Betting Progression: Positive and Negative Progression Betting Systems
Betting progression is a common expression heard around roulette tables in casinos. In fact, most players using betting strategies are using some form of betting progression. In roulette, betting progression refers to positive or negative progression betting systems used by players as a means of bankroll management. Controlling the stakes helps monitor losses, something every roulette player ought to know.
In this article, we’ll discuss betting progression and common positive and negative progression strategies. We’ve prepared common positive progression systems, as well as popular negative progression betting strategies. See why roulette betting roulette strategies are useful and how to use them to your advantage.
What is Bet Progression?
Bet progression refers to betting strategies that employ mathematical calculations to adjust wagers according to previous outcomes. In short, one round outcome will determine the size of your next wager. Players wager on the upcoming rounds based on how they’ve fared in previous ones.
When deciding on a bet, you have a choice to either keep the same bet amount as before or change it by increasing/decreasing the sum. If you choose to stick to the same bet, you are using a fixed or flat bet system. Flat betting is an entirely different topic that deserves special attention.
In any case, changing the bet means you are using a progressive roulette strategy. It’s progressive as it implies a change to the sum depending on the outcome, i.e., it does not stay flat.
What you do with the bet after a loss is what determines the type of strategy. There are two types: positive and negative progression strategies.
We’ll try to explain the differences between the two types using our table below. The first column entails a hypothetical round outcome, while the second and third columns state what you do with the bet amount in the round after that.
|
Outcome |
Positive Progression | Negative Progression |
| Win | Increase the wager | Decrease the wager |
| Loss | Decrease the wager | Increase the wager |
If you increase the bet after a win, that’s a positive progression strategy. On the other hand, increasing the stakes after a loss means you are going for a negative progression roulette strategy.
In the following sections, we’ll go into more detail about both types of roulette betting progression strategies. We’ll start with positive progression strategies, and then slowly switch to negative progression systems.
Most Popular Roulette Strategies
The subject of roulette strategies is a broad topic, and it often entails naming fancy and elaborate roulette betting systems after the chaps who’ve invented them. The sheer number of roulette betting strategies implies players’ creativity knows no bounds when it comes to figuring out a way to maximise wins in online and live roulette.
Martingale, Labouchere, Hollandish, and a whole lot of other betting systems exist in the roulette ecosystem, so novices often get overwhelmed by the choices. And honestly, how can you know which one to choose when you don’t even understand the basics of roulette betting progression? Regardless of the roulette variant you enjoy playing – be it European of even French Roulette – you’ll need an effective way to curb losses and maximise wins.
Luckily, there is a way to narrow down the search and pick the one that suits you the most. In the following sections, you’ll see some of the most popular roulette betting strategies often used by novices and experts alike.
We’ll briefly explain the main traits of positive progression strategies and their negative counterparts, and show you some of the most popular betting systems used in online roulette. We’ll start with positive progression strategies, and then slowly switch to negative progression systems.
Positive Progression Systems
Positive progression roulette betting entails stake increases after winning rounds, while stakes are to be decreased in case of a loss.
That’s the gist of it, but there’s more to positive progressive betting than meets the eye. Positive progression sounds easy enough – the bet goes up if it’s a win, and down if it’s a loss – but different systems mean there are several ways to do that. The whole point of positive progression is that it’s meant to protect you from a losing streak by gradually cutting down the bet if you encounter consecutive losses, or boost it up as the wins go on.
Moreover, positive progression is very popular in roulette, but you can use it for other gambling games, including craps. As this article focuses on online roulette games, we’ll speak from a roulette player’s point of view.
An important part of positive progressive betting systems is that you have to garner enough smaller winnings before you start raising the stakes. The reasoning is simple: you can encounter a losing streak anytime, so you can easily run out of money if you haven’t prepared a decent bankroll beforehand.
Let’s see the most popular variants of positive progression betting systems.
Common Positive Progression Systems
You can play roulette for real money and use a variety of betting strategies. However, positive progression systems are perfect for beginners, as they are simple and easy to learn. Moreover, their main advantage is the leverage players get when they win. Boosting winnings and protecting them against loss is a key motivation, which is why inexperienced players typically start with positive progression betting systems.
