Top 3 Betting Systems to Use in Blackjack
If you like to play blackjack just for fun, you might enjoy trying different betting systems. Betting systems are nice if you want some control over how you bet money in the casino and you don't want to rely on your own hunches.
There are several well-known betting systems. These can be used for just about any betting game, not just blackjack. Here are some of them and how they work.
Martingale Betting System
Using the Martingale System, you increase your bet by 100% each time you lose. If you win, you go back to your starting bet.
Let's say your first bet is 1 unit. If you lose, you bet 2 units. If you lose again, you bet 4 units and so on. As soon as you win, you return to a 1 unit bet.
This system guarantees a win in theory. You will win 1 betting unit when you finally win. But the trouble with this system is you can lose a great deal of money in a very short time and, if your bankroll isn't big enough, you may never recover your losses. Bring $500 and start betting $2. If you lose 7 times in a row, that's $254 in losses. You have to bet $256 to get that back, and you don't have it. Even if you do, your profit is only $2 if you win!
Further, casinos today have maximum betting limits to guard against this system.
Paroli Betting System
The Paroli Betting System is the opposite of the Martingale. You increase your bet after a win, not after a loss. But here, you can put a limit on your increases. Let's say you start with a $1 bet. If you win 4 times in a row, your next bet will be at $16. You can decide to cap your bets at that limit and go back to your original bet afterwards.
This betting system is safer to use than the Martingale. However it is flawed, as most betting systems are, since it assumes you will win many times in a row.
Labouchere System
This is a bit more complicated than the earlier two systems. Here you will use a series of numbers to make a betting pattern and bet the total of the first and last numbers of the series.
Let's say you use the series 1-2-3-4-5-6. These numbers represent the number of bet units you will use. Take the first and last numbers of your chosen series - in this case, 1 and 6 - and add them. 1 + 6 = 7. So your starting bet will be 7 units. If a 1 unit bet for you is $1, then your first bet will be $7.
If you win, erase the 1 and 6 from the series. You will now bet on 2 and 5 which is also 7 units combined. Keep on doing this until the series is completed. Then start over.
If you lose instead, take the 7 you lost and add it to the series thus: 1-2-3-4-5-7. You then bet on the 1 + 7 = 8 units.
This betting system returns a profit when you win the whole betting series, but it is slow and complicated to use.