The Martingale system is one of the most popular blackjack strategies that players swear by. It provides a simple blueprint for how players organize their play, providing some much-needed structure to the fast-paced action of blackjack.
If you want to play Martingale blackjack, you’ll find everything you need to know about the system here. You’ll finally understand:
- What is Martingale and where did it come from,
- How does this widely used system apply to blackjack
- The pros and cons of this bankroll management approach.
What is the Martingale System?
The Martingale system comes from a very simple premise – every time the player loses, they double their play. That way, a subsequent win could recoup the loss and put the player in a position to profit, if their luck holds. Like any system, it has absolutely no guarantee of consistent wins. Most players who rely on this negative progression system do so to curtail losses or provide some structure to their gameplay.
Because of its simplicity, the Martingale system works on a lot of different casino games. Here we’re focusing on the Martingale as a blackjack bankroll management system, thought it can be used in other games like roulette. The Martingale method works best when the win/loss probability is near 50%-50%.
As for where this system came from, mathematicians in 18th-century France came up with it. During this period, Swiss and French scholars were grappling with what is known as the St. Petersburg paradox. This was a theoretical coin-flipping game where one face doubled your prize, while the other ended the game.
Much like Blaise Pascal’s roulette wheel, this math hypothesis quickly reached the casino floor. It was London-based casino owner John H. Martindale (not Martingale) that helped make it popular in casinos, advocating for players to double their play after a loss in order to have a chance at getting it back.
The concept of recovering losses is undoubtedly much older than the 1700s, but the Martingale system as we know it has been around for over 300 years.
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How Martingale Works When Playing Blackjack
Murky origins aside, the Martingale system has since established itself as one of the more famous systems out there. It’s just as infamous to some players, for reasons covered more in the pros and cons section.
First, let’s establish how Martingale can work with blackjack. Ideally, a Martingale approach is supposed to use a (near) 50/50 probability game, like the red or black spaces at a roulette table. Blackjack isn’t a 50/50 game.
However, since blackjack is played against the dealer, it’s possible to double your play and recover the last hand’s losses if you win. The probability calculations are a lot more complex (and covered by blackjack strategy charts or counting cards), but ultimately, most rounds end with either the dealer winning or the player winning.
Since most rounds end with one of two outcomes, the Martingale system can work. To apply it to blackjack, players just need to decide on a starting play and then double it after a losing hand. If you win, revert back to the starting play and try the process again.
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Examples of the Martingale Blackjack System in Action
A lot of players learn best from examples sourced straight from the blackjack table. Here are three different scenarios that should give you a deeper insight into Martingale blackjack and how it can unfold during actual gameplay.
To start, let’s look at a successful Martingale sequence in blackjack. You start with a small play at 2 and lose the subsequent hand. You double the play to 4, and another loss turns it into 8. Then you lose again, so that 8 turns into 16. After three consecutive losses, your play has gone from 2 to 16, and you have -14 in profit. But if that 16-play hand wins, you recover the losses and get a +2 profit. See the table below for a visualization.
| Play | Outcome | Bankroll Variation |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Loss | -2 |
| 4 | Loss | -6 |
| 8 | Loss | -14 |
| 16 | Win | +2 |
| 2 | Win | +4 |
This is the ideal cycle for the Martingale system in blackjack. It redeems prior losses while establishing a small profit, at which point the player can decide to play further or leave the table with gains. Like most systems, Martingale tends to work better with short-term play sessions.
This is just one possible outcome from Martingale, however. If you have a smaller bankroll, then your play can quickly grow and become bigger than it. As such, Martingale works best when you have a larger bankroll, capable of withstanding a string of losses. In this new table, we’ve added a new column for bankroll depletion, with a total bankroll of 100 and a new play starting at 5.
| Play | Outcome | Bankroll Variation | Bankroll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Loss | -5 | 95 |
| 10 | Loss | -15 | 85 |
| 20 | Loss | -35 | 65 |
| 40 | Loss | -75 | 25 |
With this example, just four consecutive losses have made the Martingale approach unfeasible. The remaining bankroll – 25 – isn’t enough to double your last 40 play to 80, to recover the -75 loss you’ve incurred (plus some extra).
