What is the Martingale Betting Strategy?

Ever heard of someone playing the Martingale betting strategy, or seen an actor portray the strategy in a movie? The Martingale strategy is a centuries old betting strategy that first became popular in France, and, as gambling became more popular in the USA, eventually made its way to Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and beyond.

Definition of Martingale Strategy: The Martingale betting strategy is meant to mitigate losing bets. It is a progressive betting sytem, based on the prinicple that if you double your bet following a loss, if you win, you'll break even; but if you lose, you double your bet again and repeat the process. It may work in the short term for low stakes action, but there is the possibility that your bet will grow exponentially large enough to drive you bankrupt.

Thoughts on Martingale Strategy:

1. The Martingale strategy makes sense for online casino games, such as blackjack, baccarat, roulette, caribbean stud poker, and other table games that allow continuous action and varied bets. It probably won't work with slots, because there is a low maximum number of lines you can play per spin.

2. Most sports bettors don't use the Martingale strategy when betting, in part because they would have to wait hours or days between sports matchups, whereas with casino games you can bet again right away. Hence, the number of times they can attempt to double their bet is regulated by sports schedules and how many games a player can potentially bet. Also, house "juice" or "vigorish" gets in the way of truly doubling your money.

3. Casinos actually encourage players to use the Martingale strategy, in part because it puts the odds in the house's favor. House limits on table games get in the way of infinitely doubling your bet. In effect, by capping the amount you can bet, the house doesn't allow you to "catch up" to make back your losses.

4. The Martingale Strategy might work well in the short run, if you're playing for low stakes Blackjack, Baccarat, or Craps. These games are the player's only chance at beating the house. For example, if you're counting cards in Blackjack, and are confident that you're going to get good hands, doubling up your bets for fluke losses or for increased profits makes sense.

5. Using the Martingale strategy with Roulette is a slow bleed. The odds are always stacked in favor of the house no matter what you do, so even if you only play black/red bets, you're eventually going to go bankrupt, or reach the house table limit.

6. Do NOT use the Martingale strategy for lottery games. Unlike casino games, where you have some chance of winning, doubling up bets after lottery losses would be completely futile. You will lose all your money in no time. Instead, use the Martingale strategy for table casino games.