Progressive betting and
Texas Wipe out
25 April 2005
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
Could you please provide some information on the
Five Level betting system? Paul G.
The Five Level Betting System is based on a
cyclic progression: 1, 2, 3, and then 5 units,
then back to 1 unit. For example, for a $2
player, the betting levels would be $2, $4, $6,
$10, and then back to $2. After your initial $2
wager, you would progress to the next level
after each winning hand. When you lose a hand,
you return to your original $2 wager.
Additionally, when you win four hands in a row,
you automatically return to your original $2
wager, hence, the 1, 2, 3, 5, and then back to 1
progression.
The Five Level Progressive Betting System
recognizes runs of luck, rewarding you when you
experience a winning run, but not killing you
when you are on a losing streak. For instance,
say you lose your first four hands and then you
win your next four. If you were betting an equal
amount of $2 on each hand, you would be dead
even after eight hands. But with a starting
wager of $2 and using the Five Level Progressive
Betting System, you would net $14.
My favorite progressive betting method, somewhat
different in that you don't automatically return
to a single unit after your fourth win, goes
like this: You set a predetermined percentage
increase to follow any winning bet, and pull in
your horns after losses. For example; I increase
the bet that follows any winning bet by roughly
50%: When the first $2 bet wins, my next bet is
$3. If that wins I'm off on the plus-50% gallop:
$5, $7, $10, $15, $22 etc, until I lose, and
then I drop back to the table minimum, in this
case, $2.
What I like best about any winning progressive
method of betting, Paul, is that you can
minimize your losses and usually protect your
winnings.
Dear Mark,
In a recent Texas Hold-em tournament, I got
knocked out with the following. It began when I
caught a board pair that matched a card in my
hand. So, I bet heavily into the pot to drive
the draws out, and after a couple raises and
re-raises, only one player remained. We both
checked at the turn, so, figuring he hadn't
caught, I went all in on the river. Lo and
behold, the other player also had a matching
card in his hand, eventually catching a full
house on the final card. Your thoughts please on
how I played the hand. Jeff H.
Yeah, Jeff, a matching pocket card to a pair on
the flop can make the best of us giddy, yet I've
got more trip suck-out stories than you would
ever want to hear.
When a board pair matches a card in hand, almost
every player I know bets into the pot in order
to drive the others off. However, Jeff, if
another player raises you after the flop, you
better think "Oo oo" and mull over what your
opponent might possibly have. You didn't
describe your hand, but let's say you had an
A-K, and the flop was A-A-7. You were then
holding the highest possible trips and the
highest achievable kicker. However, when the
other player raised you after the flop, you
should have figured him for the other Rocket, or
pocket sevens.
From the perspective of either hand, the race
was on to see who would get the full house, and
you didn't. You were simply outdrawn, or in
poker gamblese, "sucked out." It happens.
There's no vaccine.
Gambling quote of the week: "Nobody knows why
one person is lucky and another unlucky." D. H.
Lawrence, The Rocking Horse Winner (1926)
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