A chasing losses calculator shows what the urge to “win it back” really costs. Say you’re £100 down and you’ve got £300 more you’d bet. Doubling up on red at European roulette, you can afford two bets: £100, then £200. You get back to even 73.6% of the time. The other 26.4%, you’re down £400. On average, chasing leaves you £105.48 down, which is worse than the £100 you’d be down if you stopped. It’s free, private and nothing you enter leaves your device.
How the chasing losses calculator works
Two plans are covered. One bet for the whole amount: you need a single win, and if it misses you’ve doubled the loss. Or doubling after every loss: you start by betting what you’ve lost and keep doubling until you win once or the money runs out.
Bets you can afford: n = floor(log₂(bankroll ÷ loss + 1)) Chance it fails: qⁿ, where q is the chance of losing one bet Down if it fails: loss × 2ⁿ
On a fair coin the average comes out exactly at “stop now”. On anything with a house edge it’s always worse. The edge works on every extra bet you make to fix the first loss.
Why it feels like it works
Because most of the time it does. Seven chases in ten get you back, and those are the ones you remember. The three that fail are big enough to wipe out all seven. People tend to judge a plan by how often it works, not by how much it costs when it doesn’t.
If you notice you’re chasing, the most useful step is a pause. Close the app, leave the table, and come back tomorrow with a budget. The session budget calculator helps set one, and the losing streak calculator shows how normal long runs of losses are. If chasing has become a habit, free help is below.
If the aim is to double what you have, the double your money calculator shows why one big bet beats many small ones, and why both still lose on average.
Play for fun with money you won’t miss. If you’re spending more than you planned, BeGambleAware.org is free and confidential.