The 1-3-2-6 strategy
Four wins, twelve units, and a worst case you know before you start. Your stake follows a fixed sequence — 1 unit, then 3, then 2, then 6 — resetting on any loss or once the cycle completes. Of the six strategies here, this is the one with the most predictable downside.
How the sequence works
| Step | Stake | On a win | On a loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 unit | Advance to 3 units | Reset to 1 unit |
| 2 | 3 units | Advance to 2 units | Reset to 1 unit |
| 3 | 2 units | Advance to 6 units | Reset to 1 unit |
| 4 | 6 units | Cycle complete — reset to 1 unit | Reset to 1 unit |
Key parameters
| Initial stake | The starting trade amount. The stake reverts to this when a cycle completes or after any loss. |
|---|---|
| Profit threshold | The bot stops trading once total profit exceeds this amount. |
| Loss threshold | The bot stops trading once total loss exceeds this amount. |
A worked example
- Start with an initial stake of 1 USD.
- The trade wins, so the next stake becomes 3 units — 3 USD.
- That trade also wins, so the stake adjusts to 2 units — 2 USD.
- The third trade loses, so the stake resets to the initial 1 USD.
- A further loss at the initial stake changes nothing — the strategy always trades at least the initial stake.
- With four consecutive wins the stake runs 1, 3, 2, 6 and the cycle completes, returning a total gain of 12 units. The sequence then starts again.
Why this particular sequence
The design reinvests accumulated winnings rather than fresh capital. After two wins you are three units up, so the third step of 2 units is funded entirely by profit; after three wins you are six units up, which is exactly what the fourth step stakes. The dip from 3 units to 2 at step three locks in a unit of profit that a straight doubling sequence would have left on the table.
One common claim is wrong. You will often read that a win makes the next trade more likely to win, and that the 3-unit step is justified by that. It is not. Deriv's synthetic indices are generated by a random number generator, so each trade is independent — the odds on step two are identical to the odds on step one. The sequence is a money-management pattern, not a probability edge.
The trade-off you're making
Everything rests on step four. Losing the 6-unit trade forfeits every unit gained in the cycle, and a completed cycle requires four wins in a row — roughly one attempt in sixteen on a contract that wins about half the time. Most cycles end early with a small loss, which is by design.
The compensating virtue is that your worst case per sequence is bounded and knowable, which is more than can be said for Martingale or Oscar's Grind. Each stake is still independent, though, and the strategy does not improve your chances over the long run. A series of losing sequences adds up.
Profit and loss thresholds
Both stop the bot automatically once total profit or loss passes the amount you set — a useful pairing with 1-3-2-6, where the profit threshold lets you stop after banking a completed cycle or two.
Run it in Binary Pro
- Open the Bot Builder and choose Quick strategy > 1-3-2-6.
- Select the market and trade type, then set your initial stake and thresholds.
- Or download the ready-made version — "Entry Scanner Bot" on the free bots page.
Related: Reverse Martingale is the open-ended version of the same streak idea. Use the backtester to see how often a full cycle actually completes with your chosen contract.
Illustrative figures are rounded. A 1 USD stake does not return exactly 1 USD on a successful trade — payouts vary by contract and market.
Build and run it yourself
Binary Pro is free to use, runs in the browser, and works on a Deriv demo account.
Open the bot builder