The Martingale System is one of several gambling systems used in casinos today. Also known as betting strategies, these gambling systems are various schemes used by players to increase gambling profits and minimize loss. The plans fall into two broad categories:
Systems for more good gameplay. These are gaming strategies to improve a player’s chances of winning any game or reduce chances of losing.
Systems for gambling financial management. These have nothing to do with gameplay. They instead revolve around handling the money invested in gambling.
The Martingale System falls into the latter category.
The Martingale System: Brief History
Most accounts suggest the Martingale System was invented in France “by some math geeks” but was popularized by one John H. Martindale (yes, Martindale, not “Martingale”), a casino owner in London. Martindale would encourage patrons at his establishment to always bet double whenever they lost, and they followed his expert advice to good effect. It wasn’t long before his casinos closed down due to insolvency. Was his recommendation to gamblers to use the Martingale System detrimental to his business? One can only speculate. The system continued to grow in the 1800s, garnering international renown in 1891 when a gambler named Charles De Ville Wells won 1 million francs playing roulette. Though it can never be confirmed, De Ville was said to have employed the Martingale System. Being a severe pro gambler, he had raised substantial bankrolls from investors, enabling him to hire the strategy effectively.
How Does The System Work?
The Martingale System is fundamentally a financial management strategy. This system governs a player’s reaction to losing a bet. While many systems encourage players to cut down on the stake for subsequent plays, the Martingale promotes the opposite. When using the Martingale System, the player doubles his stake whenever they lose a bet. When they win, they may then return to their original stake amount.
The foundation of this system is rooted in the mathematics of probability. Each round of gambling is entirely independent of other bands. The result from the current game has nothing to do with the previous or subsequent rounds. Consequently, the Martingale System does not believe in gambling on off-days. If you lose this round, your chances of winning the next are mathematically the same, regardless of whether you’ve lost ten times in a row. So then, by progressively doubling down on the stake, you should be able to secure a significant win along the way eventually. The windfall from that win should theoretically enable the player to break even and make a respectable profit. After the win, the player continues to stake their usual amount and does not need to apply the Martingale system again unless they suffer another loss. The system is prevalent for luck-based games, such as slot games and roulette.
Does The Martingale System Work?
Hypothetically, the Martingale System should work. Losing streaks are not perpetual – they terminate at a point. Due to the significant stake, the payday should be colossal when the win eventually comes in. The previous losses’ misery would disappear, replaced by a vast profit and jubilation.
But, there are drawbacks to using this system. The most glaring demerit is that the Martingale System requires a substantial bankroll to implement correctly. That’s because you have to double the stake with each loss, and sometimes losing streaks can go on for a long time. Otherwise, the Martingale System is undoubtedly an exciting concept and can prove very handy for slot games.
