Leland,

This is known as the Martingale or "negative progression" betting system. Quite simply, it doesn't work. It does make you more likely to win short-term, but long-term you end up losing a higher amount than you would betting the same amount each round. Example: start with a $5 bet and lose 11 straight rounds (which has happened to me more than once). If you bet one unit each (the correct bet), you would lose $55. If you bet Martingale, you would lose $10,235 and be putting up $10,240 to win $5. This is a *very* bad gamble even if you're counting cards and the deck is highly in your favor (which only gives you a 2-3% maximum advantage over the house anyway). You also need a larger bankroll to play this system than you normally would. Also, there's no house in the U.S. which would raise its table limits high enough for you to successfully "get out" of the above scenario (unless you're a "whale" or big money player, in which case you should know better anyway -bg-).

A more workable system is the "positive progression", where you increase at various points of a winning streak. I've used two different progressions. The 1-1-1-2-3-5-8-10 progression is good if you're working with a smaller bank. The "2+1" progression (start with 2 chips, add 1 chip each time you win, and drop back to 2 when you lose) works well if you have a larger bank or are willing to assume a slightly larger risk of "tapping out".

I have used both these systems at length playing blackjack in Vegas, AC, and many other U.S. houses. The outcome is the same -- Martingale works okay about 75% of the time, but when you lose, it's BIG. Positive progression is far better long term, but you don't win as much short term.

What do I use now? Come to Vegas for DevCon and find out for yourself (bg)...


>Hi,
>
>Your best bet is to get the house to remove its limit. Then you can put the odds in your favor by the amount place on each bet.
>
>Hint: Each time you lose increases the odds that the next round will be a winner. Of course there is the scenario that a player would lose every time infinitely, but the odds of that would be astronomical.
>
>If you wanted to win $10.00 for example, each bet would be equal to (losses + $10.00). Then, when you finally win one hand you could cash in and collect your $10.00.
>
>Regards,
>
>LelandJ