Exact session math · no sampled runs

Grand Martingale calculator

Double the stake and add one unit after a loss; back to one unit after a win. Enter your bankroll, unit, table limit and walk-away target. The calculator follows every possible spin sequence to the end of the session and returns the exact chance of each finish, the full stake ladder, and what the session costs on average.

Bets on red, Grand Martingale staking, stops at the first of: target reached, next stake over the bankroll or table maximum, or the spin cap.
67.86%
Reach +$200
Before a stop rule or 500 spins
32.14%
Progression breaks
Stake over bankroll or table, or $0
−$26
Expected result
Per session, from $1,000
−$2.70
Per $100 wagered
On $948 wagered on average
Session finish / exact

How the session ends

Finishes ahead 67.86% of the time. The average session lasts 35.4 spins; the median finish is $1,200.

Walked away up $200
67.86%
Next stake blocked by bankroll or table
32.14%
Bankroll reached $0
0%
Reached 500 spins
0%

Read the result

Grand Martingale reaches the $200 target in 67.86% of sessions and breaks in 32.14%, ending where the next required stake no longer fits. Weighted together, the expected finish is −$26: about $948 goes through the wheel per session and each $100 of it loses $2.70 on average. A high chance of reaching the target and a negative expected result are the same fact seen from two sides: many small wins, paid for by fewer, larger losses.

Cross-check: with these exact rules, the Grand Martingale backtest ran 20,000 seeded sessions and reached the target in 67.94%, with a mean result of −$25. The exact figures above are what that sample is estimating.

The losing streak ladder

Grand Martingale stakes after consecutive losses from a fresh start
BetStakeNet after it losesChance to get here
#1$5−$5100.00%
#2$15−$2051.35% 1 in 1.9
#3$35−$5526.37% 1 in 3.8
#4$75−$13013.54% 1 in 7.4
#5$155−$2856.95% 1 in 14
#6$315−$6003.57% 1 in 28
#7$635over table max1.83% 1 in 55

6 losses in a row from one unit leave a $635 stake that the table maximum can’t cover. “Chance to get here” is the probability that every earlier bet in the streak went the losing way, from a fresh start. A win after n losses nets n + 1 units instead of one, but the stake grows faster than plain Martingale, so the limit row arrives sooner.

How the calculator works

A Grand Martingale session has no memory beyond two numbers: the current bankroll and where the stake sits in the progression. The calculator starts with all of the probability on your opening bankroll and the first stake, then applies one spin at a time. Each spin sends 18/37 of every state’s probability to the winning branch and the rest to the losing branch. Probability that reaches a stop rule is set aside as a finished session. After the last allowed spin, whatever is left is counted as spin-capped. Nothing is sampled, so the same inputs always give the same figures.

The stop rules are the ones every system page uses: walk away once the bankroll reaches the target, stop when the next stake is larger than the bankroll or the table maximum, and stop at the spin cap. The test suite solves every calculator on the published rules and requires agreement with the 20,000-session seeded backtests within sampling error. It also checks exact agreement with brute-force enumeration of every spin sequence on a small table.

What no input can change

Every red bet returns −1/37 of its stake on average, so the expected result is always that fraction of the expected amount wagered: −$2.70 per $100. A bigger bankroll, a higher table limit, or a smaller target changes how often the session finishes ahead and how large the bad finishes are. It does not change that figure. The house edge page derives it from the payout table.

Limitations

Fair, independent spins, bets on red only, whole-dollar inputs, and standard European or American settlement. French la partage and en prison are not modelled; the wheel rules guide covers what they change. To test a variation the calculator can’t express, run the Grand Martingale Lua in Engineer mode and edit it.

Other progression calculators

For a single flat bet rather than a progression, use the roulette odds calculator.