Playing Strategies for Roulette

Contrary to popular belief, there is no guaranteed strategy that can give you an edge over the casino in roulette. Despite this fact, there are probably more gambling systems for roulette than any other casino game. However, roulette is a game entirely based on random probability, and every new spin of the wheel is a isolated event of chance - completely independent of any prior spins.

Bearing this in mind, there are some systems devised that may improve your roulette play, but none of these will ever remove the house edge of 2.70% (this house edge rises to 5.26% in the American variation).

Strategy 1: The 'Quick' Win

As the casino will always have the edge, the longer you play, the more you will lose. The first strategy is a system for a 'quick' win.

Pick seven numbers and bet one unit on each number. If they all lose, then bet the numbers again up to a max of three times. If you don't win in three spins then leave the table.

However, if you do win, distribute your winnings (35 units) over these same seven numbers. You will now have five units on each number. If you win again then distribute the winnings over the same numbers again. You should now have 35 units on each number. After this bet, quit and walk away. Your maximum possible win is 945 units, and your maximum possible loss is 21 units.

Strategy 2: Colour and Column Bets

The second system involves using the three columns on the table each containing twelve numbers - one third of the field not counting zeros. The first column contains six Red and six Black numbers, the second column contains four Red and eight Black, and the third column contains eight Red and four Black.

You place a Colour Bet on either Black or Red, then another bet in the column that contains only four of the same colour - that is, if you bet on Red, you should also place a bet in the second column (containing four Red and eight Black), and if you bet on Black, place another bet in the third column.

If you colour comes up (which it has a 48.6% chance of doing) you will get an even return on your bet. If one of your numbers from your column comes up (32.4% chance) you will make one unit profit. If both the number AND the column come up (10.8% chance), you will make three units profit. Keep this system going until you are ahead.

The is the only true winning roulette system is to quit whilst you're ahead.

Strategy 3: Martingale System

Many roulette systems are a variation of the popular Martingale system, which may sound good in theory, but rarely works that well in practice.

The theory is that you should initially place 1 unit on an even chance bet (such as Even or Odd, Red or Black, and Low Numbers or High Numbers). If the bet loses, then place 2 units on the same spot. If this loses, you double the bet again and place 4 units, then 8 units, 64 units and so on, until the bet wins. The theory is that the bet must win at some point and you will recover all of your losses and add an even money win on the original wager.

However, this theory breaks down as the odds aren't exactly 50-50; there's the zero to take into account, which actually makes the odds 18-19, or 48.6% (these odds are even lower at American tables, at 47.4%).

The other problem is that a losing streak can force some increasingly large bets, and you will quickly reach the house limit. At this point, you will no longer recover your losses on a win and you could stand to lose a significant amount of money.

Not to be recommended.