Martingale Blackjack

The reason casino blackjack tables have a maximum bet is exactly to counter the Martingale strategy. For example, a $10 minimum Table typically has a $500 maximum. Join Brett as he explains how to use the Martingale betting technique to walk away with more than you spend in Blackjack.-http://nerdonthestreet.comhttp://.

The Martingale: Progression to Depression

(Note from Arnold Snyder: To learn how to win at blackjack over the long run, with or without card counting, start with our Intro to Winning Blackjack.)

Question from a Reader regarding the Martingale Betting System: I lost a substantial amount of my savings playing blackjack at [casino name deleted] in Atlantic City — almost $30,000. I admit that I was using a progressive betting system — a straight martingale, and I know that won't give me any advantage — but even so, I feel pretty certain that I was cheated. Powerball analysis.

I was winning steadily for quite a few hours using this betting system (a simple double-up after a loss), then in a short series of hands that lasted only about 30 minutes — they totally cleaned me out. I was playing perfect basic strategy.

I have enclosed a chart which shows the series of bets I made, and the win/loss results that eventually bankrupted me. I would like to know your expert opinion on whether or not this could have happened in an honest game.

Can I take any kind of legal action against the casino if this series of hands is indicative of cheating? I have a friend who witnessed the debacle who can attest to the truth of what happened.

Answer: I have studied your results, and although anyone would acknowledge that you suffered an unusually unlucky series of hands — and an especially devastatingly unlucky series for any martingale player — the series of hands in and of itself would not be indicative of cheating. I highly doubt you were cheated.

The straight martingale is one of the riskiest betting systems any gambler could use. Any gambler who ever has used it with any regularity could tell you his own hair-raising 'impossibly unlucky' tale of why he gave it up for more conservative betting methods.

Here is what happened to you:

1) You bet $10, and lost.

2) You bet $20, and lost.

3) You bet $40, and lost. More Gambling Dice Games videos.

4) You bet $80, and lost.

5) You bet $160, and doubled down on your 11 vs. the dealer 8, and you lost.

6) This double loss required you to place a next bet of $480, which you then lost.

7) You placed a bet of $960, and split your 8s vs. a dealer 10, and you lost both hands.

8) This double loss required you to place a bet of $2880, which was higher than the $2000 table max. So you bet the max, and lost.

9) On your next hand, you bet the max again, and insured your 20 vs. the dealer ace. You lost both the insurance bet, and your hand when the dealer hit to 21. This put you behind by a total of $7880.

10) You then bet the max, and pushed.

11) You then bet the max and won!

You say that the above series of results took about 10 minutes, and that you do not recall the exact series of wins and losses in the approximately two dozen hands that you played over the next 20 minutes. You note there were a few wins interspersed with the mostly losses, but you had to have had 12 more max bet losses than wins (perhaps 18 losses and 6 wins?), as you left the table a $29,980 loser.

How 'impossible' is this?

Unfortunately, not very.

You must realize that you were required to start placing max bets after only 7 consecutive losses. Once you are actually placing $2000 bets, a loss of $30,000 is not at all unusual. This would be equivalent to a $5 bettor losing $75 — which any experienced $5 bettor could tell you would not be uncommon. If you count your double loss on your split pair as two hands, you actually began your unfortunate series of losses by losing 10 hands in a row. How unusual is this?

If I were flipping a coin, with heads being a win, and tails a loss, the odds against me coming up tails 10 times in a row would be about 1000-to-1. That's pretty unlikely, though far from impossible.

Blackjack, however, is less advantageous than a coin flip. In 100 hands, a basic strategy player will experience, on average, 43 wins, 48 losses and 9 pushes. Since a martingale bettor ignores pushes and lets his bet ride, we can ignore them in our analysis. For every 100 win/loss decisions, a basic strategy player will see about 53 losses and 47 wins.

