Roulette is an indispensable attribute of any casino, which allows you to both win incredible amounts and completely go broke. To avoid the latter and not be left without profit, many betting strategies for playing roulette have been developed. Mathematicians had a hand to some of them, in others were developed and formulated by experienced players, but they all have one thing in common – with their help it is impossible to immediately hit the jackpot. Also, none of them protects one hundred percent against loss, since the result of all gambling depends on luck. All experienced players, as one, declare: “The win-win roulette strategy is not to play at all.” But this does not prevent them from taking risks again and again and, oddly enough, winning.
Roulette strategies can be divided into mathematically sound ones, based on calculations and wise spending of funds, and false ones. The latter are either based on superstition (for example, the advice to bet on seven), or are a clever way to make money off gullible newbies. Various stories about a win-win roulette bet, the secret of which is supposedly sold by an experienced player for a certain amount, are excellent examples of the latter. All really working techniques have been widely known for a long time.
Most of the strategies that work only apply to European roulette, which is recommended by many experienced players. It should be preferred to the American one because of the half the house edge, which means a slightly increased chance of winning. In terms of numbers, for the European variety this figure is 2.63%, and for the American one – 5.26%.
Roulette betting systems
Most of the methods by which you can make a profit from the game is to spend money wisely. Others are exactly how to place roulette bets. In it, you can simultaneously bet on several fields, which should not be neglected, given the different chances for each sector. Over the years of the game’s existence, many systems of distribution of funds have been developed that really allow you to win.
One of the most interesting is the so-called devilish strategy, which consists in the competent distribution of $66 for each spin. It is suitable for players with an impressive reserve of money, as it provides a relatively small, but almost guaranteed, profit. The bottom line is this: $36 is bet on red, where the probability of winning is 50 percent, and the remaining chips are distributed so as to cover the maximum quantity of numbers. Then there are only three unoccupied fields, which ensures minimal risk for the player. The best way to do it is:
– four dollars – for pairs of numbers 0/2, 8/11, 10/13, 17/20, 26/29 and 28/31, for a total of $24;
– the rest of the chips for a sequence of any three free numbers.
This is one of the most profitable roulette betting principles, in which you can only lose in three cases, in the rest – six dollars in profit. Therefore, not superstitious people who are not embarrassed by the combination of three sixes actively use it. True, it also has a significant drawback: you need to win at least 11 times in a row to make a profit, therefore this strategy is more suitable for playing online roulette.
In real gambling establishments in roulette, the principle of doubling the bet, also known as the Martingale strategy, is more popular. This is a rather controversial system, because, firstly, it requires an impressive stock of chips, and secondly, it does not provide a large profit. Its essence is quite simple: with each loss the amount doubles. Oddly enough, this helps both recoup the previous costs and win.
It is explained very simply. Let’s say that one dollar is placed on red, in case of winning, the bet is repeated, in case of loss – 2 is already bet. If we loses again – four, and so on, say, up to eight. In this case, we gets sixteen dollars, which can be decomposed as:
1 + 2 + 4 + 8 = 15 – bet funds;
16-15 = 1 – profit.
But it should be borne in mind that its mathematical justification is effective only for an infinite supply of money, so you should not take on it without being able to play for high stakes. In addition, it works best in online roulette with no bet limits, because in practice the amounts easily reach three-digit numbers.
The opposite principle is also popular – Anti-Martingale or Parlay system. It is perfect for online roulette with minimal stakes, as it needs to be limited to be effective. It looks like this: in case of a win, the bet is doubled up to a certain stage, usually no more than five doublings take place. When it reaches the top line, the circle starts over. This is perhaps the best roulette strategy for beginners, because it does not need complicated calculations and guarantees, if not success, then at least the safety of most of the funds.
Successful bet allocation
In addition to distributing chips across the field, you can also resort to their competent consumption. If you combine bet counting with correct distribution, you can achieve good results. Therefore, before starting a serious game, it is worth understanding not only how to bet on roulette, but also how much.
It is worthwhile to immediately make a reservation about some points, without understanding which it makes no sense to go to a gambling house or enter an online casino. A successful outcome of any gambling game has a probability of less than 50%, that is, the player is more likely to lose than win, in terms of numbers. In fact, this means that there is a certain value that can be used to calculate the amount to be bet. However, it should be borne in mind that in real casinos the use of any roulette strategies is suppressed, therefore it is worth adopting them for online games.
Kelly criterion
One of the most effective ways to manage casino finances is the Optimal Growth Strategy or Kelly Criterion. It was developed in the mid-fifties of the last century for exchange and betting players, but quickly found application in other areas of activity, from investments to poker. Its essence lies in calculating the optimal investment depending on the probability of a favorable outcome of the event and the size of the potential profit. In combination with winning strategies, it will not allow you to quickly lose at roulette in a cese of an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, therefore it should be adopted by all players who prefer to take risks at a minimum.
The whole essence of the Kelly criterion lies in one formula – (K * P – 1 / K – 1) * B, where K is the number by which the rate is multiplied in case of a victory; P is the probability of an event; B – bank, that is, all available funds. In order to more accurately understand what is hidden behind the formula, it is better to disassemble it with an example.
Let’s say a player has 1000 dollars and wants to place a bet on zero, which in roulette has the lowest probability – 0.0270 – and the highest coefficient – 35. Hence we have: (35 * 0.0270 – 1 / 35-1) * 1000 = 1.62. That is, it is rational – taking into account rounding – to bet two dollars, although the possible winnings will be seventy. As elsewhere, the lower the likelihood of the expected event, the higher the odds, because the profitable bet sizes will fluctuate greatly.
Roulette is an indispensable attribute of any casino, which allows you to both win incredible amounts and completely go broke. To avoid the latter and not be left without profit, many betting strategies for playing roulette have been developed. Mathematicians had a hand to some of them.