Martingale betting system is one of the most popular betting systems in roulette. It is also known as double-up system. Just as other roulette betting systems, it may add to the overall excitement of gambling, but is quite useless when it actually comes to increasing your odds at roulette.

One should understand that no betting system can help win at roulette. Roulette is a game of mere chance with every spin of the wheel unrelated to other spins, past or future, while betting systems are usually based on assumption that the results of each gaming session depend on past results.

Applying the Martingale betting system

Martingale betting system concerns even money bets in roulette in the first place. These are outside bets made on groups of numbers such as Black-Red, Odd-Even, Low (1 to 18) - High (19 to 36). The system actually works when the player loses while in case of the win the system stops.

Get acquainted with the sequence of actions needed to properly apply the Martingale betting system:

1. First of all, to apply the Martingale betting system one should make an initial even money bet of the minimum possible amount. The lower your bet is the more opportunities for increasing your wagers you have.
2. In case the bet loses, the player should double the initial betting amount. With every next loss the betting amount should be doubled.
3. If the bet wins, the betting amount for the next spin should remain unchanged. The player should stick to the initial betting amount in case he or she hits a winning streak.

Example of applying Martingale betting system

• The player bets $5 and loses.
• The next bet should double the initial bet, so the player bets $10 and loses again.
• The next bet is $20. The player loses again and bets $40. In case he or she wins the next bet, the new bet will have to be $40 again. In case of a loss the bet is doubled to $80 and so on.

Flaws of Martingale betting system

• Most roulette betting systems are based on the Gambler's fallacy assuming that every win or loss at roulette is related to previous and future game results. In fact, the chances that each given bet wins or loses are equal just as the results of each spin are completely random.
• The players applying Martingale betting system assume that win at some point will amend all losses in a whole gambling session. In fact, it well may happen that the player loses every bet and exceeds the maximum betting limit at a roulette table. In such case the player won't be able to refund his or her losses as he or she won't be allowed to increase bets. For this reason it is recommended to start betting with the lowest possible amount to avoid exceeding the limit.
• The player actually has no chances to overcome the roulette house edge. The house edge depends on the presence of zero(s) on the wheel and is in fact the difference between the player's true odds and the actual payouts for the winning bets. Despite using the Martingale system, the player will still lose to the casino in the long term.