If you’ve played in casinos before, you probably stumbled upon progressive betting systems. There are many things that make them very useful in table games like increasing your chances of winning and making the games more enjoyable. And you might be interested in learning a few of these if you haven’t already.
Below will discuss the basic concepts of progressive betting systems and how it can benefit you while gaming. It will also discuss some of the examples that you can use that are worth checking out for added enjoyment and strategy.
Basic concept of progressive betting systems
The progressive betting system is merely adjusting your stake depending on your previous winnings or losses. The way you adjust your stakes like how much chips you’re willing to bet is entirely up to the system you wish to use.
There are only two progression systems to take note of:
| Positive | Negative |
| Bets are increased when winning | Bets are decreased when winning |
| Bets are decreased when losing | Bets are increased when losing |
These two progressive systems are used across all betting games in casinos like blackjack, baccarat, and roulette.
Positive progression
For positive progression, you increase your bets as you win. Conversely, you need to reduce your bets when you lose.
The theory behind a positive progression is that it will help you maximise your earnings if you go on a streak. It will also keep your losses to a minimum when you lose.
The theory is very plausible when you go on a winning streak. But it will be worse for you if you go on a losing streak because you can break the bank. However, the best part about this progressive system is that the consequences of messing up are not as severe as the negative progression.
When using positive progression, it’s easy to get lost in the feeling of not losing too much money because it’s a relatively harmless system. While it’s tempting to keep going, you have to remember that losing too much is detrimental to your chances of winning.
The Paroli System
The Paroli System is one of the quintessential positive progression systems out there, and is also one of the easiest to follow. The idea behind the Paroli System is whatever base stake you have, which is the stake you initially wagered, you should bet incrementally.
The first round of the bet will be wagered, and if it accounts to a loss, then you make the same bet you made previously. When you hit a win, you double that bet. After another win, you quadruple your bet. And for the final wager that results in a win or loss, the betting value goes back to the original stake you put on your first round that’s known as a base wager.
In other words, if you win a bet wagering $50, you’ll have to bet another $50 which makes it $100. This is especially very useful in table games like roulette, where landing on a black, white or zero can take advantage of this system.
To simplify, here is a basic rule for roulette:
- If the ball lands on a black, increase your wager by $50 on the next round.
- If the ball lands on a red, only wager $50 on the next round.
- If the ball lands on zero, only wager $50 on the next round.
It’s really that easy. When you win, you increase your wager by $50, and when you lose, then bet $50 only because it’s your base stake.
The potential in doing this is when you’re on a winning streak, that $50 base stake can quickly turn into a $750! Check this diagram out:
| Bet | Win/Lose | Result |
| $50 | Win | $50 |
| $100 | Win | $150 |
| $150 | Win | $300 |
| $200 | Win | $500 |
| $250 | Win | $750 |
The next time you’re feeling lucky, try this method out to see your profits increase significantly.
Negative progressive system
Negative progression is simple: you will eventually have a winning hand no matter what. So, all you have to do is be confident that you’re going to get lucky soon enough and get paid out big.
While this is a sound theory, this falls heavily into the gambler’s fallacy where a gamer thinks that the game of luck will soon go in his favour. But sadly, the same can be said for a chance to lose every time.
But, when you start clicking and get on a hot streak, you’re going to get your returns fast. You can even profit big if the cards are right, so it’s still a plausible method, albeit riskier than the positive progression system.
Martingale system
The Martingale system has a few simple rules, and they are:
- When you lose, you should immediately double your bet.
- Go back to your base stake after you secure a win.
It’s that easy. Furthermore, the idea of the Martingale system is when you lose, somewhere down the line, a win will soon come. If it does, you’d have doubled or quadrupled your bets already which gave you a significant return of your previous losses.
For instance, when you bet $10 and lose, you’ll bet $20. You lose again, and bet $40. You still lose, so you count your remaining chips and go all in at $80, and finally you secured a win.
This means, you doubled the $80 which gave you $160. In this chart below, you can see that you just earned yourself a whopping $90 from doing this. The next step after encountering this lucky round is to go back to betting $10.
| Bet | Win/Lose | Result |
| $10 | Lose | -10 |
| $20 | Lose | -20 |
| $40 | Lose | -40 |
| $80 | Win | +160 |
| Net profit: $90 |
Casino Days India: Should you use the progressive betting system?
Progressive betting systems are a fun way to put strategy into your games. They allow you to tentatively put stakes at the right time to try to outsmart the system. There are some instances that it can definitely work, but you are still relying on luck to succeed.
Nevertheless, it’s still niftier to have a strategy in mind than blindly playing a game. But if there’s anything that’s indisputable, it’s the fact that the progressive betting systems are fun to try out for yourself.