Gambling Betting Systems
Gamblers love betting systems because they often provide several winning sessions in a row to start with and the euphoria that follows each sweet win is intoxicating. However, if the house has the edge, you can't beat the game in the long run by using a betting system except with blackjack card counting. So, your choices are to not gamble, learn card counting, or play a system that offers some other advantage such as smaller loses, more small wins, or a chance to win big.
That's where systems come into play. They may not offer a guaranteed win, but they can provide many winning sessions, and for most gamblers, that's what it is all about. However, read carefully, because every system has its own drawbacks!
Martingale
The Martingale betting system is a simple progression of doubling your previous bet when you lose. If your first bet is 5 units and you win, you keep betting 5. However, when you lose a bet you raise your wager to 10 units. If you lose that bet, you make your next bet 20, then 40, then 80 etc. until you reach the house maximum, lose that bet, and blow your brains out. Sound like fun?
Well, all right, you really only blow your bankroll away. The problems with a progression like this is not just that you will reach the house maximum quickly, but risk a large amount for a small return. And, at a $200 table, you can lose only 6 bets (5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160) before your streak is stopped by the house maximum. If the table is a $500 max, you can lose at $320 and be stopped.
Don't be fooled by the reverse martingale, it is a simple progression for winning wagers. Each time you win you double your bet - until you hit the table maximum or lose your bet. The good part of this betting system is that if you do manage to win enough hands in a row to hit the table max or your set maximum bet, you stop and take your winnings. That's a good thing.
The Colonel's Crap System
The Colonel was a real person who played the craps games at Harrah's in Reno, Nevada. His simple system involved only betting the "field" after three consecutive non-field rolls. The fact that the dice have no memory and the next roll has the same expectation was irrelevant to him, but the progressive betting system did have the advantage of occasionally paying double his bet (when 2 rolled) and triple his bet (when 12 rolled).
He won quite often, even for days on end, winning $5 here and $10 or $15 there. However, there was always some point where he would lose consecutive wagers until he met the table maximum and stopped playing for the day. Ouch!
One Trick Pony Crap System
The One Trick Pony or one-roll crap system is a way of covering all the bets on the layout except the number seven. Because the number seven comes up only 6 times out of 36 rolls (on average), the system wins quite often. Unfortunately, each win is smaller than a loss, since the system risks four wagers, but can only win one.
The Labouchere Roulette System
The Labouchere roulette system has been around for many years, delighting players with a simple system that allows a small winning session on many occasions and makes the player feel like they are "working" the system.
The simple explanation is that a player writes down a string of numbers such as 1-2-3-4-5-6 and makes a $7 wager on an even-money bet such as black/red, odd/even, or first 18/second 18. If this bet wins, the player crosses out the 1 and 6 and continues on with a bet of 7 units (2 + 5). If this bet loses, the player adds the 7 to the end of the existing line and now has 2-3-4-5-7. At this point the new bet is 9 units (2 + 7).
Six-Pack Plus Roulette System
The Six-Pack Plus roulette system has great excitement because the player is able to cover ten numbers and the ball will always land within two pockets of one of those numbers. Of course this may also drive the player bonkers.
Each six-pack single chip covers six numbers, such as one chip touching number circles "1" and "4" which covers all numbers 1-6. You also place a single chip straight up on numbers 8, 10, 20 and 26. You now have a total of five chips bet and are covering a total of 10 numbers. If 1-6 hits, your profit is one chip, if 8, 10, 20 or 26 hits, your profit is 31 chips.
Pivot Roulette System
The Pivot roulette system employes a series of bets on a single number that has already repeated. It takes some time to write down spins (unless the casino has the previous spins displayed) and to follow the betting, but basically you wager the same amount on the same number for up to 35 consecutive spins.
When it hits, you stop and move on to the next repeated number. If it does not hit after 35 spins, you still move on to the next repeated number. Or, you can choose a favorite number and do the same. Seems simple.
Two-Step Blackjack System
The Two-Step blackjack system is a systematic losing progression that tries to reduce the effect of the table maximum by spreading to two hands. This works well with single deck games where the house edge may actually revert to the player, especially after the player takes a loss on the first hand of a new deck.
The player makes a $5 bet on the first hand and stays there while winning. If the first bet is lost, the next bet is $10. If that bet is lost, the player takes the second step and spreads to two hands of $11. Spreading to two hands reduces the element of ruin slightly and increases the chance of a blackjack, split, or double down hand which will be in the player's favor.
The player needs to keep track of exactly how much has been wagered in this string, because at any time a single hand win might actually give the player a profit. When this happens, the player needs to revert back to a single hand of $5. Usually, one hand wins and one loses.
When this happens, the overall loss needs to be ascertained and the total plus $5 divided by two and split between the two hands (such as $27, and then both hands wager $14). This continues until a profit is realized or both hand reach the table maximum and lose.