Here are the most common positive progression roulette betting strategies.
- Paroli
- 1-3-2-6
- Reverse Labouchere
- Parlay
- Oscar’s Grind
Each has a specific pattern of bet increasing, as you’ll see shortly. They do share one thing though: all support the idea of leveraging profits after a winning streak. Regardless of the strategy you choose, you’ll have to follow simple steps: increase the bet by proposed units after a win, and reduce the wager after a losing round.
Paroli
Paroli is arguably the most popular positive progression betting strategy. It is perfect for punters searching for longer winning streaks. Plus, the best thing about it is that losses don’t make such a big impact on your bankroll, which is why it’s quite suitable for novices.
In a nutshell, punters using the Paroli strategy boost the win by doubling the stake when they hit a round and return to your original stake when you lose.
For instance, let’s say you are betting €1 on a round. Winning means you should increase the bet by betting €2. If you lose that wager, you return to the initial wager – €1. In case of a win, Paroli states that you should wager €4. If you win again, you are expected to stake €8 on the next round. If it’s a miss, you are back to zero (in this case, zero is the initial stake of €1).
An interesting thing about Paroli is that, after three consecutive wins, it advises players to leave the table or return to the original stake (in this case, €1).
1-3-2-6
The 1-3-2-6 betting system is allegedly influenced by the Paroli system. It’s often used in roulette, but you can apply it to wagering on blackjack, craps, and baccarat.
It works best with even-money bets such as Even/Odd and Red/Black. To understand how it works, you first need to understand that your initial bet becomes one unit.
Hypothetically, a €1 bet that you wagered when you joined a table is one unit. If you win, you have €2, to which you’ll add another unit (€1) to have €3 on the table as a wager. This is the second step in the four-step sequence. If you win again, you will have €4. According to the 1-3-2-6 strategy, you should now increase the bet to be 2 units (which is €2, so decrease the wager to be only €2. If you manage to win that as well, you are now supposed to bet a 6-unit wager. As you’ve wagered €2 and won €2, you now have €4. Six units in this case mean you should place €6 as the final wager, meaning you should add only €2 to the tally.
Reverse Labouchere
The third-most-popular positive progression roulette betting strategy is the Reverse Labouchere. The original Labouchere is a negative progression betting system, but players have found that the rules that Labouchere proposes work great in reverse mode as well. Meaning, you can do great if you use what the Labouchere system dictates, but in reverse order.
It’s not on the simpler side of the spectrum, so you’d have to have at least some experience before applying it to your games. Again, it’s perfect for all gambling games, including roulette, craps, and baccarat. It’s designed for even-money wagers.
To use it, you’ll need to come up with a sequence of numbers, anything you want. The first bet is the sum of the first and last number in the sequence. If you win, you add the result at the end of the sequence. On the other hand, if you lose, you erase the first and last number from the sequence and then move to the second and penultimate number on the sequence.
If you are left with only one number in the sequence, that number is your stake. The cycle ends when you run out of numbers in the sequence.
Parlay
Parlay positive progression betting is a strategy used in blackjack and roulette. To a certain extent, it’s very similar to Paroli, which is why many players use the terms interchangeably. However, the main difference is that Parlay is not restricted to three consecutive wins only.
Before you start betting, pick a stating wager to use as the yardstick to measure future bets. If you win, increase the bet by adding one unit to the amount you’ve won. For instance, if a unit is €2, you should add €2 to every wager after a win. If there are three consecutive wins, the result will look like this:
- Wager €2, win €2, the total is €4.
- Up the bet by adding €2 to the previous win. You should wager €4.
- You’ve won again, so you have €8 now. You should stake €6, as the rules dictate only adding one unit to the previous bet.
You are free to remain seated at the table for as long as you want – or as long as you can afford it.
Oscar’s Grind
Oscar’s Grind is an interesting positive betting strategy, but one that entails a wee bit more math than previous ones. To use Oscar’s Grid positive progression bet, you will need an original bet as the unit, and a dedication to wait for table streaks.
According to Oscar’s Grind, you need to increase the wager by 1 unit whenever you win and keep in on the previous stake whenever you lose. It sounds simple, but you might be confused as you start playing. Wins move the progression forward while losing keeps you in one place, instead of decreasing the wager.
