Let’s play a game.

Place any amount of money on the table. I’ll roll a fair, six-sided die. If it comes up 1 or 2, I’ll match your bet, and you get to keep it. If it’s 3 or over, you lose your money. We can play as many rounds as you want.

Do you want to play?

(I hope) Your immediate response is “hell no.” Every 6 rolls, you should expect two wins. If you bet a dollar each time, you’ll win 2 and lose 4. Not a wise financial decision.

So you refuse and walk away, but an hour later, you come back to ask if the offer is still on. Why? Well you think you might have a strategy to win money. Here’s how it goes:

Bet a dollar. If you win, pocket it and go to step one. If you lose, go to step 3 Double your previous bet and go to step 2.

I’ll play out a few rounds to show why this might be a good idea: