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The Martingale Progressive Blackjack Betting System
The Martingale is a premier progressive blackjack betting system. If you're a risk-taker, the Martingale may be what you're looking for.
A Foolproof (In Theory) Way to Win at Blackjack
The goal of most blackjack players is twofold: to win and to have fun. In most cases, the former is more important than the latter (after all, there's nothing fun about losing) so most blackjack players sit down at the table armed with a way to win. The smart player will have a strategy — the basic blackjack strategy is a great way to play and even card counting is a viable strategy. The idea is to understand the game and know what you're doing; hunches and guesses don't work in blackjack.
But for many people, strategy — even a good one — is not enough. The pace of winning at blackjack with the blackjack basic strategy is fairly modest and for some gamblers it's too slow and doesn't pack enough of a punch. Some gamblers are always on the lookout for that extra edge and that's where betting systems come in. Whereas playing strategy dictates when you hit, stand, double, split, etc., a betting system is a framework for wagering, usually based on prior wins and losses. The Martingale system is a progressive betting system and one of the most famous betting systems around.
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Martingale is not named after a person; a "martingale" is a type of mathematical process. The Martingale system is considered a "negative" system. What this means is that you make a bet and, if you lose the hand, you double your bet on the next hand. If you lose again, you double your bet again. If you win, you go back to your original bet. For the record, a "positive" system means that if you win, you increase your bet and if you lose you go to your original position.
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Be Careful: The Martingale Doesn't Guarantee Winning Blackjack
It's easier to understand the Martingale system if you use examples. So let's say you're playing blackjack at a conservative 2-dollar table. You start with the minimum bet — $2. If you lose, your next bet is $4 and if you lose again, your next bet will be $8 (then $16, then $32, and so on if you keep losing). If you win, you go back to your original 2-dollar bet.
The theory behind the Martingale is that you have to win at blackjack sometime. When you do win, you will recoup all your previous losses, plus make a small real-money profit. For example, if you lose your first four hands, you will be down $30 (2+4+8+16=30). If you win your next hand, you will win $32, so you are up $2 for the series. Even if you lose your $32 bet, you will be down $62 total, but winning your next bet for $64 will put you $2 up. In theory, no matter how many times you lose, you need to win only one hand to recoup your losses and go up $2 overall. Then you start a new Martingale series with a $2 bet, and eventually you are bound to win a $2 profit on that series too.
Where theory collides with reality, however, is that eventually, if you keep losing, you'll reach the maximum bet allowable at your table and you won't be able to recoup your losses. What you should also reach, possibly, is a pre-determined amount beyond which you're not willing to go. In other words, when using a system like the Martingale, it is very important to set limits. Otherwise, if you are on a losing streak, you can lose unimaginable amounts of real money, chasing one bad hand after another.
You Can Always Rely on the Blackjack Basic Strategy
Systems like the Martingale are not highly recommended. They may work in the short run, but if you play for a long time you take the chance of hitting an extended cold streak in which case you can lose a bundle of real money. The Martingale is tempting for games like roulette and baccarat, as well, but, no matter what your game, you shouldn't depend on it too heavily. In blackjack, you have the great basic strategy to fall back on — there's no reason to rely on an iffy proposition like the Martingale.
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