Best Strategy: How to Win in Roulette?

The most iconic casino game of all time is definitely roulette, a well-known table game even among people who don’t gamble. This guide will introduce the best and most interesting strategies famous players and mathematicians have developed and used themselves over time.

Roulette has a surprisingly long history with strong roots in the 15th century France. The game was first introduced by French Blaise Pascal and the name is quite self explanatory, a small wheel. There is a wheel indeed with 37 numbered pockets and it is players’ task to bet in which of these pockets a small white ball lands in the end. If the player’s guess is right, he will be rewarded multiple times depending on where and how he wagered.

When the game arrived in America they made a small adjustment into it by adding another number, the double-0 in order to gain better house edge and increase their profits. For this particular reason the return-to-player percentage is only a bit under 95% in the American Roulette compared to almost 98% RTP in French Roulette. It might be needless to say but one should always avoid the star-spangled version if possible.

That’s about enough background for our main topic so now it is time to move on and take a look what are the top strategies for Roulette.

The Martingale Strategy

We’ll go first with the most famous strategy of them all called The Martingale, which actually is a collection similar ways of play for various games. It is quite easy to execute as the main idea is to always double your bet after a loss in order to cover the loss and make some profit with the play. To make this work one should only wager on fields with 2 possible outcomes i.e. red or black or 1-18 or 19-36.

For example if you bet 10 units and you lose, the next bet should be 20 units. If you win your second play you’ll end up with +10 units in profit as you’ve wagered 30 but won 40 units.

Only downsize of the Martingale is limited budget as if you end up in a really cold run you might have to wager absurd amounts of money to double your bet time after time. If you lose 8 times in a row your 9th bet should be 256-times your original bet and there is still the same chance you’ll lose and have double again.

Always place your bet in the same spot and never increase the amount of your wager when you win but always double it after you lose. It is simple as that!

James Bond Strategy

Believe it or not but secret agent 007 does have his own roulette strategy that was created by author Ian Fleming and was seen in one of his world famous books. The specialty is that if you’re gonna go full James Bond, you need to bet 200 units every round.

The strategy itself is quite unorthodox and interesting as are the advetures of 007. To achieve the ultimate license to thrill at the roulette table, you should place 140 units on either colours or 1-18 and 19-36 categories. Then you’ll put 50 units directly on numbers 13-18 and finally put 10 units on 0 just to get you covered.

If your minefield is succesful, you’ll be rewarded 280 units (140+140) for large numbers, 300 units for 13-18 hits (50+250) and 360 units with 0 (10+350). When the ball drops on 1-12 you should replace the bet but replicate the Martingale strategy and double your bet.

Yet again there is a great risk that your wallet will get dry before you can cover your losses by doubling if there is a long streak of 1-12 numbers.

Fibonacci Strategy

You might have heard the name Fibonacci before as this Italian mathematician developed one of the most known theories of his field called the Fibonacci Sequence. This is a formula where the following number is based on the sum of two previous figures, for example 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so on.

This golden ratio sequence has been applied also to Roulette as a basic rule for controlling your wagering. By using Fibonacci the player has a chance to make some profit even if there are more losing than winning bets.

The strategy also relies on that the player makes 50/50 bets i.e. black or red and so on and always increases the wager after a loss and decreases their bet after a win. But in this case one should follow the Fibonacci numbers and after losing goes one step up and two steps down after a win.

Here is an example:

1. 1 unit – loss –1
2. 1 unit – loss –2
3. 2 units – loss –4
4. 3 units – loss –7
5. 5 units – loss –12
6. 8 units - win –4
7. 3 units – loss –7
8. 5 units – win –2
9. 2 units – win +0
10. 1 unit – win +1

As you can see from the example run of 10 hands there were 6 losing rounds and only 4 winning rounds but you’d still end up on +1. Compared to the Martingale the budget does not get out of hands so fast. However you should still be aware that even after a losing streak of 10 games will force you to wager 89 times your original bet. Well, that’s alot but not as bad as the Martingale where your 11th bet would need to be 512 times your original bet.

Reverse Martingale

There is also a so called Reverse Martingale which works like the original but instead of doubling your bet after loss you’ll be doing the very same thing every time after you win. Other than that the strategy works just like the normal Martingale.

The idea behind this strategy is that you’re able to capitalise on hot streaks and on the other hand when it turns cold you can minimise your losses. Normally you would double after a loss but in the reverse strategy you’ll always keep losing your basic bet in the long run and the larger damage comes after a winning round meaning this strategy is way more sustainable for your wallet

D’Alembert Strategy

Our last strategy is also something with French heritage called the D’Alembert, which is the low risk choice and the most simple of them all we’d say. It is extremely simple carry out as you always increase your wager by one unit after a loss and decrease it by one unit after a win.

As all the previous ones you should place your bets only on 50/50 fields such as small or large numbers and red or black. Everytime you lose, add 1 unit next time and when you win go back to your basic bet. If you start losing more hands in the beginning, increase your bets and get off the table when you break even. If you start winning more than you lose, you should walk of the table when you have had as many winning and losing rounds and still make some profit.

In the long run it might be tricky to stay aware of how many games you have won or lost and honestly the winnings are always quite small with this strategy. Example of the strategy would be lose-lose-win-win meaning if you start with 10 units you would have –10-11+12+11 = +2 units.

Remember to check out the best tips for Blackjack Strategy as well!