Martingale system?Which Sportbooks will tolerate it?

**slacker00** · 01-29-06, 11:22 AM

The simple answer is that books have betting limits. At some point in the Martingale system, you'll end up hitting the limit. It's one of many reasons why the system simply doesn't work.

**Santo** · 01-29-06, 11:32 AM

However, if a book sees you doubling up every time you lose, you'll probably be one of their favourite customers ;o)

**BuddyBear** · 01-29-06, 11:49 AM

I would think every book would allow it and gladly allow it. The problem is there are limits. Even let's say you are say a $10 bettor eventually you'll hit the limit very quickly....$10, 20, 40, 60, 160, 320, 640, 1280, at this point you would I know be cut off at SIA where I play so that means if you use the system it would give you 8 bets to win back your money.....now I don't know about you but I am pretty sure everyone has at one point lost 8 bets in a row.

If you play at a book with higher limits continuing our trend $2560 and then bet #10 would be $5120.

Pretty much everywheere you are going to be cut off at $5000.....but as you can see with as little as 10 losing bets in a row you will go broke. Albeit, losing 10 bets in a row is a bit unlikely statistically it does happen and I am sure everyone here would report similar losing streaks and maybe even worse....and mind you this is with a $10 bettor imagine how quickly a $100 or $250 or $500 would lose their money if they used such a system.

There are better systems out there.

**SBR_John** · 01-29-06, 11:53 AM

Santo is right, you should get picked up in a limo full of babes to play any variation of a Martingale system. You see all those beautiful casinos in Vegas? They have been paid for many times by "system players". The fact is 11 beats 10(the odds) most of the time and no system can compensate for that.

**JoshW** · 01-29-06, 02:48 PM

If you tell the book what you plan to do, and you are betting your own plays (i.e. not steam), most will welcome you with open arms and likely let you put in as big as plays as you like over the phone. Olympic and Cascade will likely take as much as you want. Am sure Pinnacle and CRIS would too, but they are less flexiable with limits and setting up something like that.

**pags11** · 01-30-06, 03:59 AM

never had heard of this before...

**operaman** · 02-21-06, 01:34 AM

Betting limits are not the reason martingale is flawed, it is just a way people can see that it wont work. Even if you had infinite money and the limits were infinite it would still
be -ev. You can choose any bet limit amount and the calculation will still show a neg. expected value.

**BigDaddy** · 02-21-06, 02:01 AM

If books had no limits and you had infinite funds books would be broke. But books do have limits as las vegas has limits otherwise they would be broke to.

**Doug** · 02-21-06, 02:54 AM

Originally posted by operaman

Betting limits are not the reason martingale is flawed, it is just a way people can see that it wont work. Even if you had infinite money and the limits were infinite it would still
be -ev. You can choose any bet limit amount and the calculation will still show a neg. expected value.

I disagree, taken to infinity the gambler eventualy wins one unit, but infinity is unrealistic, loosing 10 straight happens every 1024 times in a fair 50/ 50 trial, quite possible to lose 10 straight sports bets, BJ hands, roulette odd/even, red/ black, pass/ don't pass bets, etc. Those aren't really 50/50, more like 52/48 in favor of house, with possible exceptions.

No place will take the double up on 15th try with $10 start, few books take over a 10-team parlay, if they do they wickedly short the odds, (Sportsbook.com).

There's a reason for limits, casinos can't take 100 million $ BJ bets, can't afford that risk, an occasional $1 M BJ bet makes for good publicity, has a theoretical profit, but nobody with the money to make the bet bets that much regurarly.

I never heard of a casino/ card counter deal where the counter varies bets from 1-5 M, a hot counter could hit for 100M in hours, even in a shoe, never happen !

**marc** · 02-21-06, 09:45 AM

Doug,

You are mistaken. Assuming the line is correct, and its 50/50 who wins. Because of the juice each bet the player makes has negative expectancy. If all your bets have negative expectancy, and you place an infinite amount of wagers, you end up with negative expectancy. No combination of negative expectancy wagers can bring you to a zero or positive expectancy.

The only thing a large bankroll will do for you is reduce the probability of going bankrupt.