The Martingale
The Martingale was famously used by Casanova, the notorious Venetian lover and adventurer. He was well known for taking risks, so it should come as no surprise that he favored this ultra-risky system.
How it works
The Martingale works by doubling your bet when you lose, so that your next wager is double the size of your last. If you lose the first bet, your next wager is double the size of your last wager. If you lose again, your next wager is quadruple the size of the last. You keep going until you win.
For example, suppose you place a $5 bet, the size of which is already quite large even for a standard $5 bet. Your opponent bets $10. You lose. Your next bet, however, is $20. This is the maximum bet, so you can’t bet anything below the maximum until your next wager is a minimum of $10.
If you win, you start again with the minimum bet. If you lose, you double the size of your bet again, this time to $40, and bet the exact same exact amount again. Keep doing this until you win. When you win, you get back your original bet, and the $40 you won. If you lose again, you double the size of the bet again, this time to $80, and bet the same exact sized bet again.
The Martingale System is loosely based on a mathematical misunderstanding called the “Gamblers Dewalive” or perhaps it is more properly referred to as the “Casino’s Cruft Theory”
The mistaken belief that the probability of a certain event will always repeat itself, despite the event not occurring frequently enough.
Francois Blanc, a French mathematician who made a name for himself in France, believed that eventually all numbers would be drawn in an equal proportion. Although not entirely correct, the probability would always be equilibrium. The problem is, that probability is never equilibrium in the long term. In fact, human beings have a very distinct bias, known as the “Gamblers Fallacy”, making it more than once in a while to reach equilibrium out of the range.
Usually the gambler will claim that he has hit equilibrium and is now making a conscious effort to bet “the long run”. However, the opposite is actually true. The longer a gambler is at the table, the more he is in fact gambling against the odds. The odds will fluctuate from instance to instance, but if you are making the same size bet for each spin, you will come out ahead at the end of the session.
There are ways to beat the casino and not get suckered into the Gambler’s Fallacy, but if you want to have as much of an edge as possible when you are at the table, you need to understand the Martingale System.
Online Roulette is Boring
Online roulette is far less of a gamble than live roulette (but not as much fun either). The main reason for this is because the game is automated. Everything is programmed in such a way that the online game is much more predictable and relies on a systematic and repetitive approach to betting. Therefore, unless you can keeping the wits about you, you are probably not going to be able to make much of a profit.
Betting the systematically scheduled way is the only way to make a profit at online roulette. If you did not have the scheduled bet, your best bet is to find another game.