How Does the Martingale Roulette Strategy Work?
Nearly every roulette player encounters the Martingale betting system, especially if you like placing outside bets with 50/50 winning chances. That means you are likely to win the same amount of money you wager due to the maximum odds of winning and low payouts in the ratio of 1:1. Even-money bets win you the same amount with every bet.
The Martingale roulette betting strategy works by keeping the betting value the same until the outcomes change. For instance, if you are on a losing streak, you continue doubling the wager amount until you win and vice versa. That way, when you win once, you recover all the money from your losses. You should restart the game and bet the smallest amount as soon as you recoup your money. In theory, a player can continue with the Martingale system indefinitely, earning a small profit after every win and doubling up after every loss. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that all factors are not constant in a roulette game, and you can lose a significant amount of money.
Here is a table illustrating how the Martingale system works:
Spin | Bet | Stake | Result | Profit | Running Total |
1 | Red | $1 | Lose | -1 | -1 |
2 | Red | $2 | Lose | -2 | -3 |
3 | Red | $4 | Lose | -4 | -7 |
4 | Red | $8 | Win | +8 | +1 |
5 | Red | $1 | Lose | -1 | 0 |
For roulette, the most effective way to use the Martingale system is to focus on outside bets. Despite the low payouts, they are the safest bets you can make in roulette games. Most Martingale system advocates use the logic that the roulette wheel has changing outcomes. Hence, the chance of the wheel never landing on black is zero since the spins are fair and rely on randomly generated numbers to land on a win. Besides, the probability of the results changing or never changing is zero as the number of spins approaches infinity. If you are going to infinity, you will likely use a huge amount of money with the possibility of minimal returns.
At first glance, the Martingale system seems flawless, and you can apply it to online and live roulette games. However, there is one concept you should also remember, the house will always win. Martingale’s strategy cannot beat the house edge. The green zero pockets are the reason the odds always favour the house. The safest outside bet would have a 50% winning chance, but the zero pockets reduce the odds to 48.6%. For example, if you are betting for red or black, there are three colour outcomes, which means your chances of winning aren’t 50/50.
If you are using European roulette, your chances of winning are 18 (the black segments) out of 37 (which combines 18 black, 18 red and one green). That means the probability of losing one spin is 0.514 (when you deduct 0.486 from 1). The probability of losing two spins is calculated by multiplying the loss against itself. While the chances of losing ten spins in a row are improbable, the amount you win will be lower than the losses you make.