first loss, you are -$5. When you factor in your second loss you drop to -$15, but when you win your third bet your net losses are erased and you end up winning a net profit of $5. Every time you go through a round of the Martingale System, your net winnings (final win-all losses) will be equal to your first, small bet.

Limitations

There is one major limitation to the Martingale System that cannot be avoided. The size of your bets increase exponentially and can quickly get out of control. Even though a bet like red/black should win almost half of the time, it is not unusual to see a player lose four times in a row. This means you would need to make five bets with the Martingale. Starting with $5, your bets will be $5, $10, $20, $40, $50, all of which will require $125 to only get a net win of $5, and at higher stakes the difference is even more noticable.

So you've got a big bank roll and want to use this system to take the casino for all it's worth. Don't get book your Las Vegas vacation just yet, casinos know how the Martingale System works. They've put narrow table limits in place to keep you from being able to get too deep into the Martingale at any given table, and if you are hopping from table to table making these progressive bets, the eye in the sky will notice, and you will probably be asked to leave.