The Martingale System

This is a negative progression, meaning that you increase your bets as you lose, rather than as you win.

This is one of the oldest and simplest betting systems around. It is founded on the possibility that a player can lose infinite times without ever winning a round and is best applied to bets with a 1 to 1 payout ratio.

First you make a bet, any bet.

If you win, you bet again, the same amount.

If, however, you lose, you increase your bet by double.

If you lose again, you double your bet again.

The idea here is that you're trying to offset your increasing losses with one win.

This system is based on the belief that, eventually, inevitably, you will win once. But using this method requires a large starting bankroll and guts of steel as you watch your losses compound upon themselves and sit there hoping for that one great win that'll get you all your lost wagers back + 1 unit in profit.

The other problem with this seemingly perfect theory is that most casinos impose betting maximums. If you reach the betting maximum using this system before getting a win, you are stuck betting the same amount, the maximum bet, in round after round. At that point, a single win won't even get you your original investment back.

Lastly, the risk-to-reward ratio with the Martingale System, even when it's working for you, is all askew, because you have to be wiling to bet large sums of money to win at most a single unit (your initial, undoubled, starting bet) profit.