The Labouchère system, also called the cancellation system or split martingale, is a gambling system predominantly used in roulette.
The system works because you can lose more bets than you win and still make a profit. In fact, you can win just 33.34% of the time and still be ahead. This is possible because you gradually increase the stakes with each loss. I once heard it described as a ‘watered down’ version of double or nothing betting, and that’s probably true to an extent, but I would say it’s a bit more sophisticated than that.
The major weakness of the ‘double or nothing’ strategy is that you are frequently forced to raise the stakes to unaffordable levels. If you applied this strategy starting with a $1 bet an had 14 straight losses (bad luck, but it happens), your 15th bet would have to be for $16,384. Not exactly affordable for most (I dare say your hands would be a tad sweaty by that stage!), but you probably wouldn’t get that far because $1 tables generally have a maximum bet substantially lower than that.
In essence, the Labouchere system reduces the need to stake as much, so you are better able to ‘ride out’ the bad patches. That said, it is still recommended that you have a sizeable number of chips to draw on.
Like all betting strategies, the Labouchère System is a numbers game. It is a sound strategy provided that:
1) You have enough money to keep betting – even after a long run of bad luck
2) You have not reached the table limits
If either of the above two conditions exist, you’re in trouble. Probably a lot.
However, unlike simple ‘double or nothing’ betting, the Labouchère System allows the gambler to manage their chips much more effectively and with allowance for their individual risk profile. The system also prompts you to keep track of your net wins/losses as each completed sequence will net you a predetermined profit (more on this shortly).
The system is easy to learn. The only requirements are a basic ability to add numbers and to be disciplined enough to write the numbers down accurately.
The strategy is as follows:
1) Write a sequence of increasing numbers down on a piece of paper. The sequence can be any length of increasing numbers, but we will keep things simple for the time being.
For example: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
It should be noted that adding each number in the sequence will determine how much profit you have made when you complete a sequence (i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15, so you will make a profit of 15 chips when a sequence is completed)
2) Add up the numbers at each end of the sequence to decide what you will stake
i.e. 1 + 5 = 6
3) Bet your stake (6) on a relatively ‘even money’ bet (i.e. red or black, odds or evens).
If you win, you would cross out the first and last numbers in your sequence.
i.e 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5
Your sequence is now: 2, 3, 4
4) Again, add the first and last numbers to decide your stake. In this case, 2 + 4 = 6, so you bet 6 again.
5) Let’s say you lose this bet. You therefore add the total of the previous bet (6) to the end of the sequence and carry on the game.
So the sequence is now: 2, 3, 4, 6
As 2 + 6 = 8, and you would now bet 8
6) We’ll assume you win the next bet. You would accordingly cross out the first and last numbers: 2 , 3, 4, 6
So your sequence is now: 3, 4
You now bet 7.
7) We assume you win you next bet, crossing out the 3 & 4 and completing the sequence. You will now be ‘up’ by 15.
Of course, getting one loss and three wins like we did here would net anyone a profit. Nothing special. But you can and will make a profit even with some really bad luck (check out how by clicking here).
The biggest problem with this strategy is if you have a lot of losses you can end up with a very long sequence of numbers and no money left. The way to deal with such bad luck is to split the sequence so that the bets are taken back to a ‘manageable’ size while you grind though the run of bad luck. Learn how to split the sequence by clicking here.
The key to using this strategy successfully is to recognise that very long runs of bad luck can (and will!) occur. I cannot emphasise this enough. One of the worst things that can happen is that you get unrealistically confident that your luck must ‘turn around’ soon. Sometimes it takes a while. And it will test your nerves.
With some practice and discipline, you will learn to avoid having your nerves tested by splitting the sequence.
One of the most frequent questions people ask me is “What is the best sports betting system?” It’s a question that I am reluctant to answer. Why?
Because generally sports betting systems are not consistent.
Now let’s get one thing straight. The bonus bagging product which I reviewed on this site is not betting system. It is a betting service that follows an exact formula to extract money from bookmakers using bonus funds. I can vouch that it is risk-free and that following the instructions will guarantee a profit.
On the other hand, I would find difficulty in claiming a sports betting system is risk-free. They are not. Since you are not betting on all outcomes then they cannot be. When we talk about a betting system we are talking about placing bets and gambling on the basis of a strategy. We all hope that betting systems are not based around whims and streaks but rather created by experts with access to extremely intricate knowledge in their field. The reality is however that even the so-called experts get it wrong.
Sport is unpredictable and bookmakers exist to take our money.
There’s a reason that the “best betting systems” can demonstrate exceptional results. That reason is selective data. Like in many walks of life, we only hear about the success stories and rarely hear about the negatives. When a friend of mine used to work in a local bookmakers he got to meet a variety of in-the-know gentlemen. I lost count of the amount of times I was told that he had won some money thanks to a hot tip from one of these aforementioned folk. That’s brilliant you might be thinking? Right. But the reality is that I was only got to hear about the glory days. Good news spreads a lot faster than the bad in the gambling world. To every successful pick there were probably 5 or 6 bad ones. I’m 100% sure that said friend has financed the bookmakers coffers far more than the bookmaker has delivered him wins.
People are always keen to relay their betting success stories. It vindicates their decision to gamble. The losses are swept under the carpet. People advertising sports betting systems are no exception.
Throughout this site it is my intention to study closely the ‘best sports betting systems’ and identify their strengths and weaknesses. My mind is open to discovering that lives up to its hype but I am always a little sceptical when reading long sales pages telling me how I’m going to need a new wheel barrow to carry my wads of cash around in.
There is a lot of information on this site with regard to intelligent arbitrage betting (and matched betting) which are methods I can vouch for as being capable of producing guaranteed results. For everything else I’ll need a fair bit of convincing but rest assured when/if I find something I’ll be the first to let you know!