The Martingale System - is it a strategy worth trying?

A Martingale is usually known as the harness of a horse but did you know that it is also a system of gambling used by players in online casinos? It is a betting strategy that originated way back in the 18th century in France. The simplest form of this technique was created for games where a player guesses if a coin comes up heads or tails. The tactic involves doubling your bet after every loss, this way when you land your first win then you will recover all previous losses plus win a tidy profit that is equal to your original bet. It is somewhat seen as a high-risk strategy and players have already started to use this system in online casino games.

Applying it to Roulette

This strategy works extremely well with roulette especially for beginners of this game as it is easy to use and makes perfect sense when you implement it properly. The main reason it is so popular in roulette is because the probability of hitting either red or black is close to 50%. Most players tend to use this system on the outside bets in roulette and these bets consist of 1-18, 19-36, red or black, and even or odd. Players place outside bets because it gives them the maximum odds of winning but the drawback of this kind of betting is that you will only get the smallest payout possible. For instance, if you bet on one chip on say black and win then you will only get your chip back plus one more chip for this win.

Doubling Up

Another layer of the Martingale system is the doubling strategy. With this tactic, players place their bets on an outside bet and when they lose, they then double the bet and they keep doing this until they win. As mentioned earlier, this strategy will help a player recover their losses when they land their first win but it is quite a risky strategy as there are quite a few other factors that players need to consider when attempting it. For example, the probability of the ball landing on an outside bet is close to but not exactly 50% as it really depends on what the house advantage is when you play this game at a casino.

The risks of Martingale

The main risk of this system is that it can burn a hole in your pocket quite quickly. It is an optimal strategy for any game if you have infinite resources but not many players can afford that luxury. If a player gets to the point where they do not have a chance to double their bet anymore then they will lose a tonne of chips and it is game over. It is good to know that this form of betting is legal but why would it not be? Well, casinos protect themselves with table limits and also by placing the zero on the roulette wheel. So if you plan on using this strategy then please bear in mind that you will need to play a lot of games in order to win even a decent amount of money.

For more information on roulette, please check out our Roulette article. And for a more in-depth look at the different types of roulette tables that exist, please also read our roulette tables article.