Labouchere Strategy in Sports Betting: What’s the Essence?

Today we’ll talk about a very interesting betting approach known as the Labouchere strategy, named after Henry Labouchere, who, according to legend, invented it. For players exploring different systems and searching through the top 20 betting sites, this method often stands out as one of the more intriguing options.

Background

Henry Labouchere was still a student when he became fascinated with gambling. He began with horse racing but lost massive amounts of money. These collapses failed to discourage him, and soon he moved on to roulette. Instead of statistics and analysis, he employed a unique betting system. Rumors still persist as to how Labouchere ended up winning fantastic amounts in casinos and assuring his fortune for the rest of his life. Whether it is true or not is hard to know, but his betting system is still worth mentioning.

What is the Labouchere Strategy?

The strategy prompted several other progressive staking based bets, but it also has traits of its own. To begin with, a player must decide on a target profit level, usually 5–10% of his bank. This is a highly significant limit; if not observed, a player can lose all his money before achieving the goal. The rules must be followed to the letter when playing Labouchere.

The next step is to divide the target profit into some figures, usually five or six digits.

For example, if you want to win ₹10,000, you can divide it as below: ₹2,000 – ₹1,500 – ₹1,000 – ₹2,500 – ₹3,000. As far as the order in which you mention them is concerned, it does not matter. The second necessary requirement is that the odds must be 2.00 or higher because without that even with favorable outcomes the system will be in losses.

So, to apply Labouchere, you must:

• Determine your profit target as per your bankroll.
• Divide that target into pieces.
• Bet on occurrences with odds 2.00 or higher.

Labouchere in Action: An Example

Let's say the bankroll is ₹200,000. Five percent of that is ₹10,000, which we will use as our profit target. We break it down as follows: ₹2,000 – ₹1,500 – ₹1,800 – ₹1,200 – ₹3,500.

Each bet is the sum of the first and last numbers. Here: ₹2,000 + ₹3,500 = ₹5,500. We choose an event with 2.00 and above odds and place the bet. Two things can happen:

• Win → Strike off the first and last numbers. Next bet is ₹1,500 + ₹1,200 = ₹2,700.
• Loss → Put the lost amount at the end of the series. The new series is ₹2,000 – ₹1,500 – ₹1,800 – ₹1,200 – ₹3,500 – ₹5,500.

This continues endlessly until the series gets full. Once each cycle finishes, a new one is created and the process restarts. The point here is not to assume too much in your winning gains.

Conclusions on the Labouchere Strategy

One significant drawback of Labouchere is that it does not suit players with a small bankroll. It requires a winning percentage of over 50% as well in order to be successful. Small deviations from the rules can result in massive losses.

If you are a beginner player, it is recommended to experiment with Labouchere on paper or with a demo account before risking real money. To play this way, you'll have to be patient and stress-resistant. A losing sequence of bets cannot make you give up the set rules.