Roulette is an iconic game in any casino that players around the globe will recognise even if they’ve never set foot in a casino before. From its 18th-century French origins to scenes from top movies where players make ultra-high stakes wagers, roulette is not only an important part of pop culture, but a game most players know and love.
Over the decades, a variety of roulette betting strategies have been created, each of which promises different benefits such as bankroll management. In today’s article, we’ll be taking a look at the top roulette betting strategies, and why their benefits may be nothing but myths. Keep on reading to learn more.
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1. Martingale Strategy
Known as a negative progression betting system, the Martingale betting system has been around for more than a century. It was made popular by casino owner John H. Martindale, who encouraged his roulette players to double their bets after a losing session. Over time, the name of the system was mispronounced in popular culture, leading to a change in name to martingale. Since then, the Martingale method—which works with any game including even money wagers, such as roulette—has grown to be one of the most popular.
How it works
As previously indicated, the Martingale system is a negative progression system, meaning that following a loss (a negative result), players raise their wager. Because the Martingale system is so easy to employ, it is very well-liked by players. To play, all players have to do is establish a basic wager, double it after every loss, and then reset the value to the base after a win.
For illustration, let's imagine your base bet is $5. Your wager will remain at $5 if you win the subsequent spin. You will double your bet to $10 if you lose the round, though. Should you lose once more, your wager will double to $20. Your bet will return to $2 if you win the subsequent spin, but if you lose, it will double (to $40) and so forth until a winning combination is made.
The goal of this approach is to lessen the impact of losses while assisting players in monitoring and managing their bankroll. But, to use this technique, a greater bankroll is needed, and it might be simple for players to engage in risky gambling behaviours like chasing losses.
2. D'alembert Strategy
The French mathematician of the same name originally proposed what became the D'alembert betting method as a mathematical formula in the late 1700s. As roulette increased in popularity in the 1800s, the D'alembert system started to be used as a betting system for the game.
Similar to the Martingale betting system, the D'alembert betting system uses negative progression where players increase their bets following a loss and reduce their stakes following a win.
How it works
Compared to the Martingale system, the D'alembert system is thought to be a less aggressive negative progression betting system since players aren't obliged to double their bets on losses; instead, they can increase their stake by a fixed unit. This allows smaller bankrolls to utilise the D'Alembert system.
For example, you choose a $1 unit value and a $5 initial wager. If you lose a hand, you raise your stake by 1 unit, or $1, for a total bet of $6. If you win hands, your wager stays at $5. If you lose once more, you raise the stake to $7, and so on, until a winning combination is found, at which point your wager reduces by one unit to $6.
The D'alembert approach can nevertheless lead to players focusing on their losses, which can make chasing losses much easier to fall into, even though it is less demanding on a player's bankroll than methods such as the Martingale system.
3. Labouchere Strategy
A well-liked roulette betting strategy, the Labouchere System is also occasionally referred to as the Cancellation System or Split Martingale. The British aristocrat Henry Labouchere, who lived in the 19th century is credited with inventing the original Labouchere betting system.
The Labouchere System entails generating a series of numbers and eliminating particular values upon reaching particular goals.
How it works
The Labouchere System, which was created especially for roulette, involves adding a number to the sequence when the player can eventually finish the list and be in the black and crossing off two digits from their sequence list when they win. The Labouchère System can be used to place even money roulette bets like Even/Odd, Red/Black, and 1–18/19–36.
To use the Labouchere system, players first need to decide on a 'goal' aka the value they'd like to win. To keep things simple let's pick $10. Now you need to break this number into a sequence of numbers that total your original value, so in this instance, you could pick 1, 2, 4, 1, 2.
In this system, your wager is formed by combining the first and last numbers of the sequence, and in this case that would be 1 and 2 making your total be $3. If you win the spin, then you cross off both numbers, which will make your new sequence 2, 4, 1. Your next wager will therefore be 2 and 1, making your next bet $3.
If you then lose on the next spin you add the 3 to the end of your sequence, making it now read 2, 4, 1, 3, and your next stake $5 (2+3). Continue in this manner until either the entire sequence has been cancelled out, or your goal value has been achieved.
4. Fibonacci Strategy
The Fibonacci betting strategy is based on the Fibonacci sequence. The series, named after the Italian mathematician Fibonacci, is made up of a series of increasing integers. Beginning at 0 and 1, each number in the series reflects the sum of the two numbers that came before it such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21.
