What Is The Martingale System?
The Martingale system is a system most commonly used in sports betting, although it can be used in casino games as well.
Some bettors do it without even thinking about it, not knowing the real familiarity of their betting system. A majority of successful sports bettors or casino bettors will have a strategy or a system in place.
Many systems can be simple and easy, others are more complex and can take years to master.
If you try betting in the long term without a strategy of any kind, you will likely fail.
The martingale system has been around for a good 200 years if not more. It is such a popular form of betting that it seems like a way to ensure you win. Logically the system could be successful all the time in a vacuum, however betting sites do not, and nor for casinos.
Having a good wager limit, bankroll, and then the regulations of a casino and more can all impact the success of this system.
The basic premise of this system is to double your losing bets until you win. So, obviously, your bankroll will restrict this.
Say you were to bet $10 first, then you would bet $20, $40, $80, $160, until you won. This means that each time you would gain a $10 win, and you would only double after a loss.
It sounds great, in theory. The thinking is that it is unlikely you would lose three successive bets. This is something known as ‘gambler’s fallacy’ which is simply a failure to recognize that each wager is individual and is therefore separate from the one before it.
How It Works.
Let’s say you applied this to roulette. If you lost three times in a row, and bet on black, then you bet on black a fourth time, this does not mean that the ball will land on the black. In American Roulette there is an equal chance of it landing on red four times in a row, as it landing on the black.
This is one of the flaws of this strategy, and why it is not particularly ideal for real world winnings. It could work if you had an infinite bankroll, but most do not, and so, it is unrealistic.
Let’s give you another example. If you were to bet on the NFL. A lot of people will bet $100, so lets say in the first game you bet $100, and lose, so, you bet on the second game, $200, and lose, the third game, $400 and lose, $800 and lose, $1,600 and lose, $3,200 and finally, you win!
Now, for math. Let’s pretend that these are all even moneyline bets with no vig.
This strategy would work in this scenario, as the player would end up with the $1-00 profit. However, they had to risk $3200 in the final game just to win this $100.
This means to use this strategy you need to have multiple games for this to work.
An Understanding Of The System.
This strategy can work in some ways, for low bets for example. However, in bigger bets it is very flawed. No matter how high you bet, when you do win you will only win back your spending plus a profit of whatever your original bet was.
Now, there is no guarantee that you will eventually win a bet, so unless you have endless money, you do risk making a huge amount of loss and no profits.
Why It Works Better In The Forex Markets.
This type of bet is actually popular in forex markets. It is popular with currency because these rarely drop to zero, and although companies can go bankrupt, countries will only do so by choice.
Currency can fall in value, however, even in sharp decline it never reaches zero.
A Risky Game.
There is much risk associated with the Martingale system. The first way to manage the risks is to be aware of what you have in your bankroll and keep an eye on what you have.
You will also need a large betting account to secure your losses.
However, even with a great bankroll and good management, you can end up emptying your account. Sadly, the gamblers’ fallacy has us usually thinking ‘what are the odds of that’, and the true answer is ‘actually, rather likely, especially if you are not overly cautious’.
It can be good for some people, but be careful.
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