Roulette Strategies – Tried and Tested Systems to Help You Lower the House Edge

Last updated: 22.09.2021 by Chris Mwangi

The majority of the players who frequent brick-and-mortar casinos are card counters. However, when you choose to play at online casinos, you won’t find card counting easy. It’s possible, but on very rare occasions. This is because online casino games use state-of-the-art card-shuffling machines to deal their cards. If you are a big fan of playing roulette, you’ll be heartbroken to know that casinos use random number generators to determine the outcome of each spin of the game wheel.

But all hope is not lost, because there are several strategies that can help you lower the house edge significantly. However, for the strategy to be effective, you need to stick to all the advice set out below.

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Strategies rating Progressive Strategies Non-progressive Tips to win

Strategy Ratings

At its heart, roulette is a game that relies greatly on chance. But more than four centuries after the first version of the game was created by French scholar Blaise Pascal, several strategies have been formulated to give the player an edge over the house. A number of successful players in the past have attributed their success to using some of these strategies to land their big wins. And while some of these strategies are legal to use, others aren’t. At Roulette 77, we’ve tried and tested several of them on various games and the following list shows them in order of effectiveness:

#

Top strategies

1

Martingale

2

Paroli (reverse Martingale)

3

4

5

6

7

Progressive Strategies

The majority of the strategies listed above are classed as progressive strategies. They are referred to as ‘progressives’, as they require you to lower or raise your bet depending on the result of the previous one.

‘Progressive’ is a blanket term that refers to several types of strategy. There are two subcategories: negative and positive progressive strategies. Negative strategies call for you to increase your bet after losing, while in positive strategies you increase your bet after winning.

Martingale strategy

The working principle of the Martingale betting strategy is simple and straightforward. During your roulette game, place your bet, select your preferred option, and wait for the spin of the wheel. If you lose the bet, the Martingale betting strategy dictates that you double the next one. If you lose again, you are required to double the bet again. You continue in this way until you win your bet.

The win that you achieve after placing several bets will match the original bet that you placed. Furthermore, with the win, you will have recovered all your losses. After landing the win, you can start all over again.

A good example of the Martingale strategy in action is as follows:

You wager £1 on your first bet – result, lose
According to Martingale, you need to bet £2 on your second bet – result, lose
You are required to double your bet and see if you can win, so you wager £4 – result lose
On the fourth bet, you are required to double the third bet, so you wager £8 – result win

When you do your calculations, you realize that in winning the £8 bet, you have emerged with a £1 profit, i.e., £8 – (£1 + £2 + £4) = £1

Advantages

Offers you a high possibility of achieving a win within a short period of time, assuming that your first bet is low
Compensates for all the losses that you incur during gameplay

Disadvantages

In some instances, it can result in massive losses, especially in the long run
You can easily reach the maximum limit allowed for betting on roulette and fail to recover your funds

The Martingale betting strategy is very effective, and perfect for players who have a loss limit of about 8-10 bets. Furthermore, it’s worth mentioning that it’s very effective with even-money bets, i.e., colour bets, odd/even bets, and group-of-numbers bets. In addition to wagering on even-money bets, you need to ensure that you stay on the same bet for every wager you make, in order to successfully make a profit, i.e., if you wager on red, all the subsequent bets also need to be on red.

Reverse Martingale Strategy

Most players who have used any roulette strategies see the Reverse Martingale betting strategy as a better version of the Martingale, offering less risk. While the original Martingale strategy dictates that you double your bet with every loss incurred, until you’ve landed your win, the Reverse Martingale dictates that you only double your bet when you’ve achieved a win. The main objective of this is to secure a three-win streak. If your bet is lost, the three-bet progression is lost, while achieving a win represents the beginning of a potential streak.

Also referred to as the Paroli betting strategy, the Reverse Martingale offers you a few advantages. For instance, you don’t spend as much cash on this roulette strategy, as you are most likely going to bet the minimum. Furthermore, when you double your bet, you’ll be using the casino’s cash to your advantage. And if you are lucky enough to land successive wins, you will see your profits quickly soar.

D'Alembert Strategy

French scholars had a thing for playing roulette games, perhaps because the game had its roots in the country. Besides Blaise Pascal, there’s also a renowned French mathematician, Jean Le-Rond D’Alembert, who rose to fame in the 18th century. He is known for studying and deriving several mathematical formulas from Newton’s theories.

However, in the gambling field, we remember him best for developing the D’Alembert roulette system. This is a simple and straightforward strategy that requires you to follow only one rule: up your bet by one unit after a loss, and lower it by one unit after a win. Easy as that!

Below is a quick example of how the D’Alembert system works:

You bet £20 – result, lose
Next bet, you are required to bet £21 – result, lose
Next bet, you are required to bet £22 – result, win
Next bet, you are required to bet £21 – result win

In our case example, you have wagered four bets, in the process winning two and losing two. If you add up the stakes involved, you’ll find that you have a profit of £2. And this is how the D’Alembert betting system works. Once you equal the number of wins and losses, you’ll be in profit by this same amount.

Advantages

You require a relatively low bankroll to use the D’Alembert betting system
When using this method, the probability of hitting the table limit is low

Disadvantages

As a low-risk system, the chances of winning are low.

This is a great strategy for any player looking to increase the probability of a rewarding session, as well as offering them the ability to adjust the risk themselves by decreasing or increasing the numbers in the sequence.

Labouchère Strategy

The Labouchère betting system goes by several names online. Some people refer to it as the cancelation system, while others call it the Split Martingale system. Irrespective of what you prefer to call it, one fact remains clear: the Labouchère betting system is best used with even-money bets. These include bets placed on black or red, even or odd, as well as the group bets, 1-18 and 19-36.

