🛡️ Risk & Money·intermediate

Anti-Martingale

Also called: pyramiding

A position-sizing system where you INCREASE size after wins and DECREASE size after losses — the opposite of martingale.

Anti-martingale (also called "pyramiding") is the inverse of martingale. After winning trades, you increase size to capitalize on a hot streak. After losing trades, you decrease size to protect capital during a cold streak. It's the mathematically correct way to scale. Anti-martingale matches your size to your edge. When the system is working (winning), you press the advantage with bigger bets. When it's not working (losing), you back off until conditions improve. It's the opposite of the classic gambler's mistake of doubling down on losses. Most professional position-sizing systems are some form of anti-martingale: fixed fractional, Kelly Criterion, volatility-adjusted sizing. They all share the principle that risk should scale with edge, not against it.

Real trade example

Trend-following CTAs like Dunn Capital and Man AHL have used anti-martingale pyramiding for decades — adding to winning trades while cutting losers. The asymmetric return profile is the source of their long-term outperformance.

Related terms

Martingale

intermediate

A betting system where you double your size after every loss — mathematically destined to blow up the account eventually.

Position Sizing

beginner

The math that tells you how many lots to trade based on your account, stop distance, and risk tolerance.

Kelly Criterion

advanced

A mathematical formula that calculates the optimal bet size based on win rate and reward-to-risk — used to maximize long-term growth.

Fixed Fractional Position Sizing

beginner

A position-sizing system where you risk a fixed percentage of your current account equity on every trade — the standard for retail traders.

Expectancy

advanced

The average dollar (or R) amount you can expect to make per trade over many trades — the math behind whether a strategy works.

Correlation

intermediate

A measure of how two markets move in relation to each other — values range from -1 (perfect opposite) to +1 (perfect same).

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