D’ALEMBERT BETTING SYSTEM EXPLAINED

Straying away from the gambler’s fallacy — the mistaken belief that previous outcomes affect future outcomes — is the first best thing a gambler can do. The second is incorporating any of the reputable betting systems into their betting sessions.

One such betting system is called the D’Alembert system. While not guaranteeing any form of consistent winning bets, the D’Alembert method can work well when it comes to stretching your bankroll for as long as possible.

If you’re tired of chasing the gambler’s fallacy and want to try out a betting system that actually works, then read on. In this post, we’ll have a good look at the D’Alembert system — how it works, its pros and cons and where you could give it a shot.

What is the D’Alembert System?

A French mathematician by the name of Jean le Rond D’Alembert formulated a theory that the number of wins will equate to the number of losses in the long run. Seeing as wins and losses are said to eventually even out, Jean le Rond D’Alembert created a system that is said to capitalise on this very premise.

Well, how does the D’Alembert betting system work? We’ll tackle that in the section below, but for now, do note that the system we’re about to describe is extremely versatile. It can be used in roulette games — which will be the basis of this post — blackjack, baccarat and even sports betting.

This system is a negative progression system. This means that, just like other betting systems that use negative progressions, there is a risk of going under if you suffer a lengthy losing streak. On the flip side, every other betting system carries as much risk as the D’Alembert, especially when playing at a roulette table.

How does the D’Alembert strategy work?

There’s only one secret and four rules when it comes to implementing the D’Alembert system correctly. The secret? Stick to even-money bets.

Although even-money bets don’t have the highest odds of paying, they do have the highest likelihood of paying — that’s what all the serious betting systems are based on.

The four rules are explained below.

1. Define one unit — The first thing you need to do when applying this strategy is to define your base unit (the first wager or staking unit). Ultimately your starting betting unit can be any value you desire. We advise decreasing stakes in case the bet amount ends up increasing too much during the game.

Always keep your total bankroll in mind! Regardless of the size of your budget, never try a new strategy with high stakes; it is advisable to look for roulette tables with a low minimum wager or to practice in free demos — if your jurisdiction allows. You will be able to access the demo upon registration. However, you may be asked for verification before you can access the demo, depending on your jurisdiction.

2. Stick to your original betting unit — The next step is as straightforward as it gets: once you join a game, make sure to only bet one betting unit as your first bet. If you chose €1 as your base stake, then you will be able to decrease or increase stakes by €1 for the game’s duration, granted that you want to stick with this betting system. If you stop and return to play at another time, your initial bet resets to €1. 

3. Increase your wager by one staking unit when you lose — The third rule is simply to increase your bet by one base unit every time you encounter losing bets. This means that if you wager €1 and lose, your second bet will be €2. Did you lose again? Next, bet by one more unit.

Did you lose yet again? You get the hint. Increase your bet by one unit until you encounter a winning bet, as we’ll explain in the next rule.

4. Decrease stakes when you win — If you win, you’ll need to decrease the next wager by one betting unit — and only one unit! For example, if you win a wager of €3, then your next stake is decreased to €2. Did you win again? Your third bet should be €1.

Just like other negative progression systems, the key takeaway from the D’Alembert system is to raise your betting unit if you lose and decrease it when you win. Seeing as losses are inevitable in any game out there, it’s important to minimise their impact.

Since the basic premise of the whole betting strategy is that results in 50/50 games will eventually even out, increasing the next bet serves to buffer a potential losing streak and break even when it finally ends.

How to use the D’alembert betting system while playing roulette

Many gamblers use the D’Alembert betting system at a roulette table, most of whom hope to land a net profit — the rest either enjoy their time playing without worrying too much about a net profit or end up going the opposite way of chasing losses.

It’s important to keep level-headed when toying with the D’Alembert betting system or other systems. Win and losing streaks happen, so your emotions can easily sway depending on your betting results.

Now that you’re advised to keep your emotions in check, let’s explore how you should go about using the D’Alembert system in roulette. Since this system is based on a theoretical 50/50 win-to-loss ratio, even-money Outside bets are well-suited for this strategy.

These bets — Red/Black, Even/Odd, 1-18/19-36 — have a nearly 50% chance of hitting a win. These should be your go-tos when betting on roulette whilst testing a betting system.

• Examine the table limit and define your base unit.
• Select an even-money bet (with betting odds of 50-50) and place it. Avoid placing several bets and double bets if your bankroll is small.
• If it results in a winning bet, your second wager must retain its base unit.
• If you lose, increase your bet by one unit.
• Upon a win, decrease the betting unit.

D’Alembert strategy chart

As you’ve seen, using the D’Alembert betting system is nowhere near complicated. With that said, visuals always help explain things better, so have a look below and see the D’Alembert betting system in practice.

CHART

As you can see in this hypothetical experiment, the player had roughly the same number of wins as they had losses but still went on to make a profit.

Nevertheless, the D’Alembert method isn’t immune to a long losing streak, and this will inevitably take a toll on your bankroll.

Pros and cons of D’Alembert roulette strategy

The D’Alembert system, as well as the rest of the betting systems, has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s up to you to decide whether either of them outweighs the other.

Advantages

• The D’Alembert system is extremely easy to grasp and incorporate.
• It can be used in any game that offers 50-50 odds — you can even test this system with coin flips. A coin landing on either heads or tails is enough to test this system.
• It aims to help players win their money back via increased bets on the next wager after a loss.

Disadvantages

• Losing streaks can lead to very large bets. Should a player lose such bets, their bankroll can suffer greatly. This is why it’s important to establish a gambling budget before placing a bet.
• The money you win will not be very substantial, since the bet is only increased upon a loss. Therefore, winning streaks are somewhat wasted while betting with this system.

What about the Reverse D’Alembert system?

As you might expect, the Reverse D’Alembert system is basically the reverse of the standard D’Alembert system. Although they may sound similar, they work very differently.

In the Reverse D’Alembert system, the player is advised to decrease their bets by one base unit after a loss and increase them by one unit after a win. This system can be interesting to try out once you’ve nailed down the standard D’Alembert system.

This way, you’ll capitalise on winning streaks much better, but you’ll easily lose money during losing streaks. Nevertheless, all winning or losing streaks eventually end, so it might be worth giving this system a shot if you feel like a change.

Try out the D’Alembert system at hotslots online casino!

Allow us to answer the question that might be floating around in your head right now: why should you pay attention to HotSlots and play at their roulette tables?

First off, our Casino is regulated by several iGaming authorities, which isn’t to mention our gaming license from Curacao. Therefore, it is safe to say that HotSlots is operated with its players’ best interests in mind.

Our Casino was an instant hit the moment it went live. The sheer number of fantastic roulette games — both online and live roulette — has struck a chord with the online casino industry, so much so that our community keeps growing by the minute.

Should you need a break from playing roulette altogether, you’ll be glad to know that we’ve got many more games worth trying, including slot machines and card games.

If you want to be a part of our community, head to our Casino and we’ll take care of the rest!

The HotSlots blog will keep you abreast of all things roulette, and live roulette is definitely a part of the equation. Online roulette doesn’t differ from its live counterpart in too many ways, but there are a number of key differences that are worth noting. Their common denominator, however, is that both are well worth a spin!

Before giving roulette a spin, leave it to our writers to guide you to roulette mastery. This corner of the internet is devoted to sharing a good roulette strategy, tips, tricks, rules and news in order to help keep you up to date with all the recent developments within the roulette community.

Putting our roulette tricks to the test at any of HotSlots’s roulette variants could be worthwhile, so feel free to give it a shot!