Blackjack Betting System: D'Alembert Progressive

How much should we bet on the next game? Well, in most cases it depends on how good our play has been. But some systems depend on our recent performance.

Progressive systems base bet amounts on how well or poor our most recent hand was. We break this down into the positive and negative systems. It's a positive blackjack betting system when we raise the bet after a most recent win, while a negative system is when we raise the bet after a most recent loss. The first premise is pretty obvious, but there are systems that operate in the exact opposite—raise still when we lose.

The Martingale blackjack betting system leads negative progressive systems in this frenzied bet raising after a recent loss. The D'Alembert system is an offshoot of the Martingale system, but with a slightly different twist. With the former, we raise by one unit after a recent loss and lower by one unit after a recent win. With the latter, we raise bets either after a recent win or loss.

The D'Alembert system was a brainchild of Jean le Rond D'Alembert, French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist in the 18th century. One of his favorite subjects was the Law of Equilibrium that suggested an eventual balancing of positive and negative events after a long while. All that happens would eventually settle and balance themselves. Thus, we win after losing, and vice versa, if we just continue on.

But the key in all this is the time frame. There ought to be a time lapse before the conditions are fully met. If we give up early, the theory conditions will be adversely affected and the whole system will collapse. Now, casino settings are, of course, time bound. Events there cover limited time, and anyway D'Alembert's theory is not suitable for casinos in this sense. But gamblers still believe it to be an effective blackjack betting system and they dub it as the Pyramid.

Simply stated, when we lose we raise, when we win we lower the bet. It seems a very risky betting principle, but then all betting systems are. After all, they're designed for a gamble. When we lose $20 dollars, the next bet will be $40. If we lose again, we bet $80. But if we win this time we recover the $60 previously bet and earn an extra $20. Plus we have maintain an $80 bet. But because we win, we bet lower.

Progressive betting systems seem risky but many claim its effectiveness.