Tag Archives: Blackjack

How does the D’Alembert strategy work?

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How does the D’Alembert strategy work?

The D’Alembert strategy is designed for betting on ‘even’ bets on games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat.

The strategy relies on the logic that the number of wins and losses eventually even out. If you, for example, look at the game of roulette, at the end of a long session, there must be roughly the same amount of spins on Black as Red numbers.

To start using the D’Alembert strategy, the first step is to determine the size of your stake unit (for example $1), a bet size that can be any amount you prefer.

You start betting with one ‘unit’, and every time you lose a bet, you increase your next bet with one ‘unit’. If you win, you decrease your next bet with one ‘unit’.

The advantage of this approach is that it is very straightforward to implement. It works great if you aim for an equal amount of losses and wins as long as you do not have more than 5 losses in a row.

An example of a winning D’Alembert strategy

Example 1: Here you see when the D’Alembert strategy works well. In this example we have applied the D’Alembert strategy as a roulette strategy.

You always bet on Black and start with one unit (which could be $1).

winning d alembert strategy

Even when the number of wins and losses are equal, you end with a profit. The D’Alembert strategy works well if the number of wins and losses are pretty balanced.

An example where the D’Alembert strategy fails

Example 2: Here you see when the D’Alembert strategy gives negative results.

You always play black. You start with one unit (which could be $1).

failing d alembert roulette strategy

If you have a few more losses than wins, and it stays that way, your stakes end up to be relatively large at the end of the session. In particular, if you lose the last 2 or 3 spins (with the higher stakes), you end up negative.

The weakness of the D’Alembert strategy is that the stakes become substantial at some stage (after the number of losses are greater than the number of wins).

One way to mitigate the downside risk is to apply limits. For example, you determine beforehand that your stake cannot exceed 5 units.

This way, you get to control the level of the stakes.

How does the Fibonacci strategy work?

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The Fibonacci strategy has its origin from the famous Fibonacci sequence. You probably have seen it at school.

In this sequence, every next number is the sum of the two previous numbers in the series. It applies for ‘even’ bets, so betting on Red-Black, Odd-Even or 1-18/19-36 at roulette or betting Punto or Banco at baccarat.

In the Fibonacci strategy, the sequence is as follows:

1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21-34-55-89-144-233-377-610-987-….

 The numbers of the sequence represent the amount you should bet. If you lose a bet, you follow the series and increase your next stake according to the sequence, until you manage to win a bet.

Once, you have won your bet, you start at the beginning again, with 1 unit (for example $1).

The table below summarises how the Fibonacci strategy works.

FIBONACCI BETTING SEQUENCE

The strategy looks very promising, at first glance.

Unfortunately, it does not give you any guarantees. It is just a sequence of numbers telling you how much to bet. It does not change the odds of you winning a game.

If you lose 8 or more times in a row, your losses become more significant. You need to make up winning many times on your first spin, to get your profits back to the desired level.

An example of a winning Fibonacci strategy

Example 1: Here you see when the Fibonacci strategy is beneficial.

You always bet on Black. You start with one unit (which could be $1).

  • You win the 1st and the 2nd
  • The 3rd round, you lose. You follow the Fibonacci sequence. You lose again and continue with the sequence and stake 1 units in round 4.
  • You lost round 4, and in round 5, you continue the sequence and stake 2 units.
  • You also lost round 5, and in round 6, you stake 3 units.
  • You also lost round 6, and in round 7, you stake 5 units.
  • You win round 7, and in round 8 you start the sequence again with one unit.
  • You win round 8, and in round 9 you start again with 1 unit. You win round 9.
  • In round 10 you start again with 1 unit. You lose round 10.

FIBONACCI BETTING STRATEGY WORKS

Here, you end up with a profit of 1 unit (a $1 profit) after 10 spins, even though the number of your wins (5 times Black) exactly match your number of losses (also 5 times Red or Zero).

The Fibonacci strategy is less progressive and less risky than the Martingale Strategy, as the increments of the sequence are less aggressive.

In Martingale the steps are doubled each time (1->2->4->8->16->32 etc.). The sequence is steep (large increments). The steps in the Fibonacci sequence are not as steep (1->1->2->3->5->8->13 etc).

An example where the Fibonacci strategy fails

Example 2: Here you see when the Fibonacci strategy does not work.

You always bet on Black and start with one unit (which could be $1).

  • You win the 1st and the 2nd
  • The 3rd round, you lose. You follow the Fibonacci sequence. You lose again and continue with the sequence and stake 1 units in round 4.
  • You lost round 4, and in round 5, you continue the sequence and stake 2 units.
  • You also lost round 5, and in round 6, you stake 3 units.
  • You also lost round 6, and in round 7, you stake 5 units.
  • You also lost round 7, and in round 8, you stake 8 units.
  • You also lost round 8, and in round 9, you stake 13 units.
  • You also lost round 9, and in round 10, you stake 21 units.
  • You lose round 10.

