How the Martingale System Works in Roulette

If you want to learn how to play roulette using the martingale system, you will need an adequate bankroll and a basic understanding of math. As part of the Martingale strategy, you only place bets that payout even money such as Red and Black or Even and Odd, and you double your bets every time you lose.

You should start with the minimum bet at the table. For this example, we assume that it is €1. If you win a bet at any point during the system, you then go back to the €1 level. However, if you lose a bet, it is time to double your bet on the next round. For example, if you lose a €1 bet, your next bet will be €2. If you lose that, you will up the stakes to the €4 level, etc. But remember to lower your next wager back to just €1 if you win once.

The Martingale System was created to allow you to amass a lot of small wins with little risk of losing your entire bankroll. Since you always double your bet, the bottom line on every bet won will be a profit of €1, regardless of whether you won the €1 level or any subsequent level. That is the Martingale in a nutshell. It can prove helpful to have an end goal in mind when playing this system and don’t test your luck too much. You could choose to play until you win a certain amount or until a certain amount of time has passed.

Problems of the Martingale System

There are several difficulties involved in using the Martingale system in roulette. The first problem is the sad truth that it will not allow you to overcome the house edge in roulette. Every time you wager, the casino still has the edge. This means you lose more often than not and if you are unlucky you might reach the limits of your bankroll quite soon.

This would not necessarily be the case if you had a truly infinite bankroll, as you could then play for as long as it would take to ultimately make a profit and still be ahead by €1. However, there is, unfortunately, another problem, even for players with extremely well-stocked bankrolls. This is the maximum wagering limit at your table.

Imagine if your roulette table had a €1 minimum and a €100 maximum limit. That would mean that you could make seven bets - of €1, €2, €4, €8, €16, €32 and €64 - before you are not allowed to double your bet any further.

So if you lose seven bets in a row you will end up losing the whole cycle and €127 at the same time. That would be fine if you only lost seven times in a row once in 128 cycles, which would be enough to break even. Unfortunately, this scenario occurs more often than that in reality. The statistics are better in European roulette than in American roulette because there is no double zero, but that’s still not enough to make the Martingale strategy a viable choice.

Advantages of the Martingale system

The limitations described above do not mean that you cannot or should not use the Martingale system. The prerequisite is that you know what to expect when playing with casino strategies. Martingale is perfect for players who are willing to take the risk of occasionally losing a significant amount of money in return for regular small wins. 

When using Martingale in an online casino, there is a good chance you will end most sessions with low winnings. However there will be occasions when everything goes wrong that can go wrong, and you lose a lot of money on the spot.

Nerijus Grenda
Nerijus Grenda
Last Update: 13 Mar 2023
Nerijus Grenda is a prolific contributor to the GoodLuckMate site. With a deep understanding of the online casino industry, gained from his own experience as an avid player, he offers valuable insights on what sets the best casinos apart from the rest. As a writer, Nerijus shares his expertise through expert analysis and thoughtful commentary on various topics related to online gambling, including casino reviews, game guides and industry trends.
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