With these win/loss proportions, the odds against losing 10 consecutive decisions are only about 500-to-1. Now 500-to-1 may seem nearly impossible to many people, but realistically, at any given time, a series of losses equivalent to yours is happening to dozens of players in Atlantic City, and to hundreds of people every day of the year in U.S. casinos. It's happening right now to one out of every 500 people who are playing. How many tens of thousands of people are playing blackjack right now in U.S. casinos?

You must realize that if you had been flat-betting $10, instead of 'doubling-up' to try to recapture your previous losses, you would only have lost $110 (and this includes both your pair split and your double down loss!), instead of being behind by $7,880 at the end of that first unfortunate string of losses. And your total loss at the end of the debacle would only have been $230, not $29,980.

The martingale is a systematic method of chasing your losses. There's no other way to describe it. This is about the most foolish way to gamble. You violated the single most important rule for gamblers: If you can't afford to lose it, don't bet it. ♠

For more information on blackjack betting systems, see the Blackjack Forum Professional Gambling Library

Martingale is associated mainly with Roulette, but it's still one of the most popular blackjack betting system. Even though Blackjack Martingale system initially seems like one that will never lose, ultimately it is a very risky strategy that could see you waving goodbye to your entire pot. It's more of a short-term gamble as it's best to know when to stop rather than being too greedy, and must not be looked at as an easy way to make long-term money.

At InterCasino, we have two providers of Live Casino games: Casino Cosmopolitan and Casino Paris. Casino Cosmopolitan is operated by Evolution Gaming, a Swedish company. Intercasino live casino.

Most of the time you will win but your prizes will be small; however, the money lost on the occasion you do fail will be much greater. One of the reasons this system is so popular is due to its simplicity and also because people wrongly believe that it is a surefire way to make money.

What is the Martingale System?

Martingale is a negative progressive system (vs Paroli, a positive progression strategy) that requires you to double your bets placed after every loss. For example, if your first bet is $5 and you lose that hand, your next bet will need to be $10. You then continue to double your losing bets until you win a hand. Once you do win a hand, you will then make a profit of one unit, so your original $5 will be doubled and $5 will be your profit no matter how many sequences it has taken you to get there. Players must always stick to their base stake even when they win.

Advantages

• There is a good chance of winning if played for a short time, but you must be willing to lose a large amount when it does go wrong
• It's easy to use – all you have to do is double your bet when you lose and stick to your base stake when you win
• Your stake can be as high or as low as you would like

Disadvantages

• You can end up betting a substantial amount after only a few losses in a row. In general, negative progression systems, such as Martingale, are the most dangerous.
• Unless you have a high bankroll, it is possible to run out of money very easily
• Depending on what casino you are using, it is very possible to reach the table limit causing you to bet less than is needed for the system to work
• You could find yourself in a position where your wager completely outweighs the return. For example, if you start off with a $5 bet and lose your first five bets, you are already $155 down and the only profit you will get is $5
• It's hard to realize when you should stop. You may find yourself chasing losses and betting a substantial amount of money and potentially more than you initially wanted.

It is worth noting that this system should only be used purely for entertainment purposes and should not be looked at a way of making money. Casinos are there to have fun so please make sure you gamble responsibly.

Martingale Blackjack Odds

11) You then bet the max and won!

You say that the above series of results took about 10 minutes, and that you do not recall the exact series of wins and losses in the approximately two dozen hands that you played over the next 20 minutes. You note there were a few wins interspersed with the mostly losses, but you had to have had 12 more max bet losses than wins (perhaps 18 losses and 6 wins?), as you left the table a $29,980 loser.

How 'impossible' is this?

Unfortunately, not very.

You must realize that you were required to start placing max bets after only 7 consecutive losses. Once you are actually placing $2000 bets, a loss of $30,000 is not at all unusual. This would be equivalent to a $5 bettor losing $75 — which any experienced $5 bettor could tell you would not be uncommon. If you count your double loss on your split pair as two hands, you actually began your unfortunate series of losses by losing 10 hands in a row. How unusual is this?

