You may have heard of the Martingale Betting System.
This system originated in France and was popular in the 18th century. In its simplest form it can be seen with a toss of a coin: heads or tails.
The idea being that the gamblers doubles his bet every time he loses. The first win would see you recover all your previous losses plus with a profit of the original stake.
For this reason, the Martingale system has been used by players of roulette and betting black or red.
In theory, this is a guaranteed winner because sooner or later the system will bet on a winning black or red. The trouble is that few gamblers have infinite wealth and also few casino allow you to be over a certain limit.
For example, look at how quickly your bet increases:
£10, £20, £40, £80, £160, £320, £640, £1280...
In truth, you cannot win because the value remain less than zero with the house edge of zero.