Roulette Strategy

Roulette Advice and Strategies

Roulette Strategies often center on betting patterns. One common roulette strategy is to bet a group of numbers that are connected on the roulette wheel, perhaps in the hope that the wheel is out of balance and the steel ball is likely to land on one of those numbers. Another strategy I've seen new roulette players play is to bet two of the three columns. In fact, roulette strategies come in all shapes and sizes.

Basic Roulette Strategies

The only problem is, no roulette betting patterns work. If you want my roulette tips, the first one is to avoid roulette strategies that claim to help you win. Casinos have a house edge at roulette. That house edge states that players are playing at a small but significant competitive disadvantage. No matter how you arrange your bets on the roulette table layout, you're not going to have an edge over the casino.

Of course, roulette chip patterns are probably not the roulette betting strategy used most often. The roulette strategies you'll read about the most are the progressive betting strategies for roulette.

Roulette Strategies - Progressive Bets

Roulette Strategy Roulette advice often centers around Martingale betting techniques and other such progressive bet methods. In the Martingale system, players start with a standard roulette bet level, then double that bet after every loss. Imagine you lose $5 on your first roulette bet. The strategy is you bet $10 on the second bet. If you win the bet, you not only win back your lost $5, but also $5 more. So the Martingale betting systems is "sure to win your money back".

Not so, actually. The problem with progressive betting systems (or bets that increase or get progressively larger) is that doubling a number gets into exponential increases, which means your bets can increase dramatically in only a few losing bet. You go from 5 dollar to 10 dollar to $20, $40, $80, $160 and $320 bets in only 7 losing spins. Now, I'm assuming that players starting at $5 bets probably aren't comfortable with $40 or $80 bets, much less $320 zingers.

So if the Martingale System sounds good to you, keep in mind that it dictates pretty large bets after you lose 4 spins in a row. If you've played roulette even once, you'll know that players go 3-4 spins all the time without winning even a 50-50 bet. So if you're looking for roulette strategy, avoid the Martingale and other progressive betting schemes.

Double-Zero Roulette Strategy

Most American roulette players are going to be playing "American roulette". The distinction between American and European roulette is that the roulette wheel in America (most places outside of Atlantic City) uses a second "zero" slot. In European roulette, you'll see the numbers 1 through 36 and a "0" slot. In American roulette, you'll see the numbers 1 through 36 and both the "0" and the "00" platform on the wheel.

So American roulette has one extra slot on the wheel, meaning there's one extra chance every spin that you'll lose your bet. This means American roulette has fairly bad odds compared to many other casino games. The house edge on most bets is set at 5.26%, so you're likely to have $94.74 of every $100 you bet at the roulette table. No roulette strategy is likely to wipe out a house edge of over 5%. So don't expect roulette strategies you read about on the internet or in a roulette book to make you profitable at roulette.

Why Play Roulette?

Roulette is easy to learn. The game plays at a fairly slow pace. One reason the house edge is so high is that a spin typically takes a little longer to play than a hand of blackjack. So players can relax and savor a game of roulette. Besides, roulette is one of the coolest games to watch in the casino, because of the spinning roulette wheel and the action of the roulette ball.

In other words, play roulette for the sake of entertainment. Play roulette because you enjoy the game -- not because you expect to profit from it. Sure, gambling is about risking your stack of money for the chance at winning a bigger stack of money. Having a stake in every spin of the wheel the big reason to play roulette. But consider the money you win or lose at the roulette wheel to be your entertainment dollar -- more akin to the money spent to watch a concert, a movie or a football game than it is an investment.

That being said, roulette (and all casino games) are different from a concert in that you can walk away with more money than you started with. So enjoy your winning roulette sessions, but don't expect roulette strategies to ensure winning roulette sessions.

Do Any Roulette Strategies Work?

Consider using loss limits and win goals to stretch your money -- and therefore your playing time -- at the roulette wheel. A "loss limit" means you walk away from the roulette wheel when you lose a pre-determined amount of money. A "win goal" means you walk away when you win a predetermined amount of money.

Either of these money management techniques save you money in most cases. For instance, it assures you walk away with extra money in your pocket, instead of betting (and losing) all your winnings on the next spin. It also makes sure you don't get hot-headed and bet your entire bankroll trying to win back the money you lost.

Sure, you can come back later and try your "roulette strategies" again. But you do so after a cooling off period, when you're likely to use a little bit better sense in your betting patterns. Also, even if you end up losing more money, you stretched out your bankroll to last you more of the day, instead of wasting it all in your first hour of the casino.

That's about it when it comes to winning roulette strategies. There is no "magical roulette strategy" that assures you win.

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