Probably the simplest wagering system ever invented is the Martingale, where the player doubles their wager after each loss. Of course the obvious downfall of the Martingale is that some streaks of loses just seem to go on and on until you are broke. In practice, if you wager $1 and lose, the Martingale dictates that you next wager $2, then $4, then $8, well, you get the idea. Once you have lost nine-straight bets you bump up against the house maximum of $500 while trying to wager $512.

If you were to start the system at a $5 to $500 table you would have to win before your 7th bet, which would be $320. What about your bankroll?

Does this mean the Martingale never wins? No. If you follow the system religiously there will be times when you win many wagers before hitting the inevitable streak that wipes out your bankroll. Because of this, some players use this system at roulette on the even-money wagers (a French wheel with one zero and En Prison is best) but don't make their own first wager until the bet in question has lost three straight times. This improves the chances of winning considerably.Unfortunately, the Martingale requires the player to risk a great amount of money trying to win just a single unit. You can do better!

The Anti-Martingale

The Anti-Martingale (or Reverse Martingale) runs the opposite direction of the standard Martingale.  Instead of doubling-up to get even, the Anti-Martingale increases a wager after a win and decreases the wager after a loss. This still won't change the house edge, but at least on those occasions when it is successful you get to go home with a pocket full of money!

Any time a player increases their wagers during a winning streak and cuts back during a losing streak they are going to have a better chance of scoring big, and while you won't ever know how long a streak will last, you will do very well when it is a winning streak. A true Reverse Martingale requires the player to double their wager each time they win until the table maximum is reached or they lose. The idea is to bet $5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 - and win each wager, then start again.That's great as long as you actually win seven or eight hands fairly often. Unfortunately it won't happen often enough to make you happy!

To counter-act the fact that most streaks will be just two or three wins in a row, take a more realistic run at the casino's money by increasing your wager about 50-percent after each win. In practice, a winning streak will have wagers of $5, $10, $15, $25, $40, $60, $90, $150 and $200. This way, with the exception of the first jump from 5 to 10, you'll bet to pull-back some chips after each win. If you start at $10 you can go to $15 after the first win and then continue the betting as above. As for the wager after a loss, most players start back in the basement at their lowest wager and build again as they win.

If you have tried this system at roulette, you might consider tweaking it slightly and using a similar betting strategy to beat the game of roulette with column play.

The Grand Martingale

If you don't like the Martingale because it wins too little with each successful play, and the Reverse Martingale doesn't capture your fancy, you can always try an even riskier double-up system. With the Grand Martingale you not only double your wager after each loss, but you even add another unit to each bet. In practice, when you lose a bet of say $10, instead of just doubling to $20, you move all the way up to $30. Subsequent loses would make your wagers $70, then $150, $310, and $630.

Bankroll Considerations

With the Martingale, a $5 to $500 table requires wagers of $5, $10, $20, $40, $80, $160 and $320 - hoping to win before losing a full table--stake of $635, or $1275 if the limit is $1000. A Grand Martingale play requires wagers of $5, $15, $35, $75, $155, and $315 ($600) or $1235 with a $620 wager on a $1000 limit table. That's quite a lot of money.

With the Anti-Martingale you can start with a bankroll of $100 and have 20 chances to win seven or eight straight hands and win either $635 on a $500 max table or $1275 on a $1000 max bet table. The choice is yours: Risk $$635 to win $5, or risk $100 to win $635. Your results will vary, especially if you don't know how to choose a game based on your skill level. Make sure you know the ins and outs of any game you play for real money before you bet!