There is no legal objection to players using the Martingale method but in practice you still have to hit a winning hand and as with all so called systems they are not infallible since the casino still has the edge due to the max bet threshhold meaning you cannot double if one reaches that point when you have a losing run of bets.

At several casinos around the globe, you’ll be able to find many keen gamblers who choose to use the famous D’Alembert Strategy whilst at the casino in the hopes of walking out with a large sum of cash in their pockets. This negative progressive strategy is one of the safest to use. If you’d like to know more about the betting system, we urge you to read this comprehensive guide. Once you’re done find the best online casino to get your online casino bonus and start playing your game of choice.

What is the D’Alembert Betting system?

The famous D’Alembert system was coined by the mathematical genius Jean Le Rond D’Alembert in the 18th century, who took elements from the Martingale and the Great Martingale system to create what he thought would be a more profitable system to use at the casino. Like the Martingale and Great Martingale betting systems, the D’Alembert betting system is also a negative progressive betting system. It’s probably ranks as the second most popular betting system after the Martingale system.

Using this betting system entails coming up with a base stake which is used throughout the entire game whilst placing wagers on even bets. Stakes are increased by 1 Unit on experiencing a loss whilst using this system and decreased by 1 Unit when the player has generated a win. However, what makes the D’Alembert System more advantageous in a sense is the fact that bets don’t increase as much as when a player implements the Martingale system whilst he/she is playing a game.

Is an adaptation of the Martingale & Great Martingale Systems;

Can be used on even money wagers;

Requires you to increase your bets after you win, decrease them after a loss.

The Logic Behind the D’Alembert Betting System

The D’Alembert Betting System is often called a pyramid system and rests on the principal of equilibrium which suggests that there will be a balance of losses and wins whilst playing a game of luck. According to the D’Alembert system, after a loss you are more likely to win. This system is mostly applied to even-money bets and is often favored by gamblers of ages who want to keep their wagered amounts to a minimum.

Which Casino Games can the D’Alembert Betting System be applied to?

The D’Alembert Betting System was specifically constructed to be applied to Roulette. However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t use it whilst playing other casino games such as Baccarat, Blackjack or Craps. The fundamental principles when applied to any of these games are ultimately the same whilst using the Alembert Betting System, to increase your bets when you lose and to decrease them when generating a win always by 1 Unit.

How does the D’Alembert Betting System Work?

The D’Alembert system is very simple to learn and implement whilst playing your casino game of choice. If you’ve never used this betting system before, take a look at the rules below to determine how to use them to your advantage.

Rule 1/ Set your Base Stake

Before you start implementing the D’Alembert system whilst playing your game of choice, you must decide what your base unit is going to be. Fundamentally, it can be whatever you want, but we recommend that it’s between 1%-5% or your bankroll. How much you’re willing your base stake to be ultimately depends on the size of your bankroll. If it’s large enough you can go for 5%, but if it’s small you should go for a base stake of 1% of your bankroll.

Rule 2/ Start betting using One Unit

When starting off with this betting strategy, you must wager only one unit. So, if you decided that your base unit is $5, bet that. On the other hand, if you had set your base stake as $10, bet that instead.

Rule 3/ Bets only increase by 1 Unit after a Loss

Wagers are only increased when there is a loss. So, if you started with $ 5, you should then double it to $10. Provided that you lose again, you should raise the stake to $15 and so on.

Rule 4/ Stakes Decrease by 1 Unit after a Win

You should only decrease your stakes after a win when following this betting strategy. So for example, if you experience a win when betting $15 and your base stake is $5, then you should decrease your next bet to $10.

An Example of How the D’Alembert Roulette System Works:

In order to understand the concept of the D’Alembert system it’s always best to look at an example. In our example we take D’Alembert when applied to the Roulette System in which $10 is chosen to represent 1 Unit.

Upon starting your game of Roulette, you would commence by placing an outside bet of 1 Unit which in this case would be equivalent the base stake set, $10, on Red. Bear in mind that it’s always best to place even bets when using this betting strategy whilst playing Roulette. This will give you almost a 50/50 chance of winning.

