Every once in a while, we will review blackjack strategies and post our opinion on them. Right now, we are going to cover the so-called martingale betting strategy that could help you manage your bankroll better and increase the possibility of winning.
So, what exactly is martingale? It’s a type of negative progression system where players need to increase their betting amount every time they lose a hand. Opposite to that is the positive progression systems where players increase bet amounts every time they win.
The system is pretty easy to apply, but you need to understand how it actually works in order to make the most out of it. For example, if your bet amount is $1, and you win a hand, you should bet $1 again next time. However, if you lose a hand, you should double it up to $2.
At this point, you would have bet a total of $3. If you lose again, you will have to double up, which means that you would have to bet $4.
4+2+1=7. What makes it good is that payouts in blackjack are not 1:1, which is one of the bases for the strategy. However, it gets a bit more complicated here. If it was 1:1 and you win your $4 bet, you would have won a total of $8, which would cover all your previous losses and you would win $1 extra. However, blackjack has a 3:2 payout in most cases, so you would technically win a bit more than $1 extra.
Not Perfect
However, the problem with martingale is that there are streaks. Let’s say that your starting bet is $5 and you lose a hand seven times in a row. The first bet would be $5, and then, you will increase to $10, $20, $40, $80, $160 and $320. At that point, you would have to bet a total of 320+160+80+40+20+10+5, which is $635. In other words, you would require a significant budget to apply the martingale betting system well.
In other words, this system is risky, just like any other system. You have to remember that blackjack is still a game of luck, and as such, it cannot be “cheated” with a simple betting system.
On the other hand, you can minimize the house edge by using a blackjack strategy chart and improve your chances of ending up a winner in this card game.