So, how exactly does it work? Below is a quick breakdown:

You determine your starting bankroll.
You write down a sequence of numbers that adds up to the amount you intend to win.
Wager according to bets that are equivalent to the first and last number in your sequence.
In case of win cross out first and last numbers
In case of lose add the amount of the bet to the right and left end of sequence
The whole procedure is repeated for wins or losses, until you’ve canceled out all the numbers in the sequence. by betting of sum of first and last number

Advantages

Having tried and tested it, you only require 33% of the bets to be won to lock in a profit. The exact number is 33% + 2 bets
It’s a flexible betting system, as you get to choose how to organize your sequence

Disadvantages

You’ll need a huge bankroll to make a profit

The Fibonacci Strategy

Named after a renowned Italian mathematician, the Fibonacci system has several real-life use scenarios. However, the reason we are focusing on it today is its application to roulette gaming. Before we can go deeply into the mechanics, let’s look at the Fibonacci formula:

N3 = N1+N2

When we apply the formula, we come up with a sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…, and so on. When you start with 0 and 1, you get the next number in the sequence by adding the previous two numbers. This goes on until you have a complete sequence that fits your requirements.

The following is a good example of the Fibonacci system in action:

You choose a sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…
Therefore, your first bet will be £1
The next bet will be £ (0+1) = £1 – result, lose
According to the Fibonacci betting method, your next bet will be £ (1+2) = £3 – result, lose
The next wager will be £ (2+3) = £5 – result, lose
The next wager will be £ (3+5) = £8 – result, lose
The next wager will be £ (5+8) = £13 – result, win
The Fibonacci system dictates that you now move back two steps, so the next bet will be £5. From here, you continue with the sequence.
If your £5 bet wins, the next bet will be two steps back, to £1

Advantages

If you have a hefty bankroll and wager on even-money bets, you are assured of making a kill from the Fibonacci system
The most aggressive and positive form of positive progressive betting system
Easy to execute

Disadvantages

You’ll need a hefty bankroll to sustain a long losing streak

All in all, using the Fibonacci betting system requires you to have patience and a huge bankroll that will cushion you against any potential losses, something that’s typical of any negative progression system. Discipline and patience are the virtues that you need here, as you are most likely going to amass some losses before landing the first important big win.

Non-progressive Betting Strategy

In contrast to the progressive strategies, we have non-progressive betting strategies. Sometimes referred to as flat roulette betting strategies, they require that you bet the same amount of money over and over and over again, regardless of the outcome. As a result, this form of betting is best for those who are in it for the short term, as you are expected to lose to the house in the long run, and especially after reaching the limit.

As you play roulette online, there are two common forms of non-progressive betting strategies that you’ll come across. They include:

James Bond strategy
Biased Wheel strategy

James Bond Strategy

The James Bond roulette strategy can only be described at best as risk-cutting. It’s a tactic that involves spreading all your bets around the table. Most people at casinos use it as a flat betting system. When you choose to use this system, you need to bet the same amount of money in every round, trusting and hoping that the odds alone will pay off. There are several variations of the James Bond strategy but the most popular one, assuming you are wagering £20 for each round is:

£14 on numbers from 1 to 18 – represents 70% of the total bet
£5 on numbers from 19 to 24 – represents 25% of the total bet
£1 on zero – Represents 5% of the total bet

Take note that none of the listed bets overlap and any wins that you land will automatically result in a profit. As a matter of fact, you’ll only lose your bet when a number in the last third of the roulette board shows up. This means that you have a 2/3 chance of winning on every round. The only big disadvantage of using the James Bond strategy is that when it loses, it loses big.

Biased Wheel Strategy

The Biased Wheel roulette betting technique works best when betting on a real mechanical wheel, especially on those that have become old and have developed physical imperfections. This makes it the best strategy to use when playing live dealer roulette at online casinos.

So how does it work? Simple, you have to identify a specific number or group of numbers on the wheel and track them over a number of spins. If you are observant enough, you’ll soon realize that there’s a pattern forming, over say, 50 or 100 spins.

The same number doesn’t always have to come up. Instead, a set of adjacent numbers in a particular section of the roulette wheel may start to dominate the results. This indicates a bias in the wheel.

Other Tips on How to Win as You Play Online Roulette

Besides these strategies, there are several basic tips that you should observe as you play roulette, in order to boost your winning chances. These tips work in tandem with the strategies above.

Advice №1 If you are a novice player, it’s important that you master all the basics of the roulette game. Master the different types of bet, how to place these bets and their respective payouts. In order to do this, you can always play the game through the demo version at recommended casinos online
Advice №2 When playing roulette online, it’s highly recommended that you place outside bets. Some may argue that the payouts from these bets aren’t as massive, which is true. However, the chances of winning with these bets, as compared to the straight or inside bets, are more favorable
Advice №3 Always go for the European version, rather than the American version. Why? The European version has 37 pockets, while the American version has 38. This difference arises due to the double zeroes in the American wheel, which are lacking in the European. Because of this ‘minor’ difference, the American version has a higher house edge than the European, being almost double.
Advice №4 Lastly, and most importantly, you need to choose an online casino that has a stellar reputation for offering safe, secure and fair services. You don’t want to sign up at an online casino that has altered the random number generator in its favor. And at Roulette 77, you can count on us to point you to the right casinos.

Conclusion

You are now familiar with the basics of roulette and the odds involved. And perhaps, for the first time, you have all the strategies that you require to lower the house edge. Do you feel lucky enough to take on the casino now? It’s not an easy task but you can give it a try at a recommended online casino, and see how lucky you are!