Some bettors choose to bet with their gut, others opt for the route of doing statistical research, but some choose to use betting systems to come out on top.
Many of these strategies were initially deployed on casino games as bankroll management against set odds, but now many people have applied them to sports betting across a whole range of events and competitions.
The primary focus across the majority of these betting strategies and betting systems is to cover losses or to gain an edge over the bookmakers, but, do they actually work?
Chaos Betting
We’ll start with the simplest betting strategy, for lack of a better word, which conforms to the ideas of chaos and can yield monstrous rewards.
Chaos betting has been applied to casino games with multiple, high-odds betting options, such as roulette, in which the user will simply take an allocated number of bets and randomly dot them around the betting board.
This strategy doesn’t improve the user’s edge, but it does replicate the chaos and random nature of the game.
This has become a popular strategy for football fans who bet on their nation’s long list at the weekend, with many of the games kicking off at the same time.
Using the football betting long list, bettors can dot down a predetermined number of selections across home wins, draws, and away wins, and wait for the results to unfold.
However, as football isn’t as chaotic as the game of roulette, it’s good to limit the number of random selections made due to the knowledge that top teams will most likely defeat much lower teams.
But equally, there’s still a chance that the most dominant teams will crumble to the hands of a weaker side.
Chaos betting is very hit and miss, without any form of bankroll backing to cover losses. When it comes off, it can pay out big time as it will most likely form an accumulator with some long odds picks.
So, while it can work in terms of winning decent returns, the lack of forethought or system makes it as chaotic as it’s billed.
The Fibonacci
Fibonacci betting systems have been applied to all forms of gambling by using the Fibonacci number sequence as the guide for how much one should stake.
The Fibonacci sequence takes the form of 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34. The strategy is that you start with your first bet valued as the number 1 in the sequence. If you lose, you stake the same value to the number of times that the sequence dictates.
So, if your starting bet is £3, if it loses, you bet £3 again as the sequence goes 1, 1. But, if that second bet loses, you step up to £6 as the number in the sequence double to 2.
If the losing streak continues, step up to £6, £15, £24, and then £39. When a win eventually comes in, it covers your losses, assuming that the odds of the win are greater than 8/5.
Be it ice hockey betting, football betting, or any other game that can end tied at the end of regular time, the area which bettors seek to exploit is the odds for draws as these are deemed to be the hardest odds to establish for bookmakers.
Also, the odds on a tie at full time tend to be in the region of 8/5 or higher, allowing for the use of the Fibonacci betting system.
The issue with the Fibonacci method is that the cost of the stake continues to rise, resulting in large losses if a particularly unlucky streak of five or more comes in.
So, for it to guarantee a return that covers the losses of previous stakes, a near-unlimited bankroll may be required.
The Martingale
The Martingale method is one of the most popular betting strategies because it is very simple and doesn’t require the use or application of a specific system or sequence.
Here, bettors simply double their bet after a loss. The method aims to cover a loss via a bigger win. By doubling the bet each time on odds that are above evens, eventually, the compiled stake will be returned with some profit as well.
In sports betting, this is sometimes applied to long odds singles, such as a match finishing regular time in a draw with basketball betting.
But others opt to compile favoured teams into an accumulator, play the accumulated odds at just over evens, and then deploy the Martingale method.
It’s a sound method in theory, and should eventually pay off, but once again, it relies on a potentially endless bankroll.
As it is a quickly escalating system regarding the amount staked, just a few losses could quickly have the average bettor out of pocket, unable to continue and win back your losses that were dedicated to the method.
The Paroli
The Paroli betting strategy is less about covering your losses and more about capitalising on your hot streak. Every regular bettor has had a few weeks where it seems like every selection that they make turns to gold.
The Paroli is all about going big when winning, which will, in turn, help to cover any other losses incurred while betting in the past or trying to get this strategy rolling.
It’s very simple to do the Paroli: all that you need to do is bet the same amount until you win, and then double that single stake on your next bet. If that wins, you double the stake again. Most people end their Paroli at a three-bet win streak.
As the strategy is based on chaining wins, it doesn’t have to be used as frequently as other methods, allowing users to wait for markets that they like.
For example, someone who knows their stuff when it comes to horse racing betting can back a horse on one day and then wait for one of their other favourites to race sometime during that month or even further down the line.
The Paroli is a far more positive approach to betting, but a series of losses followed by a single win, that’s then followed by a double stake bet, will most likely result in the user being out of pocket.
It may be best to just move into a Paroli strategy once a win has landed to then capitalise on a potential hot streak.
Do Systems And Strategies ACTUALLY Work?
Unfortunately, there’s no definitive answer as it all depends on the results in the sports at hand. As results don’t always go the way that they’re predicted to, unexpected losses and wins can occur.
Having a method that recuperates losses will be beneficial to many bettors, but due to the chance of a series of bets going the wrong way, it can take an almost unlimited bankroll for the methods, strategies, and systems to work.
