Martingale System

The Martingale System is actually a very well known staking plan. It is one that many beginning roulette players find attractive because, in theory, it cannot lose.

The basic idea is that the roulette player bets on any even money shot and doubles his stake on every spin until he hits a winner. At that stage all previous losses will have been recovered and the Martingale system will have made 1 point profit in addition.

For example, a player might bet £10 on red and lose. He then bets £20 on red and loses again. He bets £40 on red and wins. This gives him a profit of £40 on the third spin of the wheel which is sufficient to cover the £30 loss from the first two spins and leave £10 profit left over.

Because stakes always double after a loser and the payout for the eventual winner will always be even money, a 1 point profit is theoretically certain whenever a winner is found. Unfortunately, theoretical certainty doesn’t make the Martingale system a guaranteed winner. In fact, it can be financially devastating, and it for this reason that we advise all online roulette players against using this staking plan.

The first reason why the Martingale system can be so dangerous is due to the speed at which stakes escalate. If you were to start with a £1 bet and have seven losing spins, your bet on the eighth would be £128. If you went ten spins without a winner, your stake on the eleventh would be £1,024. Unless you have unlimited cash at your disposal, such an escalation wouldn’t be comfortable. And would you ever really like the idea of betting £1,024 or £2,048 on a single spin of the wheel to make a profit of just £1?

The second reason why we advise against the Martingale system is that, even if you have a very hefty bankroll at your disposal, table limits might mean you cannot follow the plan properly after a certain point. For example, if the table limit is £500 and you started betting with £5 on the first spin, you would be unable to place the required bet of £640 after seven losing spins. This renders the Martingale impotent and leaves you nursing a hefty loss despite your large bankroll.

Whilst the Martingale system sounds very nice in theory, it is never something worth pursuing in reality. Bear this in mind the next time someone tells you that doubling stakes after every losing bet is a “can’t fail” approach.

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