The Paroli Betting System

The Paroli betting system is most commonly used in casino games such as craps or roulette.  It can, however, be applied to sports betting, most commonly used when the events you are wagering on is close to 50/50 betting odds.

What Is the Paroli Betting System?

Think about the Paroli betting system as essentially the polar opposite of a Martingale system.  It is often referred to as “reverse Martingale” or “anti-Martingale” system.  When wagering based on the Martingale system, you will lock in your winning bets and chase any losses in an attempt to recoup them.  When wagering based on the Paroli system, however, you would attempt to roll over any wins, essentially playing with house money in order to try to cash in on a larger payout.

The Paroli betting system has been commonly described as a positive betting progression system.  When utilizing this system, you will essentially double your wager after each win, until three consecutive winning bets are attained.  At that point, you take your profit and restart, returning to your original amount wagered.

When a loss is thrown into the mix, you return to your original amount wagered straight away.  This way you will avoid a large loss due to a losing streak.

Example of the Paroli Betting System

As previously mentioned, the Paroli betting system is mostly used in casino games such as roulette or craps.  The reason behind this is that there are even money bets in both games (pass line bet in craps and a black or red wager in roulette).

For this example, let us use roulette and say our initial wager is $10.

Our first wager will be $10 on red.  If the result of the spin is red, we will roll our winnings and initial wager (total of $20) on a similar wager (let us say red again).  If again we have a winning wager, we would wager our winnings and our initial wager one more time (total of $40).  Regardless of another win or loss, we would revert back to our original $10 wager afterwards.  So, if we win all 3 wagers, we are up $70 and have our initial $10 in hand as well.

If we have a losing wager at any time, we will lose our $10 initial investment.

Regardless, we revert back to our initial wager amount of $10 when we win 3 bets in a row, or lose any of those bets.

Where Does the Paroli System Originate From?

The Paroli betting system is named after the Latin term par, which equates to one that is equal (think golf).  It is uncertain when precisely the betting system was first introduced.  Some say it was developed in the 16th century when it was typically utilized in the Italian card game known as Basset.  Others claim the system was not invented until the 18th century, when inventor of roulette – Blaise Pascal – coined the idea.

Positives vs Negatives About the System

Like in most systems there are positives and negatives to the Paroli betting system.

On the positive side of utilizing the Paroli system (if followed without diverting from it):

• You will not chase losses.
• You will manage betting too large due to any gut feelings.
• The system is easy to learn (you may have already learned it).
• Needed bankroll in minimal.
• Minimizes amount lost in losing streaks (not chasing bets).
• Takes advantage of winning streaks (wagering winnings).

On the negative side:

• Winning 3 wagers in a row can be difficult, so you will be losing small amounts until you achieve a full course win.
• The system relies on you having a winning streak (unless 3 wagers win in a row, nothing gained).
• In sports handicapping, we oftentimes wager based on a money line or point spread. In terms of money line wagering especially, the amount gained and lost in a wager is not always 1 to 1.

Conclusion

As with any bankroll system, you will only be as successful as your handicapping strategy allows.  The Paroli system can be well worth practicing if your handicapping strategy is consistently providing you with streaks of 3 wins in a row.  If your system wins one or two here and there and losses are often spread out in between, it may not be a quality bankroll system to utilize.  Back testing your strategy is always recommended. When doing so, keep an eye open for when the wagers placed would have won or lost, then you can gauge if the winning streaks are consistent enough to utilize the Paroli betting system.

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