History of Martingale Strategy
The Martingale strategy dates all the way back to the 18th century when it was used for the simplest of games like coin tossing.
It has not only been used at roulette tables, but it was originally used on the simplest of forms of games.
Martingale is most likely derived from the name of a casino owner in London named John Henry Martindale,
who thought that the casino always had the edge and would win.
As a result, he advised his casino’s visitors to double their bets at the roulette table whenever they lost, so that they could recover their losses.
Martindale probably would not have been too happy about Charles Wells’s success if he had encouraged him at the end of the 19th century.
Through his Martingale strategy, Charles became very wealthy. He managed to turn 4000 Francs into a million at a casino in Monte Carlo in just three days.
How Martingale works
You can apply the Martingale strategy at the roulette tables by doubling your stakes after every losing bet, as well as restoring it to its original stake after every win.
When using Martingale, you should only bet on alternatives that will give you double your stake, such as even/uneven numbers or red/black colors.
Here is an example of using the strategy:
You decide to place your first bet at €1 and select the color red. The ball does indeed land on red and you win, so your stake remains the same as it should be after each win.
At this point, you make another €1 bet, which you lose. After every loss, you should always place an additional €2 bet.
The result is that you again lose, so you are forced to double your bet, which makes it €4 in total.
This was the last round in which you won, so you re-set your stake back to €1, which was your original one.
In this way, you will bet €1 next, and if it is lost, you will double your bet.
Pros And Cons
Using the Martingale strategy has the obvious benefit of always winning the same amount you originally bet, providing you double your stake after a loss.
On the downside, if you hit a streak of losing, the amounts will quickly increase, until eventually, they reach stakes that are too high for you to afford to place or larger than the table’s maximum.
Take a look at the example below of how the stakes quickly increase when the stake is only $1.
You’ve already lost nine times, which means that just to win one euro you would have to bet €512.
You’re probably curious how likely it is to lose nine times in a row?
There is a chance of this happening about 1 in 1000 times. Once it does happen, and it eventually will, you run a big risk of losing all your money.
You can find out about other strategies + of their pros and cons over here.
Is Martingale a good strategy?
If you want to use Martingale, it completely depends on how much money and how much risk you’re willing to take, along with what your goal is with roulette.
If you think you can afford to have much larger losses when you do have a losing session, the Martingale strategy is a great one to use if you think it’s worth it to have a higher chance of ending your session in profit.
As a result, you should always be prepared to lose the entire amount of money you have if you decide to use this strategy.
You have a higher chance of winning when you have more money, but also a higher chance of losing when too much money is spent.
Final thoughts
In theory, the Martingale strategy works flawlessly, however in reality it will not work due to your own budget or the casino’s table limits.
There’s a downside, though: you have to risk a lot for very little reward.
Martingale roulette strategy is a high risk strategy that is most appropriate for those who want to greatly increase their chances of making a profit on any single session, but are willing to discard all of their money if they keep losing.