This is a very strong system, but requires practice, good concentration, and a large bankroll. However, because of the double, split, and blackjack possibilities, the player often makes a profit and reverts back to a single $5 wager.
That's where systems come into play. They may not offer a guaranteed win, but they can provide many winning sessions, and for most gamblers, that's what it is all about. However, read carefully, because every system has its own drawbacks!
Martingale
The Martingale betting system is a simple progression of doubling your previous bet when you lose. If your first bet is 5 units and you win, you keep betting 5. However, when you lose a bet you raise your wager to 10 units. If you lose that bet, you make your next bet 20, then 40, then 80 etc. until you reach the house maximum, lose that bet, and blow your brains out. Sound like fun?
Well, all right, you really only blow your bankroll away. The problems with a progression like this is not just that you will reach the house maximum quickly, but risk a large amount for a small return. And, at a $200 table, you can lose only 6 bets (5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160) before your streak is stopped by the house maximum. If the table is a $500 max, you can lose at $320 and be stopped.
Don't be fooled by the reverse martingale, it is a simple progression for winning wagers. Each time you win you double your bet - until you hit the table maximum or lose your bet. The good part of this betting system is that if you do manage to win enough hands in a row to hit the table max or your set maximum bet, you stop and take your winnings. That's a good thing.
The Colonel's Crap System
The Colonel was a real person who played the craps games at Harrah's in Reno, Nevada. His simple system involved only betting the "field" after three consecutive non-field rolls. The fact that the dice have no memory and the next roll has the same expectation was irrelevant to him, but the progressive betting system did have the advantage of occasionally paying double his bet (when 2 rolled) and triple his bet (when 12 rolled).
He won quite often, even for days on end, winning $5 here and $10 or $15 there. However, there was always some point where he would lose consecutive wagers until he met the table maximum and stopped playing for the day. Ouch!
One Trick Pony Crap System
The One Trick Pony or one-roll crap system is a way of covering all the bets on the layout except the number seven. Because the number seven comes up only 6 times out of 36 rolls (on average), the system wins quite often. Unfortunately, each win is smaller than a loss, since the system risks four wagers, but can only win one.
The Labouchere Roulette System
The Labouchere roulette system has been around for many years, delighting players with a simple system that allows a small winning session on many occasions and makes the player feel like they are "working" the system.
The simple explanation is that a player writes down a string of numbers such as 1-2-3-4-5-6 and makes a $7 wager on an even-money bet such as black/red, odd/even, or first 18/second 18. If this bet wins, the player crosses out the 1 and 6 and continues on with a bet of 7 units (2 + 5). If this bet loses, the player adds the 7 to the end of the existing line and now has 2-3-4-5-7. At this point the new bet is 9 units (2 + 7).
Six-Pack Plus Roulette System
The Six-Pack Plus roulette system has great excitement because the player is able to cover ten numbers and the ball will always land within two pockets of one of those numbers. Of course this may also drive the player bonkers.
Each six-pack single chip covers six numbers, such as one chip touching number circles "1" and "4" which covers all numbers 1-6. You also place a single chip straight up on numbers 8, 10, 20 and 26. You now have a total of five chips bet and are covering a total of 10 numbers. If 1-6 hits, your profit is one chip, if 8, 10, 20 or 26 hits, your profit is 31 chips.
Pivot Roulette System
The Pivot roulette system employes a series of bets on a single number that has already repeated. It takes some time to write down spins (unless the casino has the previous spins displayed) and to follow the betting, but basically you wager the same amount on the same number for up to 35 consecutive spins.
When it hits, you stop and move on to the next repeated number. If it does not hit after 35 spins, you still move on to the next repeated number. Or, you can choose a favorite number and do the same. Seems simple.
Two-Step Blackjack System
The Two-Step blackjack system is a systematic losing progression that tries to reduce the effect of the table maximum by spreading to two hands. This works well with single deck games where the house edge may actually revert to the player, especially after the player takes a loss on the first hand of a new deck.
The player makes a $5 bet on the first hand and stays there while winning. If the first bet is lost, the next bet is $10. If that bet is lost, the player takes the second step and spreads to two hands of $11. Spreading to two hands reduces the element of ruin slightly and increases the chance of a blackjack, split, or double down hand which will be in the player's favor.
The player needs to keep track of exactly how much has been wagered in this string, because at any time a single hand win might actually give the player a profit. When this happens, the player needs to revert back to a single hand of $5. Usually, one hand wins and one loses.
When this happens, the overall loss needs to be ascertained and the total plus $5 divided by two and split between the two hands (such as $27, and then both hands wager $14). This continues until a profit is realized or both hand reach the table maximum and lose.
This is a very strong system, but requires practice, good concentration, and a large bankroll. However, because of the double, split, and blackjack possibilities, the player often makes a profit and reverts back to a single $5 wager.
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