If I were flipping a coin, with heads being a win, and tails a loss, the odds against me coming up tails 10 times in a row would be about 1000-to-1. That's pretty unlikely, though far from impossible.

Blackjack, however, is less advantageous than a coin flip. In 100 hands, a basic strategy player will experience, on average, 43 wins, 48 losses and 9 pushes. Since a martingale bettor ignores pushes and lets his bet ride, we can ignore them in our analysis. For every 100 win/loss decisions, a basic strategy player will see about 53 losses and 47 wins.

With these win/loss proportions, the odds against losing 10 consecutive decisions are only about 500-to-1. Now 500-to-1 may seem nearly impossible to many people, but realistically, at any given time, a series of losses equivalent to yours is happening to dozens of players in Atlantic City, and to hundreds of people every day of the year in U.S. casinos. It's happening right now to one out of every 500 people who are playing. How many tens of thousands of people are playing blackjack right now in U.S. casinos?

You must realize that if you had been flat-betting $10, instead of 'doubling-up' to try to recapture your previous losses, you would only have lost $110 (and this includes both your pair split and your double down loss!), instead of being behind by $7,880 at the end of that first unfortunate string of losses. And your total loss at the end of the debacle would only have been $230, not $29,980.

The martingale is a systematic method of chasing your losses. There's no other way to describe it. This is about the most foolish way to gamble. You violated the single most important rule for gamblers: If you can't afford to lose it, don't bet it. ♠

For more information on blackjack betting systems, see the Blackjack Forum Professional Gambling Library

Martingale is associated mainly with Roulette, but it's still one of the most popular blackjack betting system. Even though Blackjack Martingale system initially seems like one that will never lose, ultimately it is a very risky strategy that could see you waving goodbye to your entire pot. It's more of a short-term gamble as it's best to know when to stop rather than being too greedy, and must not be looked at as an easy way to make long-term money.

At InterCasino, we have two providers of Live Casino games: Casino Cosmopolitan and Casino Paris. Casino Cosmopolitan is operated by Evolution Gaming, a Swedish company. Intercasino live casino.

Most of the time you will win but your prizes will be small; however, the money lost on the occasion you do fail will be much greater. One of the reasons this system is so popular is due to its simplicity and also because people wrongly believe that it is a surefire way to make money.

What is the Martingale System?

Martingale is a negative progressive system (vs Paroli, a positive progression strategy) that requires you to double your bets placed after every loss. For example, if your first bet is $5 and you lose that hand, your next bet will need to be $10. You then continue to double your losing bets until you win a hand. Once you do win a hand, you will then make a profit of one unit, so your original $5 will be doubled and $5 will be your profit no matter how many sequences it has taken you to get there. Players must always stick to their base stake even when they win.

Advantages

• There is a good chance of winning if played for a short time, but you must be willing to lose a large amount when it does go wrong
• It's easy to use – all you have to do is double your bet when you lose and stick to your base stake when you win
• Your stake can be as high or as low as you would like

Disadvantages

• You can end up betting a substantial amount after only a few losses in a row. In general, negative progression systems, such as Martingale, are the most dangerous.
• Unless you have a high bankroll, it is possible to run out of money very easily
• Depending on what casino you are using, it is very possible to reach the table limit causing you to bet less than is needed for the system to work
• You could find yourself in a position where your wager completely outweighs the return. For example, if you start off with a $5 bet and lose your first five bets, you are already $155 down and the only profit you will get is $5
• It's hard to realize when you should stop. You may find yourself chasing losses and betting a substantial amount of money and potentially more than you initially wanted.

It is worth noting that this system should only be used purely for entertainment purposes and should not be looked at a way of making money. Casinos are there to have fun so please make sure you gamble responsibly.

Martingale Blackjack Odds

Learn Blackjack Basic Strategy

Last, no matter what strategy you choose to use, make sure that you do it in a trustworthy and fast payout online casino.