A true casino classic, roulette is a fast-paced casino game that has captivated players since its origins in the 18th century. Featuring the iconic roulette wheel, you can place multiple bets in roulette, such as betting on red or black, single or multiple numbers from 0/00 - 36, and even or odds. You can even bet on all of them if you want to, but we don’t recommend you to do so.
While significant wins can be achieved in a short time, losses are equally possible. If you want to have the best chance to win, especially when real money is involved, take a look at these 5 playing strategies for roulette games.
#1: Martingale Roulette Strategy
The Martingale strategy is undoubtedly the best-known roulette strategy system. Known as the progressive betting strategy, due to the fact that bet sizes increase, it can win you money in theory. But the problem is casinos operate in reality, not in theory.
The logic is flawless: bet a single unit on a 50-50 proposition each time. Let’s say you bet $10 on red. Every time you lose, double the bet of your previous losses until you get your money back, plus one unit of profit.
For instance, let’s say you lose three times before you win on the fourth spin. It would progress like so:
| Bet Number | Wager | Profit | Running Win/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10 | $0 | -$10 |
| 2 | $20 | $0 | -$30 |
| 3 | $40 | $0 | -$70 |
| 4 | $80 | $80 | +$10 |
So in theory, you will always win one unit stake at the end of every run. The trouble is, casinos impose an upper limit on your bet size. Eventually, you’ll encounter a losing streak for so long that you won’t be able to double anymore and will find yourself out of pocket. It’s important to make use of a stop-loss limit when playing roulette games with the Martingale system.
2 - Reverse Martingale Roulette Strategy
As the name implies, this is just the Martingale strategy but inverted. So, instead of doubling the stake after a loss, with Reverse Martingale, you double after a win. This helps you to make money playing roulette whenever you get on a winning streak.
Let’s look at an example where the player wins their first three spins and loses the fourth. As before, they are betting $10 on red.
| Bet Number | Wager | Profit | Running Win/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10 | $10 | +$10 |
| 2 | $20 | $20 | +$30 |
| 3 | $40 | $40 | +$70 |
| 4 | $80 | $0 | -$10 |
In this Reverse Martingale, you can see that the player has only lost $10 despite the stakes rising pretty high, pretty quickly. They could have walked away after the third spin with an extremely healthy profit. The Reverse Martingale strategy for roulette can put you in some big winning positions.
D’Alembert Roulette Strategy
If you’re seeking less volatile strategies for roulette, the D’Alembert system is a great option. It is also a progressive betting system like Martingale, but the values only increase by one with each loss, rather than doubling.
Whenever you win, the wager decreases again, until you reach your initial bet. If you are winning with your single unit stake, continue betting at that size.
Let’s take an example of an eight spin long sequence:
| Bet Number | Wager | Result | Running Win/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Win | +$1 |
| 2 | $1 | Loss | $0 |
| 3 | $2 | Loss | -$2 |
| 4 | $3 | Win | +$1 |
| 5 | $2 | Loss | -$1 |
| 6 | $3 | Win | +$2 |
| 7 | $2 | Win | +$4 |
| 8 | $1 | Loss | +$3 |
As you can see, even though there was a 50% split of wins and losses, this player walked away with a profit thanks to the D’Alembert roulette system.
#4 - James Bond Roulette Strategy
Ian Fleming’s super-cool spy famously liked to hang out at the Casino Royale, sipping his Martinis. He also played some roulette in the book and believed that his unique strategy gave him the best chance to win.
Playing on European roulette tables, of course, he would bet £10 on 0, £140 on 19-36, and £50 on 13-18. If those stakes are too high for you, feel free to reduce the figures to £1, £14, and £5.
The nice thing about the James Bond roulette strategy is that around two-thirds of the time, one of your numbers will land and you’ll pick up some profits. This makes it the perfect system for someone who only intends to play a minimal number of spins.
#5 - Fibonacci Roulette Strategy
This extremely simple roulette betting system is based on the Fibonacci sequence and is used to determine your next stake. Whenever you encounter a losing spin, start at the beginning of the sequence. Whenever you win, move along the sequence by one number. Keep doing so until you lose and return to the beginning.
The Fibonacci sequence is as follows:
1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 8 – 13 – 21 – 34 – 55 – 89 – 144 – 233 – 377 – 610 – 987
If you want to cash in on a winning sequence, the Fibonacci roulette system is arguably the best way to do so.
Top 5 Strategies for Roulette: Conclusions
Although other strategies for roulette do exist, these five are the most common and give you the best shot at making some money. But keep in mind that the mathematics of roulette dictate that, the longer you play, the more likely you are to lose. Even if these strategies work, you cannot overcome the house edge in the long term. Be sure to gamble responsibly.
If you want to try these strategies out with online roulette, do so at properly licensed and safe online casino sites. Often, these sites, Natural8 included, offer a wide variety of excellent casino bonuses.
