5 Roulette Strategies You Need to Know

Roulette may seem like a pretty random game, but there’s a surprising depth to the strategies you can employ to improve your chances of winning. There’s a lot more to it than simply choosing 50/50 tossup bets like red or black, even or odd, and then hoping for the best. Instead of focusing on which wagers to make, there’s actually a metagame you can play around sizes and sequences.

Invented by serious mathematicians, these betting systems have long been popular among serious gamblers for the potential they offer to beat the house and minimize downside risk when making bets at the online roulette table.

The Most Famous Roulette Betting System: The Martingale

The Martingale betting system was popularized in 18^th Century France, and it is built around a simple idea: when you lose a wager, you bet double the amount for your next wager. You do this each time you lose, doubling over and over until you inevitably have a good round, which allows you to recoup all previous losses, along with a bit of profit.

For example, let’s say you start at $10, and you lose. You will double your amount to $20 and wager once more on red in the next round. If you lose again, you should now bet $40. If you lose yet again, you will go to $80. And now, when you finally succeed, you’ll get an $80 prize. This is more than enough to cover the $10, $20, and $40 losses from before. The total loss to that point was -$70. The $80 prize covers this and adds another $10 for you. Now you can go back to the original wager and start again.

The Martingale downside?

The bet can get big fast when you’re doubling over and over. If the $80 wager had lost, and the streak stayed cold (unlikely, but possible), the next ones would be $160, $320, and $640. Not only could this exceed a table maximum in a casino, you might not have this much cash on you. So, there’s a bit of planning that goes into putting the Martingale to work. The reason everyone doesn’t do it is because of the risk of numbers escalating out of control.

Leveraging a Mathematical Classic: The Fibonacci

The classic Fibonacci sequence looks like this: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13. ). The sequence is one of the building blocks of the natural world and occurs in a wide variety of biological contexts, like flower petal numbering and shell construction ratios. To continue the sequence, all you need to do is add the previous two numbers. So, the next number would be 21 (8+13).

Why is it useful in a casino?

To execute the Fibonacci roulette method, if you lose, you move to the next number in sequence. For example, if you start at $10 and bet on even, a losing bet would lead to a second bet of $10. A third loss would lead to a wager of $20. A fourth loss would bring your wager to $30. A win would bring it back two steps. The goal is to recover losses more gradually than with the Martingale. It’s a balanced approach and not too aggressive. It also avoids the risk of huge wagers.

Incremental Changes: The d’Alembert

This is yet another helpful roulette betting system from a French thinker. In the d’Alembert roulette system, players increase their wagers by a single unit after a loss and decrease by the same amount after a win.

For example, let’s say you start at $10 and lose your first bet. Your next one would only increase by $1 to $11. If you had another loss, it should go to $12. If you were to succeed with that one, you’d go back down to $11, and back to $10 after another winning round.

This entry on the list of roulette betting methods is simple and controlled. There’s really no complicated math the wagers are totally manageable. You never see an amount that is eye-popping. For that reason, this is often thought of as the most conservative of the betting systems. If you’re less of a thrill-seeker and more of a careful gambler who likes stable nights out, this is a solid choice from this list.

A Strategic Approach: The Labouchere System

For this method, you’ll need to plan things out. First, write out numbers that add up to your target win amount. Want to get $100? Your numbers would be $10, $20, $30, and $40. Now, your first bet in the Labouchere system (aka the “cancellation system”) is the sum of the first and last numbers: $50.

If you win, you cross off those two amounts. If you lose, you add that number to the end of the list. Let’s analyze a good scenario, first. Your initial bet would be $50. If it works out, your next would be $50 also. If that goes well, you’re at your target.

But what if you lose at the beginning? Well, now $50 goes to the end of the sequence. The next wager is $60: $10, $20, $30, $40, $50. A win then crosses out the $10 and $50. The next bet after that would be $60 as well ($20+$40). Succeed and you’ll see a final wager of $30. If it goes well, the sequence is over. If not, $30 is added to the end, and the next amount to put down is $60.

This roulette system is flexible, and engaging as you move toward the goal. It really feels like you’re getting into a strategy as you go along, and it ultimately leads to a positive result if followed. The risks are similar to other systems, however, as losing streaks can require a sizable bankroll to enable a player to survive a bad swing.

Staying Hot: The Paroli

The Paroli is all about riding winning streaks. It requires players to double the wager after a good round, and then double again after a second one. This then leads to a reset to bank the gains. The plan is to rack up three Ws, then reset. It’s a very simple strategy to execute.

The Paroli is great for limiting losses. You never have to double down on bad times, as you don’t have to increase your bet size after a loss. Also, the math is not complicated. The plan is:

Win, double, repeat, reset.

This is a favorite for people who want to keep the good times rolling.

Still need some help? Check out our Roulette video guide:

Spin the Wheel

Ready to try out a system? Give European Roulette a shot and avoid the 00 stop on the Americanized wheel, which increases the house edge.