A fun
game for a lot of folks is Roulette. Much of it's popularity
is because it is probably the easiest of all table gambling games
to learn to play and a convenient way to test betting systems
experiments.
Gamblers have
been seeking magic betting systems forever. The challenge to
find a "system" or a method of varying your bets in
a way that will change the game odds to your favor can be compelling
and sometimes almost addictive. It's important not to take the
search for sure-fire winning systems too seriously because, like
Santa and the tooth fairy, they just don't exist.
Betting systems
are a progression of wagers, or bet amounts, that are predetermined
to vary in accordance with previous win-loss results or some
other sort of wheel results history. Most, but not necessarily
all the systems use the even money Roulette bets such as red
or black, odd or even, etc. All reasonable systems can produce
attractive short term results that might seem too wonderful to
be true. The Martingale System is a good example.
Martingale
instructs the player to start with a minimum bet on an even money
play such as "red", and stay at that minimum betting
level until a loss occurs, then double the wager on the next
play. The player is to continue doubling the amount bet after
each loss until he gets a win. Then he or she will take a 1 unit
profit and start over again with the minimum bet. A progression
of this type can be shown like this: 1L, 2L, 4L, 8L, 16L, 32W
or it can be stated as bet 1 unit - if you lose, then bet 2 units
- if you lose, then bet 4 units etc. until the bet is followed
by a win. (In this case the win occurs at the 32 bet level.)
In this series,
even though the player lost five of the six bets, the betting
system produced a 1 unit profit for a good short term play. (32
units won - 31 total units lost). The bad news is that the Martingale
is a long term loser. The main flaw in the system is that it
will sooner or later experience a losing streak that will require
the player to place a wager so large that it will exceed either
the house limit or the player's ability to continue. When this
happens our player always suffers a very large loss for the series
of wagers.
Along with
Martingale, there are quite a few other betting systems with
sophisticated confidence inspiring names like Labouchere, D'Alembert,
and Paroli. They all have interesting short term betting procedures
in common. Also in common, they all have the long term certainty
of failure. You can read about these and other various systems
here - www.ildado.com/betting_systems.html .
Maybe the most respected internet source for the value of betting
systems and such is "The Wizard of Odds". The Wiz puts
it this way -
"Betting
systems are all equally worthless" .
Now, if
you are not impressed with any of the fancy name systems that
have been around for a long time, there are lots of brand new
get-rich-quick system products available for sale on the internet
for just about any price from $9.95 to $149.95 or so. Some of
the promos for this stuff are so convincing that it's hard not
buy even when you know they are nothing more than worthless scams.
The unscrupulous promoters of this junk love it when foolish
and misguided people send them money and the casino operators
love it when new guests arrive at their hotels with all the info
about these so called systems stuffed in their pockets. |
