Does the Martingale Betting System Work?

Whoever has played one of casino games either online or in a brick-and-mortar establishment, at one point or another has surely asked a question: is there a system which will guarantee that I win? Hundreds of thousands of players are looking for a way to trick lady luck and many claim they have found it. There’s dozens of betting system being presented or offered for purchase via the internet, the most popular one being the Martingale system. Let’s be clear: we’re not advocating that you stake real cash on this one or any other, but if you want to give it a shot, make sure to thoroughly understand how it works.

How to Apply Martingale System

This is probably the oldest betting systems around, and one of the reasons it’s so popular is its simplicity. You don’t need to be a talented mathematician in order to apply it, nor do you need calculators, cheat sheets or any other paraphernalia.

The way Martingale system works is as follows: You make a bet, and should you lose, you double your wager. In case of another loss, you’ll double it once more. You’ll in fact keep doing this until you win, after which you should go back to your original bet. Easy, right? This system works best on bets with (near) 50/50 chance of winning vs losing, such as Black/Red bet in a game of Roulette. Let’s say you’ve placed R10 on Black and lose. Your next bet should be R20, and should you lose again, R40. If you happen to win in the last round, you’ll get paid even money – R40. The first two bets having lost R30 in total, this means you’ll be R10 up. Sounds good, right?

The system itself makes perfect sense mathematically. By doubling your bet after every loss, you’re ensuring that when you do win, you will recuperate all of your losses and generate a profit equal to your original bet. So how come the whole world isn’t using it? Let’s have a look at some pros and cons. 

Pros and Cons of the Martingale System

An obvious advantage is that this is one of the easiest systems to learn and apply. It’s not strictly linked to one game but can be used at Blackjack and Baccarat as well as Roulette. In theory, having an infinite bankroll would make sure you’ll end up winning.

However, you’ve got two things working against you. One is the fact that your bankroll, most likely, is not infinite. You will surely win sooner or later, but you’ve got no way of knowing when that would happen. What if, in the example above, you played with R200 bankroll and didn’t win the third time. So, having staked R10, then R20 followed by R40, you’ve cumulatively lost R70. The system tells you to stake R80 next, and should you lose this bet as well, you’ll have only R50 left to play with. Obviously, this is not enough to continue applying the system and it therefore can’t help you win back your losses.

Even if you had plenty more cash to play with, there’s this other annoying detail – table’s maximum betting limits. What can easily happen is that you hit the limit while still on a losing streak, which once again makes you unable to keep doubling and eventually collect.

The system in fact gives the player a high chance of winning numerous small amounts while facing (relatively) low risk of losing a lot. It’s not unlikely that you’ll eventually hit a losing streak and make a huge loss that will wipe out all those small wins you’ve accumulated over a long period of time. 

As we’ve mentioned to start with, Springbok team doesn’t advocate this betting system nor any of the others. While it may have helped some players, it has also crushed many of the others. Feel free to test it yourself, by all means, but do it risk-free. Simply open an account at Springbok and try using Martingale system while playing with fun money.