If the ball lands on Black instead of Red when the wheel is spun and you experience a loss, you’ll have to double your bet to 2 Units when playing the next round. So, your bet in this case will be $20. Now you can choose to place a bet on Black or Red but it shouldn’t actually make a difference. But for the sake of this example, say you decide to place your bet on ‘Black’ and you lose again. You’ll once again have to increase your bet by 1 Unit again. So, that’ll be $30, the equivalent to $30.

Provided that you place your bet of $30 on Black the third time round and manage to finally generate a win, you’ll then be required to decrease your stake to $20 this time on your fourth round.

If you place your bet of $20 on Red during the fourth round and you happen to lose again, you’ll then have to increase your next bet to 3 Units. So, that’s a total of $30 you’ll be wagering during the next round.

Say you manage to win by placing your bet of $30 on Red during the 5th round. Your bet will then be decreased by 1 Unit again. Thus, you’ll be betting $20 again. If you manage to win during the 6th round, you will then have generated some profit; $30.

Take a look at the results of our example in the table below.

An Example of How the D'Alembert Blackjack Betting System Works:

If you plan on using this strategy when playing Blackjack, it’s best to understand it by looking an example which has applies to this specific game. So, let’s say that you’ve decided to play at a Blackjack table with a minimum bet of $5 and this is what you choose as your base stake. Hence, 1 Unit will be equal to $5.

On commencing your blackjack game, you’ll have to start by betting 1 unit. If your hand doesn’t bust and you manage to beat the dealer’s hand by acquiring a hand which is close 21, you’ll then have to stick to your base stake during when placing your bet during the next round. So, you should bet 1 Unit again and you would have generated $ 5 profit as a result.

Once you’ve once again placed your base stake on the table and the dealer’s handed out the cards, whether or not you’ll need to raise your base stake to 2 Units will be result of whether you lose or not. Provided that your hand busts, which would indeed result in a loss, you’ll have to raise your stake to 2 Units when following this betting strategy. This will in effect mean that you’ll have to bet $10 during the next round. If you lose again after this, you’ll then have to bet 3 Units which is equivalent to $15. But if you win again after betting $15, you’ll have to decrease your bets by 1 Unit. In effect, this will mean that you’ll have to bet $10 instead.

Does the D’Alembert System work? – CasinoTop10’s Verdict

There’s no doubt that using the D’Alembert betting strategy can ultimately help you win cash as a result. Yet, this is only the case provided that you’re met with the right set of circumstances. Contrastingly, if you haven’t got lady luck on your side and you’re met with the wrong circumstances, you can end up losing a lot of money as a result.

Although this system may seem appealing to many of you keen gamblers out there, we’d only recommend this betting strategy for those of you who are interested in generating short-term profit.

D’Alembert vs. Martingale

The concept behind the D’Alembert Betting System is essentially very similar to the Martingale Strategy. This is due to the fact that they are both negative progression betting systems. Yet, when using the D’Alembert Betting System, you’ll notice that in this system the progression is much flatter. This method of betting only requires you to increase or decrease your wagers, after a loss and win respectively, by 1 Unit unlike its more aggressive cousin the Martingale system which requires you to double up wagers after a loss and decrease them by double the amount when you manage to generate a win. Thus, the overall risk isn’t as great as when a player opts to use the Martingale system.

The Advantages of Using the D’Alebmert Betting System

Easy to learn and fairly simple to implement

The D’Alembert Betting System is one of the easiest to learn and implement. By following the rules above, you should be well on your way to using the system.

The D’Alembert Betting System offers players a structured way of betting

In choosing to employ this method of betting, one can benefit from its structured way of managing money whilst playing a casino game.

The progressions are not as steep as when using the Martingale Strategy

Although this betting system is pretty much based on the Martingale system, its progressions are not in fact as steep. If you lose whilst playing you game of choice, you’ll only be required to increase your wager by 1 Unit. Yet, if you win, you’ll have to decrease it by one unit.

The D’Alembert system gives you more of a possibility to recoup your losses

Unlike the Martingale System, which urges the player to increase his/her bets at a more steadfast rate, you’ll most probably won’t be able to make back your losses as easily when using this betting strategy. On the other hand, the D’Alembert betting system allows you more of a chance to regain your losses.

Using this system will enable you to generate some short term profit

If you’ve got a large bankroll to spend your time gambling away to your hearts content, then you’ll most probably be able to generate some profit over time. However, you have to be entirely willing to sacrife at least some of your bankroll in order to make a profit eventually.

