Ever since casinos were created, people have been trying to find ways to beat the house. This is where betting systems come into play. A betting system is a strategic plan that’s supposed to increase a player’s chance of winning more bets in less time.
Even though they have been around for a long time, no system has ever been proven to truly work. Nevertheless, the internet is full of people selling betting systems with promises of beating the casino at games of luck.
These types of betting methods can be applied to most games, whether at land-based or online casinos. They’re a good way to strategize your game, but don’t trick yourself into believing you can turn the odds in your favor and beat the house.
Types of Betting Systems for Casino Games
As of today, there are three known types of betting methods in practice.
Positive Progressive Betting
This system requires you to increase your bet every time you experience a win and to decrease stakes when you experience a loss. This is one of the most popular betting systems as it doesn’t require you to have a lot of money to start the game.
Negative Progressive Betting
A more risky betting system, this system requires you to wager even higher every time you lose. The idea is to recover your losses with a single winning bet. This system requires a larger bankroll.
Insurance Betting System
This betting system is considered the “safest” because it requires you to decrease your bet every time you lose. Some people actually consider this a good betting system.
The Most Popular Casino Betting Systems
For centuries mathematicians and gambling experts have developed different types of betting systems with the goal of increasing the odds at beating the house. Let’s take a look at the most common ones:
1. Martingale Betting System
This method has survived the transition from land-based casinos to the online casino world. The Martingale betting system owes its popularity and longevity to its simplicity as well as its deceptive appearance of effectiveness. It’s designed to place wagers on even money bets in games like roulette, baccarat, and online blackjack.
The system consists of doubling up after each loss, making it extremely easy to calculate progressions. When you win, you must bet your base stake instead. For example, if you lose two bets in a row, you have to double the size of your 2nd bet on your 3rd bet, and so on.
2. D’Alembert Betting System
This is a negative progressive strategy, but it’s also considered one of the safest to use. Jean Le Rond, an 18th-century math genius, created this method by combining elements from the Martingale and the Great Martingale system.
To use this system you have to come up with a base stake which is used throughout the entire game as you place wagers on even bets. When you experience a loss, increase your stakes by one unit and then decrease by one unit when you get a win. This way you recover your losses by betting higher every time and save your winnings by reducing the wagers once you have won.
3. Labouchere Betting System
This negative progression betting system takes its name from its creator, Henry Labourchere, but it’s also known as the Cancellation System, the Split Martingale, and the American Progression.
The idea of this system is to be able to recover losses from losing bets through a small number of wins. This method is much more flexible than other betting systems because instead of following a particular sequence, you can come up with your own sequence.
This system was originally created to be applied when playing real money roulette, but it can be used on other table games like blackjack and baccarat. The logic behind the Labouchere Betting System is based on the idea that if a player wins more often than they lose, they will be able to cross off all the numbers in the sequence they created during gameplay.
4. Fibonacci Betting System
This negative progression betting system involves increasing your stakes following a losing wager. The idea is that doing this will help you win money, as you’re more likely to have higher stakes in winning bets than you are on losing bets.
The Fibonacci betting system sequence starts with a zero and then a one, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two numbers. This method is usually used when placing even money bets in the casino and can be used when you play online craps on the pass or don’t pass wagers.
5. Paroli Betting System
The Paroli Betting System is over 100 years old and is one of the most used methods in the gambling world. Also referred to as the Reverse Martingale system, this positive progression betting system is used on even money wagers and focuses on raising your wagers when you generate a win.
The system believes in increasing your bet if you win and is thought to work well if you are on a winning roll. Many gamblers who use this method like to apply it to games of chance like roulette or live dealer baccarat.
6. 1-3-2-6 Betting System
Considered a positive progression betting system, the 1-3-2-6 method works on just about any game, so long as you can make even-money bets. This is the best of the systems, assuming you can get four wins in a row.
How does it work? First, divide your stake amount into units. Then, invest 1 unit on your first bet, 3 on the second, 2 on the third and invest 6 units on your fourth bet. An advantage of this system is that it was carefully designed to keep your winnings and sustain your losses.
7. Hollandish Betting System
With the Hollandish betting system, you start with a stake of one unit (given the number of chips) until you win for the first time. Then, you’ll compensate for your previous losses with a progression of three units. For example, if three bets were lost, you will have to win three times before the progression is finished.
If you continue to lose during the three unit progression, you have to wait until this progression is finished (after three successful bets). Then you raise it to five units until the losses of the three unit progressions are covered.
Once you achieve full compensation for your losses, you will continue to play with one unit. If losses occur during the five unit progression, you raise it to seven units and follow the same betting pattern as before.
Why Do People Use These Methods for Betting?
People develop and use betting systems because they are motivated by the idea of beating the house and making more money. Almost all casino games are based on or use numbers, making people think that by using math they’ll have a better chance of figuring out a way to win big.
This notion gave birth to The Gambler’s Fallacy, also known as the Monte Carlo Fallacy. This is the belief that it’s possible to predict future outcomes by examining past ones. In gambling, it makes the false assumption that outcomes are co-dependent on previous outcomes.
Are Betting Methods Worth the Gamble?
Our best bet is to not rely on any type of betting system to win. Betting systems add a layer of fun to the gambling experience and might be a useful tool if you want to strategize your wagers and keep track of your winnings and losses. However, no system has ever been proven to be effective at defeating the house in the long run.
