Martingale

Martingale is probably the best known existing gambling and betting system. It is based on raising your stake after every lost bet until the outcome you desire finally takes place. Firstly used in the casinos at roulette, martingale implied doubling your stake when betting on red/black and losing. When you finally won the bet, the total winnings would have exceeded your total losses.

Let`s see an example of how to use martingale in sportsbetting:

  • You bet 100$ on odds 2 and lose
  • You bet 200$ on odds 2 and lose
  • You bet 400$ on odds 2 and lose
  • You bet 800$ on odds 2 and win 1600$

As you can see, the 1600$ won at the 4th attempt exceed your total stakes by 100$, thus bringing you profit. You will have the same profit no matter how long it takes to win the bet.

Of course, there are multiple variations of martingale. You don`t necessarily need to use odds 2.00 and double your stake. You can use martingale on draws, on correct scores, on virtually anything as long as you correctly adapt the growth of the stake. For example, if you use this strategy for draws (which are usually priced around 3.20), you should rise your stake with a percentage around 30% after every lost bet. You can even use martingale for a specific team to win and calculate the stake growth before every game your team plays, depending on the odds.

Martingale is not rocket science, actually it`s so easy and apparently logical that many unexperienced bettors come up with a similar system on their own and then think they have discovered a winning strategy.

But Martingale is far from being a bullet-proof system. Actually, it`s one of the worst strategies you can use at sports betting. In order for martingale to be successful, two crucial and impossible events must take place: infinite bankroll and no bookmaker betting limits. Without these factors, martingale will lead you to bankruptcy. Long runs of bad results are inevitable and when you hit one of those runs you will be in trouble. Using an original Martingale (doubling your stake) with just 20$ initial wager you will find yourself down 1260$ after only 6 losses and needing to invest another 1280$ on the 7th attempt. Even if you have the money, will you have the nerve to do it? The six previous results won`t have any influence on future outcomes so you can easily lose another two or three.  You will be in a very bad place, and all for a lousy 20$ worth of profit.

We at betdistrict do not encourage the use of martingale. It`s a dangerous betting system, and even if you apply a derivate with low investment / low stakes progression, you could still head downhill. But,  of course, in the end it`s up to each individual to decide if this system could work for him.