The streak for the cash strategy of winning a million dollars in ESPN’s Streak for the Cash is tempting to just about anyone. Sure, it’s not “early retirement” money, but it’s still pretty big. It’s also more than enough to buy a nice new car, pay off some student loans, or make a big dent in your credit card debt.

For 14 years, thousands of sports fans have competed for a chance to win ESPN’s prize money by building the longest streak of correct picks in their favored sport. It’s an addictive game, and one that is not easy to win. The grand prize for a perfect streak is $100,000, or a subsequent, higher grand prize during certain events (see below).

Mastering the ESPN Streak: Strategies and Tips for Consistent Wins

To build a long streak you have to be able to overcome a lot of loss. It takes a long time to earn the first few wins, and even longer to build an extended run. To mitigate this problem, many players use stopping strategies based on a popular Roulette strategy called the Martingale. This strategy is shown in the graph below which shows how the player’s cash amount decreases over a series of simulations. The classic strategy tends to hold more money on average, but a bad streak can quickly devastate your bankroll. The reverse strategy, which doubles the bet upon each loss, has a lower median value but on average will still lose you money. This chart was generated using this code on github, and more simulations can be found here.