What is the Martingale?
The Martingale is one of the oldest betting systems around. Here’s how it works: You make your standard bet, say $5, on an even-money bet, such as red in roulette or the Pass Line in craps. Every time you win you make the same bet for the next hand. But if you lose, you double your bet for the next hand. When you eventually have a winning hand after a series of losing hands, your net win will be $5. In fact, every time you win a bet, you’ll be up another $5, regardless of past losses. Here’s an example: You bet $5. You win, so you bet $5 again. Then you lose, so you bet $10. You lose again, so you bet $20. You lose again, so you bet $40. You lose again, so you bet $80. Man, it’s not your night! Then you win. Your net win on that series was $5, and since you won $5 before your losing streak, now you’re ahead a total of $10. If you could always double your bet when you lose you’d be guaranteed to always come out ahead. But in real life you can’t always double your bet. First of all, you’