Our last example follows a similar process, but this time we should focus on table limits. Every blackjack table imposes limits on how many chips you can put down. At some small play tables, this limit can be as low as 20. Others set limits at 50, 100, or 1,000 for higher-plays tables. The next table visualizes how doubling down with Martingale can hit the table limit.
| Play | Outcome | Bankroll Variation | Table Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Loss | -10 | 250 |
| 20 | Loss | -30 | |
| 40 | Loss | -70 | |
| 80 | Loss | -150 | |
| 160 | Loss | -310 |
Here, a five-loss streak has hit the table limit for a 250-limit table. They won’t accept plays higher than 250, but Martingale demands that the next move would be 320 – 160 doubled. When trying out Martingale blackjack, you should always keep your bankroll limit and your table limit in mind, and remember that no system will save you from bad luck.
The Pros and Cons of Martingale Blackjack Bankroll System
Now that you know more about the Martingale system and how it works for blackjack, we can draw out the pros and cons of this system.
The main benefits of the Martingale approach in blackjack are simplicity and its ability to recover losses. Some blackjack systems can get complicated, making them harder to follow during fast-paced blackjack. Martingale isn’t one of those systems. That, plus its claim that it allows players to claw back losses on a long enough timeline.
But that’s where the main con of the Martingale blackjack system comes in. If you double your play with every loss, then it’s only a matter of time before you theoretically recover your losses. In reality, you don’t have infinite chips nor infinite time. As a result, losses can build up and overcome your bankroll, or top out the table limits. Also, more time spent at the table exposes you to the house edge, so you’re more likely to lose chips over a long session than a short one.
Other Blackjack Bankroll Management Techniques
With those pros and cons in mind, you should always remember that a playing system is only part of the equation. We can broadly separate blackjack strategy into three tiers:
- The bankroll rules you set
- Your play
- The decisions you make with your hand
Systems like Martingale help determine how many chips you’ll put down and when, but your gameplay should always be supported by a foundation of smart bankroll management. Other strategies, like memorizing hit/stand charts, can then help with the actual decision-making part of the game.
Focusing on bankroll management, you should always set a budget and stick to it. This is a limit that stops the session if you incur a large loss. Likewise, some like to set upward limits that stop the session after a large win, too. Your average play should be approximately 2% of your overall bankroll. This means a player with a bankroll of 100 should start by playing 2. When using Martingale, keeping your starting play small will also give you more runway to ride out potential losing streaks, though there is still no guarantee.
As for other systems, there are alternatives such as:
- Blackjack Paroli
- Blackjack Fibonacci
- Blackjack Labouchere
- Blackjack Flat Playing
- Blackjack Oscar’s Grind
Wrapping Up
Ultimately, luck will determine how successful or unsuccessful your time at the table is.
However, by using a system like the Martingale, you can structure your plays and set reasonable expectations when going into the game. If you don’t want to fret about your play amount, and how much you’ll play the next hand, then Martingale blackjack takes the decision out of your hands.
Like any system, don’t assume it’s a fast-track to winning and practice responsible bankroll management. On top of that, get to know the game and choose the right strategy and blackjack variations.
For more about bankroll management, playing systems, and all things blackjack, check out our other social casino guides before exploring games at McLuck social casino.
FAQ
Is Martingale banned in casinos?
No, casinos have no stance on what system you use when playing – it’s a personal decision. The only thing banned in most casinos is card counting.
What is the Four-Step Martingale in Blackjack?
The four-step Martingale system is a variant that cuts the sequence off prematurely, effectively adding a stop loss to the system. You double down three times, then call it quits. This can limit losses, but also win potential. The four steps are 1-2-4-8, though remember those are units, not the actual play. If your starting unit is a 2, then it’ll look like 2-4-8-16 instead when played properly.