Oscar’s Grind greatly benefits from longer streaks, especially winning ones. This is when you can really boost your bankroll by a lot, but it’s not as great if the streak is a losing one. Although beginners often use positive progression strategies, they generally go for simpler ones such as Paroli, rather than Oscar’s Grind.
Negative Progression Systems
Negative progression betting systems decrease the wagering amount after wins, while losses generate a bet increase.
Structurally, they are similar to positive systems, but the rule of bet increase/decrease produces different results than using positive progressive strategies.
The goal of using a negative approach is to produce bigger winnings and recuperate lost winnings as quickly as possible.
If you remember what we’ve said about positive approaches, you know that beginners favour positive progressive betting as the methods serve to protect them from losing too much. On the other hand, negative systems are there to ensure that when you lose, you are able to quickly and easily recuperate what you’ve lost. As the rounds progress and you go from one losing round to another, you increase the wager and hope to land a big win – one that can compensate for everything you’ve previously lost at the table.
This sounds interesting, but it’s not exactly advisable if you are a novice. Inexperienced players are encouraged to stick to positive methods as they’re much safer than negative betting. Negative progression roulette strategies are suitable for veterans who have been playing for years. Negative systems are popular in all gambling games, including blackjack, craps, and baccarat.
In the next section, you can see some of the most popular negative progression roulette betting systems.
Common Negative Progression Strategies
Negative progression betting systems abound, and all players must find a method that’s tailored to fit their every need. Experienced players have had time to test out a variety of betting techniques, and if you are looking for a good negative progression strategy for roulette betting, you are at the right place.
The main motivation pro roulette players have for opting for negative progressive roulette strategies is the swift recuperation of lost funds. However, increasing stakes when losing can quickly deplete your resources – so use it carefully and always play responsibly.
Here are the most common negative progression roulette betting strategies.
- D’Alembert
- Fibonacci
- Martingale
- Hollandish
- Labouchere
Although they all revolve around bet augmentation after losing rounds and decreasing bets when winning, each strategy is specific. They all follow a specific pattern, so it’s wise to learn more about them before using them at roulette tables with real money. Let’s talk a bit more about the strategies below.
D’Alembert
D’Alembert is the simplest roulette betting strategy you can use for online wagering. The essence of D’Alembert is to increase a bet by 1 unit after every loss and decrease it for the same amount after a win.
The point of this method is to get back to betting smaller units and regain previously squandered funds. It’s exceptionally easy to master, as the general principle is pretty straightforward.
It’s great for even bets such as Red/Black, Even/Odd, and 1-18/19-36.
Here’s an example of a roulette session using the D’Alembert roulette strategy. Your first wager is €10, which we take as the unit. If you win in the round, you will stick to wagering €10 – as it’s the core unit for the session. If you lose, you will increase the bet by betting one extra unit. In other words, you will then wager €20 on the round. Should the next outcome be a loss again, you should wager €30 to regain everything you’ve lost up to that point. If you win, you should decrease the wager and bet €20 on the subsequent round.
Fibonacci
The Fibonacci roulette strategy is among the most popular strategies players use to wager on roulette tables. It got its name from the famous Leonardo Fibonacci who came up with the Fibonacci sequence. The sequence is used in the strategy as the basis for your wagering amount.
The sequence consists of numbers that are the sum of the two previous numbers:
1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 8 – 13 – 21 – 34 – 55 – 89 – 144 – 233 – 377 – 610 – 987
It’s endless, which means you can use it for as long as you want. It’s not exactly simple – like the other systems – but it’s certainly fun to try out.
Betting with the Fibonacci sequence means you should follow the logic of the sequence. Of course, you can pick any amount as your unit to wager on the rounds. For the sake of this article, let’s say you’ve chosen to wager €1 on the first round. If you lost, you should wager the sum again. If the next round results in a loss again, you should up the bet to €2. Now, let’s say you’ve won the round and now have a positive balance of €2 (as you’ve lost €2 and won €4). In these instances, we recommend restarting the sequence and placing €1 as the next wager. If you are far along the sequence, you don’t have to restart it – just go back two steps on the sequence and start from there.
