The Martingale Strategy in Crypto Gambling: Does It Work?

The Martingale strategy is a popular betting system that’s designed to aggressively chase down losses at an online casino. You can follow this system when playing table games like roulette, baccarat, and craps.

We’ll explain how to use the Martingale strategy at a casino. You’ll discover the system’s key pros and cons, and we’ll then suggest some alternative approaches.

What Is the Martingale Strategy?

The Martingale strategy is a negative progression system that requires you to double your stake after each loss. The idea is to wipe out all of your previous losses with a single win.

This system was named after an 18th-century London casino owner called John H. Martindale, who advised players to double their bets after a loss. The strategy spread around the world, and it eventually became known as the Martingale betting system. Legendary gambler Charles Wells famously broke the bank in Monte Carlo when allegedly using the Martingale betting strategy in 1891.

Many online casino players now use the Martingale strategy. You can apply it to bets that pay even money (1:1). These are some of the most common examples:

• Red/black, odd/even, or high/low when playing roulette.
• The player bet when playing baccarat.
• Pass/don’t pass or come/don’t come on a craps table.

You can try using it when playing blackjack, but you’d run into complications when doubling down, splitting cards, or receiving a natural. It doesn’t really apply to slots or video poker either, as they offer a range of different payouts. However, you can use the Martingale on simple variety games like Dice or Limbo.

How Martingale Works: A Worked Example

The Martingale requires you to double your bet after each loss. It’s a negative progression system, so you don’t increase your stake after a win. The goal is to grind out lots of small wins while aggressively chasing down losses.

If you want to use the Martingale strategy at a casino, start by setting a base unit. This should only be a small percentage of your bankroll. For example, if you have a $1,000 budget, you could opt for a base unit of $10. That’s 1% of your bankroll, which is appropriate for such an aggressive approach.

You’d then start by placing a $10 bet. If you win, bet $10 again. Keep betting $10 until you lose. If you lose, double your bet. Keep going until you finally win. Each time you win, you have two choices: walk away, or start a new cycle by betting $10 again.

Here’s an example of how a roulette session might look when following the Martingale betting system.

In this example, you’ve won six and lost nine of your 15 spins. However, you’d still end the session with a $60 profit. This shows how effective the Martingale strategy can be if results go your way. However, it’s never guaranteed to work, as we’ve explained below.

Does the Martingale Work?

In theory, the Martingale betting system works. If you keep doubling your bet, you’ll eventually land one win that neatly wipes out all previous losses.

However, in practice, the Martingale strategy only works if you have:

• Unlimited funds.
• Infinite time.
• No table limits.

In reality, you won’t have unlimited funds or infinite time. You’re also likely to come up against table limits when following the Martingale strategy at a casino.

It requires you to double your bet after each loss, so if you start by betting $10 and then lose 11 spins in a row, you’ll need to bet $20,480 on the 12th spin. At that point, you’re likely to run out of money, or a bet of that size would exceed the table limits.

No betting system can overcome the inherent house edge in a casino game either. European roulette has a 2.7% house edge, French roulette has a 1.35% house edge, and the player bet on a baccarat table has a 1.24% house edge. That gives the casino a mathematical advantage, which you can’t overcome by following any system.

Martingale System Pros and Cons

Pros:

• You only need one win to erase all previous losses when following the Martingale strategy at a crypto casino.
• This betting system is hyper-aggressive, so it can be suitable for short sessions.
• It’s an easy system to follow, as you only need to double your stake after each loss.

Cons:

• The Martingale system requires a very large bankroll, and you also need to find a table with very broad limits.
• This approach only works if you have infinite time and unlimited funds, plus a casino willing to take enormous bets.
• The Martingale system doesn’t capitalize upon winning streaks, so you won’t rack up huge profits if you win six or seven times in a row.

Martingale in Crypto Gambling

You can use the Martingale system at crypto gambling sites. They host lots of table games that feature even money bets, including roulette, baccarat, and craps.

The system also works on some Provably Fair crypto games, including Coin Flip and Rock-Paper-Scissors. You can also play Dice (adjust the slider to precisely 2.0x) or Limbo (set your target multiplier at exactly 2.0x).

The best crypto casinos support a wide range of coins, including BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, and LTC. If you succeed with the Martingale strategy, you can cash out your winnings quickly and easily via crypto.

Martingale Variations

The Martingale strategy is very popular, so players have come up with several variations over the years. These are some of the most common approaches:

• Grand Martingale: This variation is even more aggressive than the standard Martingale. You double your bet and add an extra unit after each loss. The idea is to wipe out losses and also generate sizable profits, but it’s even riskier than the regular Martingale.
• Reverse Martingale: This is the opposite of the Martingale, so it requires you to double your bet after each win. The goal is to capitalize on winning streaks, but a single loss will wipe out all previous wins, so you need to quit when you’re ahead.
• Paroli: A watered-down version of the Reverse Martingale, in which you double your stake after each win, but end the cycle if you win three in a row.
• Mini-Martingale: The opposite of the Paroli, so you double your stake after each loss, but end the cycle if you lose three in a row. This means you won’t erase previous losses, but the system focuses more on damage control than the standard Martingale.

Alternatives to the Martingale

If you’re looking for a negative progression system that’s less aggressive than the Martingale, you can try the D’Alembert. This approach simply requires you to increase your bet by 1 unit after each loss and decrease it by 1 unit after each win. You don’t need to keep doubling your stake, so it’s far less likely to decimate your bankroll than the Martingale. However, it still can’t overcome the house edge when you play casino games.

Alternatively, you can simply wager a set amount on each round. For example, bet $10 per spin when playing roulette, and don’t adjust your stake after a win or a loss.

Conclusion

The Martingale is an enticing strategy, as the theory sounds flawless. You will always erase all previous losses with a single win. However, it falls apart when you run into bankroll issues, time constraints, and table limits. If you plan to use the Martingale system at a casino, proceed with caution and only bet what you can afford to lose if results don’t go your way.

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About the Author

Ilija Miljkovac

Ilija is a CCN writer with 7 years of experience covering all things crypto. Ever since a fateful run-in with Litecoin in 2013, he's been an avid investor and writer in the space. When he's not maniacally hacking away at his keyboard, Ilija spends his time either hiking in nature or holed up in his apartment gaming.

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