Effect of Variance
Sometimes, by temporarily avoiding a losing streak, a bettor achieves a better result than the expected negative return. A straight string of losses is the only sequence of outcomes that results in a loss of money, so even when a player has lost the majority of his bets, he can still be ahead overall, since he always wins 1 unit when a bet wins, regardless of how many previous losses.
Read more about this topic: Martingale (betting System)
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