Negative progression is the parent concept behind Martingale. The shared idea is simple: after a loss you bet more, aiming to recover what you just lost when a win finally lands. This family sits inside the wider set of roulette systems, and every member is defined by that increase-after-loss rule.
Increase After Loss
The defining feature is that stakes rise following losses. The steeper the increase, the faster losses are recovered when a win arrives, but the faster the stakes grow toward your limits. Martingale uses the steepest increase of all: doubling.
Loss Recovery Logic
All negative progressions try to make a single win recover a run of losses. They differ only in how aggressively they raise the stake to do it. The trade-off is always the same: faster recovery means larger bets and larger potential drawdowns.
Martingale
Martingale doubles after each loss, so one win recovers everything plus one base unit. It is the fastest-recovering and highest-variance member of the family, covered in full by the Martingale strategy guide.
Fibonacci
Fibonacci steps along the 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 sequence after losses, moving back two steps after a win. It grows more slowly than doubling, so drawdowns build more gently, but the recovery is partial rather than complete on each win.
D'Alembert
D'Alembert adds one unit after a loss and removes one after a win. It is the flattest negative progression, with the smallest stake growth and the mildest tail risk of the group.
Labouchere
Labouchere uses a written sequence and crosses numbers off as bets win, aiming to clear the whole line. It is the most complex to run and can escalate quickly if losses outpace wins.
Bankroll Pressure
Every negative progression demands more capital exactly when you are losing, which is the worst possible time. The steeper the system, the more bankroll it consumes during a bad run.
Table-Limit Pressure
Rising stakes also march toward the table maximum. The faster a system grows, the sooner it hits the table limit that blocks the next recovery bet, capping how far the progression can run.
Tail Risk
The shared weakness is tail risk: a rare deep streak produces a loss far larger than the many small recoveries. That is why every negative progression carries a real risk of ruin, and why comparisons like Martingale vs Fibonacci, Martingale vs D'Alembert and Martingale vs Labouchere are really comparisons of how that tail risk is shaped, not whether it exists.