WHERE FIBONACCI BETTING STRATEGY FAILS

The bad news: With the Fibonacci strategy, you end up with significant losses if you have a long losing streak.

In this example, the losses amount to 52 units ($52) after 8 consecutive losses.

The Fibonacci Roulette strategy is less aggressive than the Martingale strategy.

The good news is that the Fibonacci strategy is less risky roulette strategy than the Martingale strategy. With the Martingale strategy, you would have ended up with a loss of 253 units (compared to the 52 units with the Fibonacci Strategy).

How does the Reverse Martingale (Paroli) strategy work?

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reverse martingale paroli strategy

The Reverse Martingale strategy is a variation of the famous Martingale strategy. It can be applied to all even bet casino games.

This betting strategy is often used as a roulette strategy, but can also be used on baccarat, blackjack and other table games.

The big advantage of this strategy is that you only decide to take more risk if you are in a winning streak. The danger is that you do not get a long winning streak (say win 4 or 5 or 6 times in a row).

The consequence is that you end up negative.

How does the Reverse Martingale (Paroli) beting strategy work?

With the Reverse Martingale strategy (also called the anti Martingale strategy or the Paroli strategy), you start with a stake of one unit (say $1). If you lose, you play again with a stake of $1.

If you win, you can “afford” more, take more risk and double your next stake. If you win again, you double the next stake again.

Set yourself a limit, where you decide to stop doubling. You “bank” your winnings and start the sequence again. You choose for example to stop doubling after you have won 4 times in a row.

Compare the Reverse Martingale Strategy with the popular TV quiz, the Weakest Link. There, winnings are doubled. When the next answer is wrong, everything is lost. The sequence starts again.

A participant can also “bank” the amount/profits built up. After the winnings are banked, the sequence starts again from the beginning.

CasinoHipster.com tip: When using the Reverse Martingale Strategy, you only take extra risks when you are winning

We have made calculations of 4 variants of the Reverse Martingale strategy:

  • The 3-step Reverse Martingale strategy (where winnings are banked after 3 consecutive wins)
  • The 4-step Reverse Martingale strategy (where winnings are banked after 4 consecutive wins)
  • The 5-step Reverse Martingale strategy (where winnings are banked after 5 consecutive wins)
  • The 6-step Reverse Martingale strategy (where winnings are banked after 6 consecutive wins)

An example of a winning Reverse Martingale Strategy

Example 1: Here you see when the Reverse Martingale strategy works in your advantage.

You always play Black. You start with one unit (could be $1)

  • You lose the 1st and the 2nd
  • You have a winning streak: you win rounds 3 to 6. As you have doubled your stake, you get cumulative profits of 13 after round 6.
  • You bank after 4 wins in a row (after round 6).
  • You lose rounds 7 to 10.

reverse martingale strategy

Here, you have won $9. Even, though you only got 4 Blacks and 6 times Red/Zero. The luck was that you won 4 times in a row, which uplifts your profits.

Bear in mind that a winning streak of 4 times, does not happen too often. The chance of winning 4 times in a row (in this example 4 Blacks in a row) is: (18/37)^4= 18/37*18/37*18/37*18/37= 5,6%.

Below, a table with the probability of consecutive wins:

reverse martingale strategy wins

An example where the Reverse Martingale Strategy fails

Example 2: Here you see a case where the Reverse Martingale strategy does not yield profits.

You always bet on Black. You start with one unit (could be $1)

  • You lose the 1st and the 2nd
  • You have a winning streak: you win rounds 3 to 5.
  • You double your stake for round 6, which you lose.
  • You lose round 7. You win round 8.
  • You double your stake for round 9, which you lose.
  • You win round 10.

reverse martingale strategy fails

Here you end up with a negative balance of 3 units (-$3), even though you have won 5 times and lost 5 times. As the winning streak was not long enough, you end up losing.

Would you have banked after 3 wins (instead of 4 wins), then you would have had a cumulative profit of 4. Banking after 3, 4, 5, 6 (or even more) consecutive wins matters.

If you are more of a risk taker, you could decide to bank after 4, 5 or even 6 consecutive wins.

Otherwise, you may choose to bank after 2 or 3 straight wins.

What are the 5 most popular casino games?

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popular casino gamesGambling is a favourite pastime for a lot of people, offering an exciting and fun way to spend some time in a casino. Some people prefer to gamble in traditional brick and mortar casinos, enjoying a night out as a couple of with a group of friends.

