The D’Alembert Betting System – My Ultimate Guide

Introduction To The D’Alembert Betting System
How the System Works: What is a D’Alembert Strategy?
Implementing the D’Alembert
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Introduction To The D’Alembert Betting System

While not the most popular negative progression system (that title goes to the Martingale), the D’Alembert is considered by some to be the most effective for returns on roulette.

It may initially seem like the D’Alembert betting system is the same as the Martingale, but there is one critical difference. The D’Alembert is much safer as a betting system when compared to the Martingale. This is because both involve increasing the stake amount after a losing bet and reducing the amount after an initial winning bet.

What makes this difference so important, and how does the D’Alembert system work within the betting context?

How the System Works: What is a D’Alembert Strategy?

The primary difference between D’Alembert and other negative progression systems is that the stakes are increased slower. This works in favor of those with more restrictive bankrolls but also means recovering losses can take much longer.

The D’Alembert system is most frequently applied in the context of even roulette money bets but could be used for any even money bet.

The concept of D’Alembert is that you should, in theory, win at least as much as you lose with even money bets. So, for instance, in roulette, red should come up as often (a similar number of times) as black.

With this system, if you were to win roughly the same amount as you were to lose, you would still walk away with a profit from your winning bets being at a higher stake than your losing bets.

Of course, this is all in theory – so how does a system like the D’Alembert do in practice?

Implementing the D’Alembert

Let’s presume you start with an initial amount of $10, betting on black at the roulette table.

The starting amount can be any figure you want, but as with other negative progression systems, we recommend a 1-5% maximum of your total bankroll.

You will then stake this amount on the first wager while using the D’Alembert.

After you lose a bet, the amount staked for the following wager will increase by the same amount as the base stake. So, for example, if you’ve staked $10 initially, you will increase this to $20 on the next bet if you lose.

This differs from the Martingale because this amount does not ‘double’ but increases by the same increment you started with.

Conversely, you decrease stakes/the amount bet after a win. After every successful bet, you reduce the amount by the same base stake. However, if this is the win of only the base amount staked ($10), it will remain the same for the next bet.

Another example would be starting with a base unit of $50. Let’s say you bet on black, which lands on red, meaning you’re down $50. Your next bet would then be $100 on black. Your next bet for $100 would place you up $50 if it wins, bringing you back to betting one ‘base’ unit of $50.

The love for the D’Alembert comes from it being more forgiving financially than the Martingale – it requires less of a bankroll to fund. In addition, since you only increase your stake amount by one base unit, you won’t face the same issues with the table or bankroll limits that you would with the Martingale.

The con, of course, is that with the D’Alembert, you can still ‘win’ and be down overall, considering it is a much less aggressive and bullish betting system. As you increase wagers by one base unit after each loss, you do have the chance to reclaim your losses steadily. Any profit is likely to be marginal.

Given the lower volatility compared to other negative progression systems, the D’Alembert is a good choice if you have the patience to reclaim losses steadily and are comfortable with modest profits instead of high-risk, higher rewards.