I’m pretty sure that over the years I’ve disproportionately been in the casino ‘last chance saloon’ and clawed my way back more than most. There is something quite satisfying to the point of being almost movie scene-like to be at the point of near defeat and about to go home only for your luck to suddenly change and suddenly you’re back in the race.

My game of choice tends to be roulette and so this eventuality has happened for me during that more than any other casino game. I usually do am overly ambitious robin hood style last arrow with my final bet. Something that seems even less likely to result in a positive outcome than the prior bets. Typically I’ll place it on a single number, sometimes even zero.

Of course there’s no witchcraft and magic at play here and so the majority of the time this final bet is an much of a left down as the ones before it. However when it comes good there is no better feeling in gambling! Here’s hoping that you’ve saved up all of your good fortune for that final spin of the wheel, that last roll of the dice.

The martingale system more than most condenses the wild highs and lows of the casinos. You can go from feeling that you’ve cracked the code, Alan Turing style one minute, to suddenly being in a state of dread the next. For the uninitiated the martingale system, when applied to roulette involves doubling down each time you lose (on say red or black), with the view what when your colour eventually comes up you’ll double your initial stake. That’s all find and dandy in principle of course and there’s no denying that when approached in methodical fashion it can lead to significant gains over a short to medium length of time.

There is of course though, no such thing as a free lunch. The problem comes due to the dizzying amounts you may need to end up placing on an outcome for the sake of winning a paltry sum. The average persons view I’m sure if that there are rarely significant runs of a single colour over time, but that’s simply not true. And even where it is in the short term, eventually probability will claw it all back when you do end up on a run from hell.  I’m not even a regular casino goer compared to the average diehard, but even I’ve seen runs of 10 reds or blacks in a row on occasion. That would give the average martingale enthusiast cold sweats, or as a worst case scenario a fast emptying bank account.

There’s a certainly logic if you’re in it for the fun, in say doubling up once or twice when you lose to see if you can claw your money back, but be aware that every spin is entirely separate and so nothing that has come before somehow magically persuades the ball to go into a different colour. As obvious as that is, it can be hard for people to get their heads around!