Makes the game more interesting.

Using the D’Alembert Betting System will make playing your chosen casino game more interesting, due to the fact that you’re applying a more systematic way of betting.

The Disadvantages of Using the D’Alembert Betting System

Using the D’Alembert Betting System will not have any effect on the odds

If you opt to implement the D’Alembert Betting System, it will not have any effect on the odds of the game you’re playing. So, if you decide to play Rouelette and implement this strategy, the house edge will remain 5.26%. This is due to the fact that each spin in Roulette is independent to other spins.

Long losing streaks are still possible

If you’re under the impression that using the D’Alembert system will lower your chances of having a losing streak, we’re sorry to disappoint you but this isn’t true at all. Your chances of having a losing streak are indeed the same as the chances of you having a winning streak.

Your stake can surpass the table limit

If you initially set a large base stake and lose multiple times, you might find yourself stuck in a situation in which your required stake has surpassed table limits. However, in order to combat this, it would be best to set a limit for yourself in regards to when you should stop increasing your stakes upon a loss.

Potential Winnings are usually low

Due to the fact that the D’Alembert betting system is a relatively low risk system to use whilst playing any game of luck, you can expect that your potential winnings whilst playing Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack or whatever other game tickles your fancy to be relatively low.

Try out this System by Playing one of Our Free Games!

If you’d like to try out the D’Alembert Betting System without having to spend a cent, you can either try out CasinoTop10’s Free Roulette game or alternatively sign up to one of the casinos on our list and play one of their free games. Testing this systematic method of betting or any other one that might have stimulated your interest is a fantastic way to determine whether or not the betting system is worth using or not without the need to fork out a single dime.

Provided that you try it out and don’t like the way it’s worked out for you, you needn’t stress. You wouldn’t have lost any money after all which leaves you with plenty of other betting systems to try out whilst playing your game of choice. D’Alembert’s reverse counterpart is one of them. If you’d like to try out the positive progressive betting system instead, you should have a look at our page on the Reverse D’Alembert Betting System which delves into all the little details of how to use the system, its advantages and disadvantages and an example of when it’s used whilst playing Roulette.

Place Bets using the D’Alembert System & Have fun at the Casino!

Using the D’Alembert Betting system can provide you with hours of fun whilst at the casino. As with all betting strategies, this one will help you place your wagers in a systematic manner. This negative progressive betting system can definitely aid you in generating a win. However, it can also shrink your bankroll, if you’re met with the wrong set of circumstances. In any case, no matter what it does, you should always be prepared to handle the outcome prior to using it; whether it’s good or bad. If you’d like to try using the Betting system for real-money, you should definitely opt to sign-up at one of our casinos which offer you the Best Bonuses that the online casino realm has to offer.

Have you ever seen a gambling system for sale that promises huge wins? You might even be swayed by the fuzzy math examples used in the sales pitch, but the promises seem too good to be true.

Like most things in life that look too good to be true, these gambling systems are based on incorrect assumptions or poor math. Most of these systems are designed around the Martingale system, which sounds like it might work when you first learn about it.

On this page, you’re going to learn what the Martingale system is, why it doesn’t work in the long run, and why you might want to use it in the short term anyway.

Using the Martingale system for fun and short-term profits gives you the complete picture of the possibilities. The truth is that if you use it, you’re eventually going to lose a great deal of money.

But in the short term, you might be able to turn a steady profit.

What Is the Martingale System?

The Martingale system is a simple process that involves doubling your bets after a loss. The idea is that if you can make a bet that offers even odds, or close to even odds, you eventually win and make enough money on the win to cover all of your previous losses, and have a profit left over equal to your first bet.

You start with an original bet of $10. If you win the first bet, you win $10. If you lose the first bet, you make a bet of $20 for the second wager.

If you win the second bet, you win $20 and get back your bet of $20. The $20 you get back covers the $20 bet and the $20 in profit covers your original $10 bet, and leaves a profit of $10.

If you lose the first two bets, you make a bet of $40 for the third bet. If you win the third bet, the $40 profit covers the original $10 bet, the $20 second bet, and leaves a profit of $10.

This seems like a sure way to lock in a profit. The truth is it’s a sure way to lose, as you’re going to learn in the next section.

