Martingale Strategy for Craps

The Martingale, also known as “double up and catch up”, easily wins the title of the most popular betting system of all times and is applicable to many casino games including roulette, blackjack and of course, craps. Here’s a fun fact for you – this strategy was first introduced and promoted in the late 18th century, in London by a renowned casino proprietor. The Martingale is a negative progression system as it requires players to double their wagers after each loss and reduce them back to the starting bet unit whenever they win. It is advisable to stick to smaller bet units, however. Supposedly, this will allow players to offset the losses they have incurred on previous losing dice rolls.

Let’s demonstrate how the Martingale works when applied to the game of craps. For the sake of simplicity, we will assume a craps player named George starts out with a base bet unit of $1 on the Pass Line. Unfortunately, number 2 is rolled, so George loses his $1 and proceeds by placing a $2 bet on the Pass again, but yet another Craps number is rolled, causing him to lose again. Thus, George doubles his bet again and places $4 on Don’t Pass this time. The shooter throws 3 on this roll, George wins and respectively reduces his bet unit to $1. In this case, the player has managed to offset his $3 losses by turning a profit of $4, so he’s basically a dollar ahead.

The Martingale comes with some disadvantages, which unfortunately outnumber the advantages it offers. First of all, this system is applicable only to players who are satisfied with betting only on the Pass Line as single bets will cause them to incur massive losses and eventually run out of money to bet with. Then again, craps tables usually have a limit – a longer losing streak will most likely result in players reaching the table’s limit. Nevertheless, applying the Martingale is better than going for no strategy at all. Besides, it will enable you to control your spendings at least partially and prolong your stay at the craps table.