Others prefer to gamble at an online casino, with a more extensive games selection, higher payout percentages and casino welcome bonuses compared to their offline counterparts.

What are the 5 most popular online casino games?

The number of different casino games you can play on the internet or in brick and mortar casinos is astounding, and that calls for a top 5 of most played online casino games. Are you curious with which games gamblers are scratching their gambling itch?

Continue reading and find out what the most popular casino games are.

most popular casino games

1. Pokies/slots

Pokies or slots are without a doubt the most popular casino game. They can be found in endless varieties and themes, including mechanical reel, video reel, multi-reel and progressive jackpot pokies. In the past 20 years, pokies have evolved from simple, one reel “one-armed bandits” to elaborate video pokies with 50 or even a 100 pay lines, entertaining bonus features and exciting themes.

Thanks to today’s technology, there is no limit to what software providers can do with their releases to keep casino players satisfied. There are even Virtual Reality pokies that give a whole new dimension to playing slots. If you choose to play online slots, you will find the payout percentages are a lot higher than on offline slots. As a result, our top 10 of best-paying slots is filled exclusively with online slots.

Some of the most popular online pokies include Big Bad Wolf from Quickspin and Vegas Nights from Pragmatic Play.

A big trend in online slots of the past years has been the increased popularity of high variance slots. These slots can pay out insane amounts, ranging from 10,000 x your stake up to a staggering 100,000 x your total bet.

Megaways slots are a very popular kind of high variance slots, with increased ways to wins and almost unlimited potential.

2. Roulette

Roulette takes the firm second spot on our top 5 of most popular casino games. In every big casino on the Las Vegas strip or in Macau, you will find several Roulette tables, and they are usually packed with players. Online Roulette is just as popular and is offered in several varieties, including European Roulette, American Roulette (also known as Double Zero Roulette) and Lightning Roulette.

European Roulette is single zero Roulette and has a low house edge of 2.7%.

Roulette is played on a Roulette wheel which has 37 numbers on it, ranging van 0 to 36. The 0 is green, while the other numbers or either red or black. You can bet on a single number or a combination of 2, 3 or 4 numbers. It is also possible to bet on the colour, odds or evens or rows or columns. Roulette is easy to learn and offers players the chance to bet on both low paying (1:1) and high paying (35:1) bets.

Roulette is often featured in gambling-related movies or tv shows, which has also added to the enormous popularity.

If you plan on playing Roulette at an online casino, you have the choice of automated Roulette games or Live Dealer Roulette. Live Roulette is played on a real Roulette table with live dealers. Through live streaming pictures, you can place your bets live and see the results in crystal clear quality.

Lots of players choose to use one of the many Roulette strategies when trying to beat the casino.

top 5 most popular casino games

3. Blackjack

In third place, we find the beautiful card game of Blackjack. This is a popular game which is played against the bank. It is one of the few casino games where the choices that the player makes have a direct effect on the outcome of the game. If you use perfect Blackjack strategy, the house edge of the casino on Blackjack is only 0.5%. The aim of the game is not, as some sites suggest, to come closest to 21 without going over, but to beat the bank.

By strategically drawing, splitting, doubling or standing on your cards, you can improve your chances of winning. Blackjack can be played at online casinos in an automated version or a Live Dealer Casino setting. 

Royal Flush

4. Poker

Whether you want to play a house game of poker with friends or go against other players at a casino, poker remains one of the most played games in casinos. Poker is an intricate game where skill is just as important as luck. There are several different poker games, such as Texas Hold’em, Caribbean Stud Poker and Omaha Poker. The most popular poker game is undoubtedly Texas Hold’em, where players each receive 2 cards. There are also 5 communal cards that can be used by every participating player.

Another popular poker game is Video Poker, which comes in dozens of variations. The object of video poker is to form the highest possible hand by discarding the right cards. The highest winning combination in Video Poker is the Royal Flush, which pays out 800-1 on most Video Poker games (with max coins bet).

Just like Blackjack, using the correct Video Poker strategy when discarding cards have a significant effect on the house edge. 

5. Keno

Keno is another favourite casino game that is played at both online casinos and offline casinos. Keno has some similarities with Bingo, as numbers are drawn, and prizes are won by getting certain combinations. The most significant difference between Keno and Poker is that Keno is played against the casino and not against other players. Players choose up to 20 numbers on an 80 number grid. Up to 20 balls are drawn and the more numbers you hit, the higher your payout is.

Most Keno games pay out a whopping 10,000 x bet when you hit all 20 numbers on your card. The high payouts, fast games and low bet size are the most prominent draws of Keno. The house edge is very high, though, and can go up to a massive 30%, putting players at a significant disadvantage compared to other casino games.