27 ms·

re: roulette What the author is describing is a 'Martingale' strategy, and it is indeed a surefire way of making a profit (with one critical caveat: you need a

by huangm 17y ago

re: roulette What the author is describing is a 'Martingale' strategy, and it is indeed a surefire way of making a profit (with one critical caveat: you need an unlimited bankroll). After each win, you always earn a profit of X (where X is your base bet), regardless of how many rounds you have lost before. Without a sufficiently large bankroll relative to X, however, probability of bankruptcy is high.

burnout1540 17y ago
And this is why casinos always have a table minimum AND a table maximum.
- mynameishere 17y ago
  No, it isn't. The house can only lose the initial amount. I bet 50, and lose. I bet 100, and lose. I bet 200, and lose. I bet 400, and lose. I bet 800, and lose 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600, 51200, 102400, 204800, 409600, and then... ...I lay 819,200 dollars on the table and WIN! 50 dollars. The reason they have limits is so that Sheik Abudab can't come in and lay down 500 million dollars and bust them. That is one valid reason to take bad odds: If you can destroy something as a side effect, without really being in danger yourself.
  - burnout1540 17y ago
    In your Martingale example, the table maximum would most likely be set around $2000. So if you lose 6 times (on your $50, $100, $200, $400, $800, and $1600 bets), you can't double your bet anymore. You'll be stuck with betting $2000 at most, which means you can longer guarantee yourself a profit. But now that I think about it, you could always just move to another table with a higher limit. Of course, if you're going through all this trouble to make $50, you probably don't have the bankroll to keep going. Maybe another reason for tables having different limits is that the pit bosses don't trust the dealers (or security?) in the low-roller areas to handle money above a certain amount?
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
    - pyre 17y ago
      Don't the 'high-roller' tables have a higher minimum bet? Most people don't start out at the $1 table, and then move up to the high-roller table as they keep losing though. Most people just plop down at a table that has a range/minimum that is right up their alley with regards to their average bet. Then they only really move if there is a reason to (like feeling that this table isn't 'lucky' anymore, or the dealer changes, etc).
tokenadult 17y ago
with one critical caveat: you need an unlimited bankroll That doesn't sound very practical. And why play roulette for money (rather than just for fun) if you already have unlimited money?

by huangm 17y ago

burnout1540 17y ago

And this is why casinos always have a table minimum AND a table maximum.

mynameishere 17y ago
No, it isn't. The house can only lose the initial amount. I bet 50, and lose. I bet 100, and lose. I bet 200, and lose. I bet 400, and lose. I bet 800, and lose 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600, 51200, 102400, 204800, 409600, and then... ...I lay 819,200 dollars on the table and WIN! 50 dollars. The reason they have limits is so that Sheik Abudab can't come in and lay down 500 million dollars and bust them. That is one valid reason to take bad odds: If you can destroy something as a side effect, without really being in danger yourself.
- burnout1540 17y ago
  In your Martingale example, the table maximum would most likely be set around $2000. So if you lose 6 times (on your $50, $100, $200, $400, $800, and $1600 bets), you can't double your bet anymore. You'll be stuck with betting $2000 at most, which means you can longer guarantee yourself a profit. But now that I think about it, you could always just move to another table with a higher limit. Of course, if you're going through all this trouble to make $50, you probably don't have the bankroll to keep going. Maybe another reason for tables having different limits is that the pit bosses don't trust the dealers (or security?) in the low-roller areas to handle money above a certain amount?
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - pyre 17y ago
    Don't the 'high-roller' tables have a higher minimum bet? Most people don't start out at the $1 table, and then move up to the high-roller table as they keep losing though. Most people just plop down at a table that has a range/minimum that is right up their alley with regards to their average bet. Then they only really move if there is a reason to (like feeling that this table isn't 'lucky' anymore, or the dealer changes, etc).

tokenadult 17y ago

with one critical caveat: you need an unlimited bankroll That doesn't sound very practical. And why play roulette for money (rather than just for fun) if you already have unlimited money?