Evaluating Betting Systems

Added: March 16, 2025

To put it mildly, betting systems are something that are controversial in casino gambling circles, especially among those who consider themselves to be rather analytical about such things. The systems are largely employed in games like blackjack, roulette and baccarat, and they involve either increasing or decreasing the amount of one's bets, strictly based on the result of the previous round of play. The purveyors of these systems claim that they can be the best and easiest path to profit, while those critics of the betting systems are quick to point out that they are the easiest way to ruin.

These systems are nothing brand-new; in fact, their roots go back to the 1700s, so they have undoubtedly had millions of followers. Two of the most prominent systems are the Martingale and the d'Alembert. In the Martingale, the player is instructed to double his or her bet after losing, with the expectation that when there is eventually a win, those losses will be recovered, with a resulting profit. However, because of the existence of betting limits, one could exceed the betting limit on a game rather easily, which would render the system to be completely useless, because there is no more doubling to be made.

As for the d'Alembert system, players are told to increase a wager by one unit after a loss, and decrease it one unit after a win. Again, the idea is that sooner or later there is going to be a win, and so that washes away losses.

There are other various systems that are based on betting, including progressive systems that require a player to increase bets after winning and go back to the original bet after losing, presumably for the purposes of capitalizing on winning streaks. Of course, if someone knew when they were truly on a winning streak that would be a special talent indeed.

To the best of anyone's knowledge, especially those who try to look at online casino games from a logical perspective, there is probably a constituency of players who just feel like they will be bored to death betting the same amount every time. There could possibly be a purpose for the implementation of betting systems in the short run, but for the long haul it isn't about to make a positive difference between winning and losing, although one would suspect that if there is nothing else to turn to that is one alternative some would choose.