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The Crapshooter © 2008 By Larry Edell
 
What are the Secrets of the Martingales?
 
Pssst…! Wanna know a secret?
How about the secrets of the four Martingale Systems?
A Martingale is one that promises winning results, and you will win most of the time. However, just one loss can wipe out all of your winnings, and more.
Wanna know how craps pros use a Martingale to increase their profits?
Let’s find out now how they do it – and how you can do it too!
 A regular Martingale system simply states that you double your bet upon a loss until you are winning again. So if you bet $25 on the pass line, for example, and lose, your next bet on the pass line would be $50. Then $100.Then $200, then $400, then... oops sir, looks like you hit the table limit of $500, no more bets.
Of course, if you start out at only $5 you can go seven full levels - $5, $10, $20, $40, $80, $160, and $320. But if you happen to lose at the seventh level you don’t just lose the $320, but all of the other bets as well - a total of $635! Besides, when you bet the Martingale, you are just trying to get even - to recoup your losses. So even if you win, you end up just a little ahead, but is it all really worth the risk? If you lose the first six bets and win the seventh bet you will be ahead exactly $5.
In order to provide a better monetary incentive, someone came up with the “Grand Martingale.” In this you not only double your bet but add one more dollar to it. So your $5 flat bet progression is now $5, $11, $23, $47, $95, $191, $383. You still end up capping at the seventh level. And you end up losing more if you lose all seven bets in a row - a lot more - your total loss now is $755! However if you lose the first six bets and win the seventh bet you are ahead by a whole eleven dollars - not much, but more than the regular Martingale.
The third variation of this system is called the “Short Martingale.” It is similar to the Grand one, only well, shorter. You only play for four levels and then if you lose you quit. So your progression would be $5, $11, $23, and $47. If you lose the first three and win the forth you will be ahead by $8, and you have less money at risk.
The forth and best Martingale version is the “Rotating Martingale”. You use the same progression as the Short Martingale, only you double your bet and add one to it when you win and decrease it the same way when you lose.
For example, you place a $5 bet on the pass line and win, so your next bet is $11. You win again so your third bet is $23. You lose this one so go back to the $11 level. When you get to zero you should then switch to the don’t pass. Your game ends when you bet at the fourth level ($47) and win.
Martingales are not for everyone, and if you want to try one (or all) of these four systems you should find a low limit table (or a free internet game) and try it out there before you use $5 chips.
Pssst…! Now you know the secrets of the four Martingales!

 

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