Roulette Strategy

Using roulette strategy techniques is one of the most effective ways to increase your chances of winning while playing roulette at a casino. While there are many roulette betting systems that are used by players, there are only a few that have proven to be worthwhile in learning the improve your odds at the tables. The problem with roulette strategy is that there is no obvious way to predict the outcome of the game (converse to games like blackjack, which can be beat using card counting). Because of this, the only real option for the player is to use some kind of progressive betting strategy to narrow the house edge and improve their chances of winning. Below is a full description of the best known roulette betting system complete with a full guide to walk you through step by step on how to beat the casino roulette games.

Roulette is a relatively simple and social casino game that involves a one or group of players that place wagers on a series of numbers on the roulette table. The game is controlled by the croupier (or dealer) who is responsible for spinning the roulette ball in the wheel which will determine any potential winners in a round. Below are the basic bets that can be placed in roulette along with the associated payouts for the player:

Single Number - The hardest bet to win, but pays 36-1 if you pick correctly

Two Number Bet - Known as a split bet that pays out 17-1

Three Number Bet - Called a street bet and pays the player 11-1

Four Number Bet - Known as a corner bet and pays a return of 8-1

Six Number Bet - Pays a standard of 5-1 for winning bets

Dozen Or Column Bet - Pays 2-1 in any combination

Colour Bet, Odd/Even Bet, 1-18/19-36 Bet - Easiest bet to win and pays 1-1

As you can see from the image illustration of the left, the table is designed to allow for flexible betting patterns depending on how much of a risk the player is willing to take. While a single number bet will yield a very high payout rate, sticking to safer outside bets is a strategy that most professional players use to ensure they maximize their chances of winning. For full information on tactics, see our roulette strategy section which explains proven ways to bet the roulette tables.

The Martingale Roulette Betting System

One of the most popular roulette betting systems in the world is the Martingale System that combines some simple concepts that you can apply to the game of roulette to increase your chances of winning. Essentially how the Martingale system works is through a series of bet doubling that you use whenever you lose a bet. It is important to note that this system is only to be used on "outside bets" (colours, odd/even, 1-18,19-36). Let's look at a quick example or how this system would be applied in live play to further explain its concepts.

Ex. You place a $5 bet on red and lose, next you would place a $10 bet, $20 bet, $40 bet, $80 bet, $160 bet and so on every time you lose and would simply keep your winnings each time you win while staying at the same level.

The idea behind this system is that by doubling your bet you will recoup your losses from the previous spin along with one extra betting unit that will allow you to consistently win at the tables. Although this strategy is very simple and easy to use, it does have some major limitations that are explained below.

Martingale System Pros: Easy to use system that can work effectively in small betting amounts with a decent amount of luck and no major losing streaks.

Martingale System Cons: The system is not ideal in that you would require a very large bankroll and could easily be limited by betting limits on the table (most tables have $5-$500 limit, meaning to many losses and the system could not be applied anymore as you would reach the max betting limit).

Roulette Cancellation Systems

Another widely used and highly debated roulette betting method is the cancellation system (also known as the D'Alembert or Alembert system) that involves using a series of numbers and the process of elimination to determine your bets and how much you would like to win. This system is a little confusing, so let's just look at an example to better illustrate how to use it during play.

• The player starts out with a goal to win 10 betting units from playing (units can be whatever value you like, but should be in line with your total betting bankroll)
  
• You then write down a series of 1's, each representing a betting unit that you want to win, so your starting series would read 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
  
• To determine how many units you are going to bet, you will always add the first and last number in the series so to start you would take 1+1 which would give you 2 units for your first wager (unit amount up to player)
  
• Let's say that you win the first spin on a colour bet, you now must cross the first and last numbers off the series and then repeat the addition system, so your series will now read 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 (8 1's in total)
  
• So knowing that our next bet is 2 units, let's say that you lose that spin. Now you must add a 2 to the end of your series giving you 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2 and repeat the process
  
• Your next wager will be 1+2, for a total of three units, assuming that you lose you will now need to add a 3 to the series which will read 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3
  
• Your next bet would be 1+3 for a total of 4 units, if you were to win this wager you would cross the first and last number off the series, giving you 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2

As you can see from the description above, the premise of the cancellation roulette system is that by using this series of numbers you will eventually arrive at your desired win (in our example, 10 betting units). Once again as with our previous system, there are both some positives and drawbacks to using this method shown below.

Cancellation System Pros: Using this method you have a decent chance of winning your desired amount of betting units over time but the chances are variable.

Cancellation System Cons: As with the other system above, playing with cancellation system can force you to reach the limits of your bankroll and/or hit table maximum bets (however this is less likely). Basically using cancellation system you will either win your desired bet or go bust depending on the size of your bankroll and your luck.

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