Thread: Martingala: how to apply it as safely as possible

I don�t understand why it�s still being argued whether martingala serves or not. It�s like wondering if driving at 200 km/h is good enough to get there faster. Yes, but if something fails, you kill yourself. The most coherent thing I�ve read around here is to use it as a complement, not as a basis for the system. For spot trades with exaggerated deviations and with a clear departure plan. And yet, I wouldn�t recommend it to anyone without a minimum of two years of experience.

I used it in small accounts with capital that I was willing to lose. As an experiment. It worked sometimes, sometimes not. It taught me a lot about my risk tolerance and my mental limits. The good thing is that it forced me to have a plan for the worst scenario. And that served me for other strategies. Now I respect it, but rarely use it. I have it as one more tool, not as the star of the system.

There is something that few mention: psychologically, the martingala is brutal. It forces you to face your fear of losing, and with your greed. Two emotions that, if you don�t have them controlled, will break you. Once I was 5 levels inside an operation, and I swear I didn�t see the screen... I saw the account emptying. I survived, but that tension I didn�t want even my worst enemy. Today I use martingala with tweezers, and only with coffee in my hand.

Using martingala without understanding the dynamics of the market is like walking through a minefield blindfolded. You�re going to step on something, the question is when. If you�re really interested in it, get backtesting with quality data. Use real conditions, real spreads, and simulate extreme scenarios. That�s just how you�re going to understand if it�s viable for your trading style.

There is a false sense of control with the martingala. Because it seems that everything you can �correct� by adding one more lot. But that illusion disappears as soon as the market becomes in a strong trend. If you don�t know how to read context, if you don�t have an entry filter, if you don�t accept losses, this strategy is the direct way to burn your account. Not because it�s �bad�, but because you use it without conscience.

Some defend the martingala as if it were religion. �It works for me,� they say... as if that were enough to recommend it. But they never show numbers. They never show the total drawdown. They only show the part where they won. It�s like showing only the days you went to the gym and hiding the months you were on the couch. The strategy is tested in time, not in the lucky moments.

I have seen it work for weeks, even months. Then came a week of unbreakable tendency and goodbye to 70% of the earned. Is that success? To me, a solid strategy does not depend on not being wrong, but on how expensive you pay for your mistakes. And with martingala, mistakes are paid with blood.

I'm testing it with virtual batches in the first innings, and I only activate the real trade after the fourth level. It's a way to limit exposure, but I'm still seeing a lot of emotional wear and tear. The pressure to stay up all the time from where you can stretch the market is priceless. It's a strategy that requires not only big count, but steel nerves.

The best advice I can give you: if you want to use martingala, I assumed that eventually you're going to have a streak that will leave your account shivering. And that has to be contemplated from day one. And if you still decide to use it, unless it's with money that doesn't hurt to lose. Because you're going to lose it, sooner or later. The question is whether you'll be prepared.