Why You Shouldn’t Use It

Three problems that aren’t evident at first combine to make the Martingale system a long-term disaster.

The first problem is that it’s difficult to find bets offered that have even odds. The bets in the casino that look like they offer even odds don’t, because of the house edge. Many Martingale users play roulette and bet on red, black, even, or odd. These bets pay one to one, but they don’t offer even odds.

If you’re playing on a single zero wheel, there are 18 spaces that win and 19 that lose. When you bet on black, there are 18 black spaces, 18 red spaces, and one space for the zero. A wheel with a zero and double zero has 18 spaces that win and 20 spaces that lose.

The second problem is the maximum betting limits, or ceiling, that casinos have for each game. When you lose several decisions in a row, you reach a point where the casino won’t take the next larger bet you need to make.

If the table limits are $10 to $500 and you start your betting series at $10, you reach the ceiling after losing five bets in a row. After losing the first bet, you bet $20. Losing the second bet requires a bet of $40. A third loss means a bet of $80. The fourth loss requires the next bet of $160. The fifth loss makes a bet of $320. You can’t place the sixth bet of $640 because the maximum bet is $500.

Even if the table has limits of $10 to $1,000 you can only make the sixth bet of $640. The seventh would need to be $1,280.

This leads to the third problem. Even if you can find a situation where you can make bets at even odds and you don’t have a maximum bet limit imposed by the business or person taking the bets, you don’t have an unlimited bankroll.

Eventually you’re going to lose enough in a series of bets that you run out of money.

This might not seem likely, but streaks of six or seven or more losses in a row aren’t as uncommon as you probably think.

Now that you know why you shouldn’t use the Martingale system to try to make long-term profits, let’s look at a reason why you might use it anyway.

Playing for Fun

If you understand the downside to using the Martingale system and still want to try it for fun, you can give it a try. Set a strict bankroll limit and see if you can double your money before you hit a long losing streak. Sometimes you’re going to be able to double it, but most of the time you’re going to lose.

But this doesn’t mean it can’t be fun to ride the ups and downs to see how it works in real life.

Here’s a fun way to try it that gives you a chance to have success.

If you can start with a bankroll of $2,047 you can make a series of bets up to 11 losses in a row before you run out of money. You have to start playing at an online casino that offers $1 minimum bets at their roulette table.

Make sure you play on a single zero wheel so you have the best odds.

Start your series with a bet of $1 on one of the even-money bets. As soon as you win a bet, drop back down to a $1 bet. The series of bets following losses is $2, $4, $8, $16, $32, $64, $128, $256, $512, and $1,024.

Keep in mind that a place where you start playing with $1 bets might not offer a maximum bet large enough to continue the entire series. When you reach the maximum betting limit, you might need to continue your bets in a land-based casino where the ceiling is higher.

This example illustrates the problem. You end up risking a large amount of money in hopes of a small profit. On the last bet of the series, you’re risking $1,024 for the chance to win $1.

It usually takes a long time to reach a streak of 11 straight losses. But if you play long enough, it’s going to eventually happen.

In order to double your bankroll, you need to win 2,047 straight series before you lose 11 bets in a row. You have a chance to do it, but in the long run, it’s still a bad bet.

Even if you don’t want to risk over $2,000, you can still have fun using the Martingale with a smaller bankroll. With a bankroll of $1,023, you can make bets until you lose 10 times in a row. And with a bankroll of $511, you can make bets until losing nine times in a row.

If your goal is to gamble as long as possible while enjoying some short-term wins, the Martingale offers a good option.

Short-Term Profits

Now let’s say you don’t need to double your bankroll, but you want to be able to win $100 most of the time. If you use the same bankroll and bets used in the example above you only have to win 100 series in a row.

You have a good chance to win 100 series in a row before hitting 11 straight losses. With a little bit of luck, you might be able to win 100 series in a row multiple times before you get wiped out.

But eventually, you’re going to hit the losing streak where you lose more than all your short-term profits combined. If you’re willing to take the risk and are gambling with a bankroll that you know you’re eventually going to lose, this can offer hours of fun and excitement.

The risk of doing this is when you start believing that the short-term profits are going to equal long term ones. If you win 100 series in a row seven or eight times, it can fool you into believing that it can last forever.

This isn’t the case, and when you eventually get wiped out and aren’t prepared for the consequences, it can be bad. Too many people think that they can’t possibly lose another decision in a row and risk money they can’t afford to lose.

This is how people lose everything. When you convince yourself that you can’t lose, you get tempted to risk everything. People have risked their houses and everything else they own chasing what they thought was sure. Don’t make this mistake just because you have some short-term success.

Using the Martingale in Other Games

Roulette isn’t the only game where you can use the Martingale system. Any game that offers one-to-one pay outs is a candidate for the system. But most of them make things a bit more complicated than betting on roulette.

Here are a few more games you can play using the Martingale system and some of the challenges you face while playing them.

Blackjack – Blackjack offers a low house edge, usually considerably lower than roulette. You also win more than even money on a natural blackjack. But you have to deal with doubling down and splitting, which means that on some hands you need to bet more than your original bet.

The low house edge and ability to win more than even money sometimes makes it seem like a perfect game for the Martingale. But if you plan to use it while playing blackjack, you need a larger bankroll to be able to double down or split when it gives you the best chance to win. If you have to split after losing several hands in a row, you might not have enough money.

Pai Gow Poker – Pai Gow Poker is not one of the most popular casino games, but it offers an interesting opportunity for Martingale bettors. The game plays at a slow pace, so you don’t risk as many decisions every hour. A large percentage of hands end in a push or tie, which means you get to play even longer on the same bankroll.

Is The Martingale System Illegal

It’s difficult to find a wide enough betting range to use the Martingale system long term, but for short-term play, it offers a good opportunity.

Baccarat– Baccarat has a low house edge on the banker bet, but when you win this bet the house collects a commission. You have to factor in the commission when you place your bets. This can be done, but it complicates the use of a system.

Craps – The pass-line and don’t-pass-line bets at the craps table offer a fairly low house edge and pay one to one. But it’s hard to find tables with a wide range of betting limits. It often takes several rolls before one of these bets is resolved, so craps does offer a slow playing game.

Sports Betting – Betting on sporting events also offers an opportunity to use the Martingale system. You need to factor in the vig you pay on losing bets, but it’s just a different way the house creates an edge. You might need to shop at several different books to find a wide enough range of bet limits, but you can use the system in sports betting.

Other Possibilities

Everything I’ve covered so far has dealt with bets that pay one to one or even money. But you can use a form of the Martingale system to make bets that have longer odds and pay more than one to one.

You can make bets on roulette that pay two to one. Bets on one of the dozens or columns have the same long-term house edge as bets on red, black, even, and odd, but pay out more. They also win fewer times than the even-money bets.

Using the Martingale is a little different on these types of bets, but the concept is the same. You just don’t need to double your bets after each loss.

You can also create more advanced systems that just use the Martingale as a part of the system. Some players keep track of results and then don’t start betting until certain things happen.

They might not place a bet at roulette until three reds in a row happen. Then they start the Martingale on black because they think it improves their odds.

Roulette Martingale System

The problem with this thought process is that each spin is an independent decision and has nothing to do with past results. Every spin has the same odds to land on black as any other spin. On average, playing on a single zero wheel, the result will be black 18 out of 37 times, or 48.649% of the time.

This deals with the gambler’s fallacy. It’s the belief that if something happens more than expected in a short time it’s not likely to happen as often in the next short time period, or some variation of this.

The human mind has a tendency to look for patterns, so we assign value too quickly to things that happen. If you see that tails comes up two times in a row when flipping a coin, you might think that heads is more likely to come up on the third flip.

But the fact is that heads has the same 50 / 50 chance to come up on the third flip as it did on the first two flips. As a matter of fact, based on simple mathematics, two tails in a row happen 25% of the time, and three in a row happens 12.5%. You get these percentages by multiplying the chance, 50%, times 50% for each successive possibility.

Don’t fall for the gambler’s fallacy in any situation. Random results can and are produced regularly, but in the long run, the base percentages hold true. But it might take hundreds of thousands or even millions of decisions for the base percentages to come through.

Conclusion

Does The Martingale System Work

The Martingale system eventually leads to large losses that wipe out all of your short-term profits. But if you know how it works and the long-term dangers, you can still use this system for fun. And just like the title says, you might even be able to enjoy a few short-term profits before the long term catches up with you.