In this extended excerpt of the system, for instance, you can observe that the values shown rise at an ever-increasing rate. For instance, the sequence goes from 0 to 5 in 5 steps, but it only takes 3 more steps to reach 21. Every time a player loses a spin in the Fibonacci Betting system, they move forward in the sequence, making this a negative progression system.
How it works
The Fibonacci betting system needs participants to choose a unit value before they play, just like many of the other betting systems we've discussed. Since this is a slightly more complicated system, we'll say that the unit value in this example is $1 for the sake of clarity. Because you cannot wager $0, the initial step in the series, 0, will demand a $1 stake. In the event that you lose, you go on to the following value in the series, which is $1. If you lose once more, you proceed through the procedure once again and make your gamble $2 (2 x $1). If you lose once more, you make your wager $3, $5, and finally $8.
In the Fibonacci system, you move two numbers backwards in the sequence if you win the hand, as opposed to other systems where you would go back to the beginning. As a result, if you win an $8 stake, you will advance two steps in the sequence and then place a $3 bet.
The Fibonacci system's objective is to maximise winning spins and lessen the effect of losses on your bankroll.
Why Roulette Betting Strategies Don’t Work
There is no way to maximise your odds when playing casino games, other than playing optimally ( such as avoiding rookie mistakes and making "sucker" wagers), but you can't raise them over the RTP (return to player) figure. The adage "the house always wins" is accurate since a game's RTP is never 100%; the remaining portion is known as the house edge.
You may have seen websites that offer a "sure-fire" technique to win, and you should avoid anything that makes such a claim because, in actuality, it is impossible to forecast the results of any casino game. Since casino games are based only on chance, neither the player nor the casino can forecast results.
Some players find betting systems to be helpful tools for managing their bankroll, keeping tabs on their expenses or results, or just experimenting with alternative betting strategies. However, the truth still stands that you can play roulette and win without using a betting strategy.
Our Three Top Tips
You don’t need to use complex betting systems or metrics in order to have fun playing roulette. Instead, keep our three top tips in mind:
- Always Game Responsibly: Playing casino games safely requires adhering to responsible gaming guidelines. Before you start playing roulette, determine your spending limit and desired playing duration. If you begin to feel your mood sour, or you begin to chase losses, end the session early. In order to avoid blowing through any winnings, you should also set a win limit for yourself.
- Betting Methods Are Not Required: Some players prefer to utilise betting systems because they find it easier to manage their bankroll or because they wish to play baccarat in a different way. Recall that you can have fun and achieve good outcomes without using a betting system.
- Have Fun!: Among our advice, this one is the most important. Playing games like roulette at an online casino should be fun. There are loads of great roulette variants to explore at SpinGenie so why not test a few out and see which suits you best? To start, you could test out the following:
- Auto Roulette - This live roulette variant uses an automated roulette wheel to ensure swift and engaging real-time roulette gameplay streamed in HD to your chosen device 24/7.
- First Person Roulette - Designed to immerse you like never before, First Person Roulette places the camera where the player would sit, meaning players experience the game from a more immersive first-person perspective.
- XXXTreme Lightning Roulette - An amped-up version of Evolution’s smash hit game Lightning Roulette, XXXtreme Lightning Roulette adds random high-value multipliers to segments of the wheel which change with each spin.
An Important Disclaimer
It might be fun to use betting techniques, but it's easy to become caught up in the action or overconfident since you believe you can beat the casino by adopting that tactic. The following important information should be known when playing casino games like roulette:
- You may feel more in control or like you're "beating the system" when you use a betting strategy. However, it is impossible to forecast results or have a 100% success rate when playing roulette or any other casino game because they are all games of chance.
- The house always has the edge. This is why the house-edge statistic was developed. The "house edge," which is expressed as a percentage, is the advantage the casino has over the gambler. The "return to player," or RTP, is the remaining percentage. Although there are ways to lessen the house edge, such as choosing a game with better RTP statistics, the house edge cannot be decreased below the stated value.
- Betting strategies, such as keeping track of expenses, managing bankrolls, comprehending RTP and ideal bets, and so on, are beneficial for players who wish to delve deeper into the more technical aspects of the game but are not required to play. It is entirely up to you whether or not to use one.
- Always game responsibly. This should be the cornerstone of your entire gaming experience because it represents the pinnacle of safe casino gameplay. Establish boundaries for your session in terms of time and money, avoid chasing losses, and end it early if you're not having fun. See the links about ethical gaming at the bottom of each page on our website for additional details and resources.
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