Gambling: d'Alembert System

A more popular staking system is the d'Alembert system.

It is very simple to operate,. The gambler decides on an even-money bet, say, manque, numbers 1-18.

Each time he loses , he increases his stake by one chip and each time he wins he reduces his stake by one chip.

The intention of the system (as with the martingale) is to have the bigger bets on the winning spins.

On a losing sequence the stake rises much more slowly than with the martingale system and, if one chip represents the minimum stake, the possibility of exceeding the maximum stake seems remote.

It is possible to play for a very long time using this system without either profits or losses being very spectacular.

Say, in a 4 hypothetical spins of a wheel, in which manque wins 36 times, passe 36 times, and zero twice, once followed by manque, once by passe.

Manque has winning sequences of seven and four; passe three sequences of four. Whichever is backed, the gambler will not need a stake larger than 13 chips.

If he backs passe, he will at one time be 51 chips down, but at the end is winning 34.

If he backs manque, he will at one time be 47 chips down. The system works to the extent that while the wheel is behaving unexceptionally, and winning and losing results remain fairly level in frequency, a small profit is likely to accrue slowly.

The systems mentioned are based on the even-money bets.

However, the popular Biarritz system is based on backing a single number, or sometimes three or four single numbers.

It is worthless in that it is based on a fallacy. The gambler keeps a record of winning numbers, for, say 111 spins (3x37).

In that time, according to the 'law of averages', any specified number might be expected to have won three times.

If a number has not appeared in 111 spins, the theory is that it is 'due' and must appear shortly.

The gambler then backs the number using a staking plan--- it might be that he backs it twenty times with one chip. If it still hasn't won, he backs it twenty more times with two chips.

Of course, if the number remains a 'sleeper', as such numbers are called, he is now sixty chips down and must start staking four chips to ensure a profit should it win in the next twenty spins.

Alternatively, the gambler might record the results of 37 spins and note any sleeping 'finals'. If, for instance, none of 4, 14, 24 and 34 has won, 4 is said to be a sleeping final.

The gambler then backs each of these four numbers to win a staking plan: it might be one chip each for five spins, two for the next five, four for the next five, eight for the next five, etc.