One of the riskiest betting strategies in the world is the Martingale system. The Martingale is considered a negative progression betting system where you’re trying to chase losses by doubling down every time you lose. An alternative strategy that some gamblers use is the Reverse Martingale system.
The Reverse Martingale system is a positive progression strategy that you can use to try and chase wins while limiting losses. Today, we will take a look at the Reverse Martingale and whether it is a viable strategy worth using.
What is the Reverse Martingale System
The Reverse Martingale system is a positive progression betting strategy that is effectively the opposite of the standard Martingale system. You start out with the initial bet you wish to make. Let’s assume you’re playing Baccarat and want to bet the Banker. You’ll start with the minimum you’re willing to bet. Let’s assume this is $1.
You bet $1. If you win this bet, you will then double your wager. This means $2 for the second bet. If you win again, you’ll double your bet again to $4. Win again and your next bet is $8. However, let’s assume that on the fifth bet you lose. Overall, you’re now down just a single $1 and you’ll start the system back over again at $1.
Let’s look at this over the course of 15 hands:
|
Stake |
Result |
Profit / Loss |
|
$1 |
Win |
+$1 |
|
$2 |
Win |
+$3 |
|
$4 |
Win |
+$7 |
|
$8 |
Win |
+$15 |
|
$16 |
Loss |
-$1 |
|
$1 |
Win |
Even |
|
$2 |
Win |
$2 |
|
$4 |
Win |
$6 |
|
$8 |
Loss |
-$2 |
|
$1 |
Win |
-$1 |
|
$2 |
Win |
+$1 |
|
$4 |
Loss |
-$3 |
|
$1 |
Win |
-$2 |
|
$2 |
Win |
Even |
|
$4 |
Loss |
-$4 |
The first thing you should notice is that every time you lose, you’re only losing your initial $1 bet. Four losses result in a $4 loss only.
Advantage and Disadvantages of the System
The primary advantage of using this system is that you’re always using “house money” to increase your bets. Anything you bet above your initial $1 bet (or whatever your initial bet may be) is your profits. That has a different psychological impact over negative progression systems where you’re chasing losses each time you up the stakes.
Next, this system helps to control your total losses. In our example, your total losses only increased by $1 each time you lost. If you come to the table with $20 and lose 20 hands, you will lose $20 only.
The primary disadvantage of this system is that it is extremely swingy and does not eliminate the house edge. When you lose, you eliminate all of your profits. This ends up frustrating some people that try and play long streaks. Statistically, it is difficult to hit a long streak and you just find yourself slowly draining your bankroll.
The trick is determining when you should walk away or start the sequence over. You can do this by deciding how much in profits you want to take, or how many hands in a row you want to win. Adversely, you can opt to use a modified system like the 3-Step Reverse Martingale.
3 Step Reverse Martingale System
Some players will implement a 3-Step Reverse Martingale system to try and offset some of the variance in the system. With this system, you start the sequence over anytime you win three hands in a row This results in wins of six units every time you complete a sequence.
If you win three hands in a row, you start back over with a single unit and try to hit three hands in a row. Anytime you don’t win three hands in a row, you just start over like normal. This is a much more conservative way to play the Reverse Martingale and is statistically more feasible than trying to hit a 5 hand or longer winning streak.
More Conservative Option Than Standard Martingale
Overall, the Reverse Martingale is a much more conservative form of the Martingale system. When you’re on a winning streak, you can take down some healthy profits. For the times you lose or are on a losing streak, you will limit your losses.
Taking a modified approach like the 3-Step version of the system will help to reduce some of the variance. However, like any other betting system, you cannot overcome the house edge. With that said, the Reverse Martingale is a better alternative than the bankroll crushing standard version.