Martingale
The Martingale is by far the most popular and widespread roulette betting practice. Millions of players put their faith in Martingale, many of whom found it a profitable practice in the long run.
However, the aggressive nature of the Martingale has spelt trouble for many a punter throughout the years, as losses can quickly hit the roof. Players often find themselves spiralling, which is when the smartest thing is to leave the table and come back another day when Lady Luck comes back.
According to the Martingale roulette betting strategy, bets are doubled after a loss. Say, if you wager €10 on a round and lose, you should wager €20 on the next round. If you keep losing, you should wager €40, followed by €80, and so forth. If you win, you can choose how much you want to wager – it can be a smaller sum or keep the current stake, it’s up to you.
Martingale is popular because it’s arguably the fastest way to replenish the bankroll, but it’s also dangerous as you can get into a losing streak and completely wipe out your entire bankroll. Use it safely!
Hollandish
The penultimate roulette betting strategy we’ll mention is the Hollandish, a fun yet somewhat obscure strategy. Not many players use it but we are quite pleased with the pattern Hollandish roulette betting follows that we had to talk a bit about it.
The Hollandish betting system is a negative progression approach, which means bets go up when you lose. However, the point lies in block betting. Namely, Hollandish groups three rounds into blocks where you use one betting sum. If your balance after the first block is higher than the starting balance, you’ve won that sequence and you reset it. But if you’ve lost money and the balance is lower than the starting one, you should increase the bet by two units (a unit is a starting bet).
If you wagered €2 on the first three rounds and lost three times, you are looking at a net loss of €6. That means you should increase the bet in the next sequence by adding two units to the original one (2+2+2=6), resulting in a €6 bet. You need to wager it three times and then count the net profit to see whether you should boost it to €18 or reset it to €2.
Labouchere
The final negative progression strategy which we discuss here is the Labouchere roulette strategy. The Labouchere system has many names, The Labby, Cross-Out, and Split Martingale being some of them. It’s a negative system, but players have found that a reverse option is also productive, and it’s known as the Reverse Labouchere.
Bear in mind that it’s slightly more complex than other systems as it entails a bit more math than usual. If you are new to roulette betting systems, be careful with Labouchere. It’s great for even bets such as Red/Black, Even/Odd, and 1-18/19-36.
So, according to the original Labouchere, you should create a sequence of numbers to be used as betting units. To form a stake, you add the first and last number on the sequence and use the sum as the wager. If you win, you cross off the used numbers from the list and move to the next two numbers (the first and last digit). If you lose, you add the bet at the end of the sequence.
Like with Reverse Labouchere, the sequence ends when you run out of numbers, and you are free to start a new cycle with new numbers.
Why Use Betting Systems for Roulette
Are roulette betting strategies actually helpful? And if yes, how do they exactly help players given roulette is a game of luck and therefore nothing you do can possibly affect the outcome?
Glad you asked. Turns out, roulette is indeed a game of luck, but one that’s exceedingly popular. Many a player tried to subdue it and learn to harness the power of roulette, but truth be told, the only thing you can harness is your bankroll. And you will probably agree – money management is the most important thing to control at a gambling table.
Therefore, saying betting roulette strategies matter would be correct, but not all systems are one-size-fits-all. In most cases, it’s more one-size-fits-a-few than anything!
The choice between betting strategies falls on the player due to their personal preferences. An unwritten rule is that most beginners opt for positive progression bets, while experienced veterans opt for negative progression in roulette betting strategies.
Regardless of the variant you choose – and the type – you are sure to protect money at least a little bit. Moreover, roulette betting strategies have proved to be quite beneficial in ensuring a quick return of lost funds during the session.
Progressive Betting in Other Games
What is progressive betting in blackjack? Can you use progressive betting in other games?
Yes, you can. You can use various gambling strategies for any gambling game in the universe, it’s totally up to you. We’ve mentioned that a couple of strategies have found the best application in other games except roulette. In general, only slot gamers tend to not use the abovementioned strategies as they don’t need them. All casino players going for more classic gambling games – table games – are more likely to use at least some kind of pattern for gambling on the internet and in brick-and-mortar casinos.
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