Debunking the Myths in Martingale System in Playing Roulette

One of the most important things that everyone should learn in order to be able to enjoy a game like roulette is how to manage their bankroll well. It means, aside from learning the basic strategy about betting in roulette, you also have to take care of your budget and not invest too much at one time. The best way to do that is to invest the money in increments.

One gambling system was designed in 18th century Europe, and has been widely used ever since. It involves winning one unit, then doubling that unit until a loss is encountered, after which you return to the original stake on the next spin of the roulette wheel or whatever game you are playing. The system works as long as the player’s stake is higher than the next loss.

Since this system has been used in land-based and online roulette games since it has little to no house edge, many people have started believing that it actually can make you win consistently every time, no matter what. This belief is not necessarily true.

Martingale System and Myths

This first myth has to do with the procedure of multiplying your bankroll or chips every time you win using the Martingale System.

“People think that in order to achieve success with this system one only needs to keep on doubling their bet after winning at a game and then, because there’s no house edge in it, there should always be a win. Yes, as long as you keep on winning,” says Mr. Ong of WS88.

That makes sense right? But then what happens when your luck changes and you start losing?

It’s the same concept actually because of the theory that says every time someone loses he/she runs out of money or chips. So if you lose with one chip you go to the next level of betting and bet two chips. If you lose again, you are supposed to bet 4 then 8, 16, 32 and so forth until it reaches 256 coins.

However, if we apply this concept into our formula we’ll get a little bit confused because 256 is not divisible by 2 or 5, which is the basis of this system. So what do we do after we lose 256 coins?

It’s simple, we start again by risking one coin and continue doing so until we regain our bankroll or chips.

With some more concepts that are applied into this roulette strategy it says that you will eventually win every time as long as you stick to this system.

So now that we know the main concept of this roulette strategy, let’s debunk some myths surrounding it:

Myth 1: The Martingale System is a sure win as long as you keep on following its procedure.

Fact: This strategy does not provide a certain win, but a highly probable win in the long run. According to statistics, after 30 times of doubling your bet and losing your money, there’s only 5 chances that you’ll win, compared to 15 chances if you didn’t use this roulette strategy.

Getting 30 successive losses and winning once gives a probability of 0.9538 (but only in the long run). Getting 30 successive losses without using Martingale System gives a probability of 0.9333, which means that it is only 89% effective as compared to the roulette strategy.

Myth 2: The Martingale System is a sure win as long as you keep on following its procedure until you get to 256 coins or chips.

Fact: There’s no such thing as winning every time if we are going by the probability theory behind this system (but it is highly probable that you’ll win). By this time, the casino’s advantage has already surpassed your possible win. If you are going to play online roulette or offline and follow this system of betting, it is highly advised that you reduce your bets every time after winning a certain amount.

Myth 3: The Martingale System is one of the most reliable roulette systems out there. There are numerous players who have tried this system and some even mastered it to the point that they become successful in winning their bets.  

Fact: The real life application of this roulette strategy is quite difficult to understand for most people because it starts with very little money which will gradually increase as you keep on winning bets. If you are planning to use this system in playing roulette, make sure that you have a good bankroll for it.

Myth4: The Martingale System can be used by any player in any kind of gambling game since it is not an erroneous roulette strategy.

Fact: While there’s no such thing as an erroneous roulette strategy (it only depends on how you use and apply it), the Martingale System can be used in any kind of gambling game as long as you know how to do it. That includes playing slots, keno or blackjack online.

Myth 5: The Martingale System is not the same as the Labouchere System in playing roulette.

Fact: They are very much similar to each other because they both involve doubling your bet after every loss until you win. But the only difference is that the Martingale system uses more levels of bets (double, double, double, double etc) while the Labouchere System only uses two levels of bets (double and quadruple). 

Takeaway

The Martingale system is a good foundation for any roulette player who wants to make money from winning streaks without putting all of his money at risk. If you have difficulty implementing this strategy in playing roulette games online because of the sheer number of roulette players, then you should try switching to live games instead.

Mr. Ong also reiterated that it’s like a slow and steady way of making money from winning streaks in playing roulette. It may not be as promising as what some players think but it’s definitely better than going broke if you don’t know how to handle your money.