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Labouchere Strategy

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Today we are going to review one of the most impressive betting strategies out there. Despite not being as simple as other betting strategies, the Labouchere system can be of great fortune for bettors brave enough to try it. Don’t worry if you find it difficult at first, we are going to do our best in order to portray Labouchere’s work as facile as possible.

What is the Labouchere Betting Strategy?

The Labouchere betting strategy has one key aspect that sets it apart from the other systems in the betting industry. This betting strategy revolves around your predetermined winnings. What this means is that you are going to choose a desirable sum of money that you want to win with your bets. Afterwards, the Labouchere betting strategy it’s going to revolve around that certain amount, with its objective being to get you to that point.

Furthermore, the Labouchere betting strategy is a negative progression, meaning that it focuses more on the losing side than the winning one. Nevertheless, the formula can get you to the final amount you desire, as long as you have the necessary budget.

Keep in mind that the amount of money that you desire needs to be in accordance with your budget. Therefore, you can’t go for big amounts unless you’re prepared for some big spending.

Nevertheless, this betting strategy is versatile and can be used both as a profitable system for your sports betting or as a strategy in casinos. 

Initially, this betting system was developed by Henry Labouchere, an English politician. Throughout its history, this betting strategy has been widely used, and it’s regarded as a good answer if you are in the right mindset and have a healthy budget.

As you might have noticed from the other articles that covered betting strategies, the Labouchere system has a lot in common with the Martingale betting strategy. Furthermore, the Labouchere system is also known as the Divided Martingale betting strategy. As for every betting strategy, the Labouchere one is not fit for any bettor.

Thus, make sure you check out the article and determine if it suits your needs or if a suitable strategy for your profits.

How does the Labouchere Betting Strategy works?

As mentioned previously, this betting strategy can attract a lot of bettors for the simple fact that it can give you a better idea about your upcoming profits. Moreover, it focuses on your losses and tries to keep you afloat until you get to your desired amount. 

Furthermore, the fact that this betting strategy revolves around a formula might help the bettor to keep a better record of his budget and upcoming bets.

Now, let’s imagine a situation in which you are looking for the best tennis betting strategies out there. You happen to stumble upon the Labouchere betting strategy and decide to give it a shot. Keep in mind, that you will have to look for tennis matches that have even odds, more or less. Otherwise, this betting strategy can’t be used at its full capacity. Therefore, make sure you check out the best WTA and ATP tournaments' schedule on BetBrain. On top of that, don't forget to check out the predictions and free tips available on our website.

For the sake of the scenario and to keep at simple as possible, let’s say the sequence we are going to use is 1-2-3. As mentioned previously, the potential profit it’s the sum of the numbers used in the sequence. Therefore, we are going to wish for a 6-dollar profit.

Each time you’re betting, the stake should be the sum of the first and last numbers in the sequence. Thus, we are going to bet a 4-dollar stake. Now, one potential scenario can look like this:

  • We lost our first bet. Therefore, our sequence will now be 1-2-3-4. As we established earlier, we are going to bet the sum of the first and the last number in the sequence. Our stake will now be 5 dollars.

  • Fortunately, we won the second bet. This time, we have to remove the first and the last number in the sequence. Our sequence has now become 2-3.

  • This time, we lost again. Thus, we have to add the 5 dollars that we lost in the sequence, so we will have 2-3-5.

  • The fourth bet is won. Our sequence now has just one number, 3. Therefore, our stake will be just 3 dollars. In this case, if we win the next bet, the sequence will be over. If we lose it, we are going to repeat the process explained earlier.

This might sound difficult for bettors, so we will try to explain this scenario in a different way:


Sequence

Bet

1-2-3

4 stake (1+3)

Lose

1-2-3-4

5 stake (1+4)

Win

2-3

5 stake (2+3)

Lose

2-3-5

7 stake (2+5)

Win

3

3 stake

Win


As you might remember, we had 6 dollars in mind at the beginning of the sequence. If we are going to decrease the amount we bet from the overall profit, we are going to have (5+7+3) - (4+5) = 15 - 9 = 6. 

Therefore, in our scenario, the Labouchere betting strategy has worked, and we have the desired 6 dollars. Naturally, we can expect some more losses in a more realistic scenario. Therefore, you might have to search deep in your budget in some cases. Moreover, the amounts that we had in our scenario are quite low compared to what most bettors would like. You need to keep in mind that this was just an example meant to explain to you the process of the Labouchere betting strategy.

PROs and CONs of the Labouchere Betting Strategy

Just like the other betting strategies that we covered in our articles, the Labouchere betting strategy has its ups and downs. Furthermore, we don’t expect all bettors to try these systems out, as there are many who trust their instincts and sports knowledge in their bets.

This, however, does not mean that some bettors can’t find these betting strategies suitable for their needs and their betting styles.

Therefore, we decided to note down some of the most notable PROs and CONs of the Labouchere betting strategy, so you can picture a bigger image and be able to decide whether or not this system fits you.

These are the most important PROs and CONs of the Labouchere betting strategy:

PROs:

  • You can keep a better record of your bets

  • It’s not as complicated as other betting strategies

  • Has a well-developed formula that can work if you have a good budget

CONs:

  • Can require big betting budgets

  • It’s dependent on even odds

  • It can look simple at first glance, but it can get more complicated with a lot of bets

It’s the Labouchere Betting Strategy worth a shot?

The short answer is yes. Despite the fact that the Labouchere betting strategy is not for everyone and has some disadvantages, some bettors might find it suitable for their needs.

This being said, as long as you are comfortable with the ups and downs mentioned earlier, don’t hesitate to give it a shot.


Labouchere’s system has been around for some time now, and the fact that it’s still popular proves that some bettors might still profit from it.


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