The Martingale: What’s the Martingale Roulette Betting System?
Perhaps one of the most famous things about roulette is the use of roulette strategies for betting. The Martingale System happens to be among the most famous roulette betting systems, if not the most famous one.
In this guide, we will introduce you to the famous betting strategy, show you examples of Martingale betting in roulette, and even show you the best games to play online for real money. You can also learn to use the Reverse Martingale, another popular system built as the opposite of the Martingale betting strategy.
What Is the Martingale?
The Martingale System is a famous betting system used in roulette, blackjack, and other similar gambling games. It is among the most widely used systems worldwide, with millions of roulette novices and experts who swear by it regarding their gambling success.
The Martingale is a negative progression system where bets increase post-loss, while winning triggers a stake decrease.
What does negative progression mean?
For starters, progression refers to betting systems which rely on bet fluctuations depending on the outcome in the game. In other words, players change the bet amount after required conditions are met, usually a win or a loss, so the bet amount is progressive. The opposite of progressive is flat betting, where, regardless of the outcome, the bet stays the same.
The negative part refers to the fact that the bets are increased after a loss, and not a win. Positive progression means you up the bet when you win, and if you up it after a loss, it’s a negative progression. You can learn more about positive and negative progression in our expert guide right here. If you want to see what’s the deal with flat betting, check out this guide.
Back to the topic on hand. In most cases, players use the Martingale to wager on even-money wagers, such as Red/Black or Even/Odd bets in roulette, or dealer’s bet in baccarat, some similar craps and blackjack bets, and so on.
The Martingale betting strategy dates from the 18th century. It is one of the earliest betting systems designed to boost winnings and protect players from losing precious assets. As one of the most widely used systems, the Martingale helped millions of players stay safe while gambling at their favourite tables, such as roulette and blackjack (but it can be used for other games too).
How to Use the Martingale System
The entire point of the Martingale System is to increase the stake after a win, and keep it on the same initial stake amount after a win. In other words, you double the bet when you lose, and you keep it the same when you win. Simple, right?
It’s meant to be one of the simplest betting systems ever, and it’s why it’s so popular. However, to make it easier for you, we created an example of a Martingale System in use when playing roulette online.
Martingale in Roulette
Please bear in mind that the betting system in question is not built for every possible bet in roulette. Roulette, as you know, has a variety of betting options and positions, but only even money bets are suitable for Martingale betting. That includes:
- Red/Black
- Even/Odd
- High/Low
You can try betting with Martingale on other betting positions, but we strongly advise you not to. If you prefer to wager on other bets in roulette, you can check out other popular roulette betting strategies. If you want to increase winning chances overall, you can also check out valuable advantage gambling methods as well.
Martingale in Blackjack
Besides roulette, players also love to use Martingale when playing blackjack. The method slightly differs, but the point is the same. Double after a loss, keep it flat after a win.
The Martingale betting is great with classic blackjack which has an RTP of 99.41%, but you can apply it to other variants as well. To bet using this strategy in blackjack, simply select a unit that will be your initial stake (like £1) and then wager. If you lose, double it (£2), and if you win, place the initial stake again (£1). Even in the case of doubling down and splitting, the same principles apply.
The Martingale System Example
For the sake of this experiment, we will take £1 as our initial stake. As the point is to increase stakes after losses, you will see an increase in the stake after Loss, and a flat stake after Win.
| Round | Bet | Result | Profit (Total) |
| 1 | £1 | Win | £1 |
| 2 | £1 | Win | £1 |
| 3 | £1 | Loss | £0 |
| 4 | £2 | Loss | £0 |
| 5 | £4 | Loss | £0 |
| 6 | £8 | Win | £8 |
| 7 | £1 | Win | £1 |
As you can see, we’ve doubled the stake amount after each win, quickly getting to a £8 wager in the face of a third loss in a row. However, just one win is supposed to help you recuperate losses, so we’ve won a £8 after previously losing £7 in total over the previous three rounds.
Reverse Martingale
Most commonly used betting systems and strategies in roulettde are quite simple in theory. Players are required to remember one or two simple rules, and follow them without exception until the end of the round. That simplicity is what makes them so popular, after all.
However, as most of these systems involve a simple math, some players have wondered what would happen if they would just reverse the math. And that’s how we got to reverse systems, or in this case, Reverse Martingale.
Most roulette betting strategies have a reverse version, or a version in which the players flip the method backwards. The Martingale has perhaps one of the most famous ‘reverse’ strategies, which is fitting as it’s the most used system worldwide.
The Reverse Martingale is a positive progression system, which means two things:
- The bet changes during the round after wins/losses, making it a progressive system, and not flat;
- Because stakes increase after a win, we call it a positive system.
The Reverse Martingale is also frequently called the Paroli System, so if you happened to hear that name somewhere, just know that it’s the same system.
Reverse Martingale Betting Example
Here is a table showcasing a theoretical round of roulette played using the Reverse Martingale System or Paroli.
| Round | Bet | Result | Profit (Total) |
| 1 | £1 | Win | £1 |
| 2 | £2 | Win | £3 |
| 3 | £4 | Loss | £0 |
| 4 | £1 | Loss | £0 |
| 5 | £1 | Win | £1 |
| 6 | £2 | Win | £3 |
As you can see, with each win, the goal is to double the bet, while after a loss, the bet is reduced to the initial stake. In this example, the starting bet is £1, as that is the original unit. As the round progresses, so does the betting and profits.
Best Roulette Games to Play
Before we sign off, we’d like to recommend a couple of top-rated roulette games great for Martingale betting practice. Bear in mind that these are the best live dealer roulette tables accepting real-money wagers only.
PowerUP Roulette – Pragmatic Play
PowerUP Roulette is the perfect way to start your roulette live adventure. It’s one of the most popular live releases for Pragmatic Play, and it’s definitely a game you should check out. It’s full of superb surprises, that’s for sure. The focus of the game is on the Bonus Round where you can hit up wins of up to 8000x the stake. The max win potential is set on 15,525x the stake.
PLAY POWERUP ROULETTE AT BITSTARZ CASINO
Ultimate Roulette – Ezugi
The second title we highly recommend comes from Ezugi, an undisputed king of live casino in niche markets. Ultimate Roulette is part of a new series of live tables called Ultimate, each offering a fantastic insight into premium live gambling. Be sure to check it out alongside other Ultimate Ezugi live tables such as Ultimate Sic Bo and Ultimate Andar Bahar.
PLAY ULTIMATE ROULETTE AT LEOVEGAS CASINO
Lightning Roulette – Evolution
The third title on this fantastic list is none other than Lightning Roulette, one of the most legendary live roulette tables ever made. Evolution is behind this innovative table, and we have Evolution to thank for a string of similar tables Lightning Roulette inspired or encouraged. If you want, you can also try the even more intense version of the game with XXXtreme Lightning Roulette Live.
PLAY LIGHTNING ROULETTE AT VEGASLAND CASINO
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our comprehensive guide into the Martingale System of betting in roulette and other gambling games. You can check out our other guides for roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and other casino games here.
If you want to see other roulette games – and other casino games in general – be sure to stop by our game database. We also offer exclusive bonuses, and there’s a big chance you might find among them one that’s the perfect bonus for your casino adventure. For more updates, tips, tricks, and guides – stay tuned!
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