Betting strategies are algorithms, rules or general approaches that are used to increase the probability of winning at a casino. They are targeted mostly at long term returns rather than short term gains.
Sometimes based on detailed statistical analysis and sometimes entirely empirical, there may well be some merit is some of these strategies. A few of them will be outlined in this article.
Probably the original strategy is known as the Martingale system and is quite intuitive. For games that pay evens, that is 1:1, then each time the player looses he should double the stake. The theory is that eventually the player will win back one unit. The system is of course severely flawed. Assuming that the player has a bankroll of £1,000,000 and the stake is £1. If he loses ten times he is down £512. If he loses twenty times he is must stake £524,288 to win the original £1 bet. If he loses just once more he is bankrupt. Forget it, it is a silly system.
The next system is the d’Alembert system. It should be noted that this sometimes very clever mathematician also believed that the probability of a coin toss resulting in tails increased for every time it came up heads. His system was that bets should be raised following a loss and reduced following a win. The system is just as harebrained as the Martingale system.
An entirely different approach is the Paroli system. Here bets are increased as a result of wins and decreased as a result of losses. This means that you must start betting at a relatively high level. This is certainly a safer method that the previous ones.
A related system is the Parlay system. As a result of a win, the next wager is the total winnings plus the original stake. A second win would result in the winnings and stake being bet again and so on. Assuming that the maximum number of times this is applied is set, then this method offers huge potential rewards for a small initial outlay with extremely small odds of achieving it.
There are a number of other systems that have briefly come into fashion before dying a death, some simple like these, some horrendously complicated. So far no one has come up with one that works more than 50% of the time.
About the Author
Dave Saltonstall — has been involved in creating and establishing online casinos for over 10 years — he now writes gambling articles for bookmakers and casino operators alike — he recommends those who want to win online to, the onlinecasinoking.co.uk