Does the Martingale Betting System Help You Win in Roulette?

It’s a tale as old as time: play red or black in roulette (or even-odd); if your bet loses, double up, and you’ll eventually get back ahead. On the surface, that seems to make sense, right? It’s about a 50/50 shot to hit red or black each time, so if you lose, just double-up and keep doing that until your colour hits. The problem is that this tale is an old wife’s tale, and it doesn’t necessarily work. Let’s take a closer look at the popular Martingale betting system for roulette and explain why it’s flawed.

❓ What is the martingale betting system in roulette?

Just a quick note for those who don’t quite know this system, it’s pretty simple. Bet once, if it loses, double-up the next time to make your initial bet back and still make a profit. If it loses, double-up again and keep on going until you hit. That’s the quick version just for those who aren’t familiar.

Martingaling – as they say – is a strategy that always looks good on paper. Unfortunately, it doesn’t (usually) work. Of course, it can work in some cases, and people who get ahead using the strategy will claim it’s fine, but the reality is that the math is not on your side. Here are a few of the problems:

#1 Red or black is not 50/50

Many people believe that red or black in roulette is 50/50 or close enough. However, that “close enough” is what leads the casino to win over time. In European Roulette, the odds are 48.6% for a red or black hit and 47.4% in American Roulette. That difference of 1.4% (or more) can get you wrecked in the long run. You’re getting paid 2:1 for something that doesn’t happen 50% of the time.

#2 There is no correlation

Another big flaw with the thinking is that if Red hit this time, Black is more likely to hit next time. That’s not, in fact, the case. There is no correlation from one round to the next. The odds are exactly the same every spin. I’ve personally seen red hit 12 times in a row and watched bankrolls get demolished thinking that Black has to hit. It doesn’t.

#3 Your bankroll will almost never be able to survive a bad run

Martingaling seems reasonable when you think about starting small. Maybe you do $1 or Red and see what happens. If you have a couple hundred, you can withstand a run of black, right? The problem is you’ll probably hit a bad run, and you’ll get caught eventually.

In this count, it’ll take eight rounds to clean you out. At round nine, you need $255. That’s just starting with a boring ‘ol dollar. Many people like to play with $5 or $10 to “rack up the wins”, but you’ll see just how quickly your bankroll will shrink on a bad run.

Does this sound like the title of a click bait YouTube video trying to get you to convert? Maybe so, but it’s important you read this section because this is something nobody will tell you: there are often limits on roulette games in terms of staking amounts. Many roulette betting strategies will just tell you to keep doubling up, but at some point, you’ll hit a stake limit in the game.

If you’re going to use the Martingale strategy (which we don’t recommend) for online roulette, make sure you double-check what the maximum bet per round is. Then, work back from that. Otherwise, you’ll hit the cap and find yourself in trouble.