A roulette strategy is essentially any conceivable means of helping you win at roulette. In many cases, strategies amount to a set of rules of play which tell a player when and where to bet. Although there are many roulette strategies out there, the majority of roulette players consistently lose. This is because — among other things — the only way a strategy can be truly effective is if it guarantees a win in the long term by eliminating the house edge. There is no such strategy in roulette, aside from picking — from the beginning — a game with better odds (like European roulette over American roulette). Still, the house will always have the edge. Although this may be dispiriting, we look here at the most famous roulette betting strategies. The whole point of a roulette betting strategy is to manage your bank roll. After this, a strategy should increase the odds of winning in the short term. As such, many of the strategies below involve the player increasing their bets after a loss and then continually increasing them until they eventually get a win.
The Martingale: The single most famous roulette betting system or strategy, the Martingale involves increasing your bets after a loss until you get a win, so that whatever the cost you recoup your losses. If you lose your first bet (say of £5), you then bet £10, and so on. To be fool proof, it requires an infinite bankroll if things go wrong. In the short term, it has a proven probability in your favour, but it can quickly turn ugly fast.
The Reverse Martingale: Otherwise known as the Paroli, the reverse Martingale is a positive progressive system in which you increase your bets after a win in the hopes of riding out a winning streak and keeping your losses to a minimum when you go on a losing run. You can stop increasing your bet at any time or increase with smaller denominations with the hope that your winning streak keeps climbing.
The Labouchere: Another very popular bet progression strategy, the Labouchere is designed for betting even chances and aims to recoup losses with a smaller number of wins. With this strategy, you must keep note of your initial betting sequence which goes something like this: The sum of the numbers — for simplicities sake, 1, 2, 3 — will be the profit when the session is finished, so in this case 6. You will bet the sum of the first and last number in the sequence. When you win, you erase the two numbers that you bet with. When you lose, you add the sum at the end. For example, with 1, 2, 3, you bet 4 (1+3). If you lose you add 4 to the end = 1, 2, 3, 4. The next bet is 5 (1+4), if you lose add 5 to the end, and so on. It is slightly more complicated than other basic strategies, but once you get to know it, it is more favourable than the Martingale. And like the Martingale, it has a reverse strategy in which you need more wins than losses to be successful.
The D’Alembart: This strategy is based on the fallacy of even chances. With this system, you pick a starting bet and increase your bets by one after a loss and decrease them after a win. The theory goes that if you have as many wins as losses, you will be in profit by the number of bets that you place. It can go something like this: bet 2 and lose, bet 3 and lose, bet 4 and win, bet 3 and win, bet 2 and lose, bet 3, and so on. As a lower risk system, you have less risk of large losses just as much as you have less winnings.
The Fibonacci: This strategy employs a sow rate of progression by winning losses back over several wins rather than one. The betting sequence involves number a combination of the two units that came before it, like this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on. As such, it is possible to have more losing spins with this strategy and still come out on top.
Flat Betting: A simple method and something of a non-strategy, this involves you betting the same amount over and over. It is expected that you will lose to the house edge over a long term of play and is vest utilised on straight up bets. It’s steady and mathematically simple, with less chance of grand loses as with grand wins.