The most common roulette strategies
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Roulette may be a game of chance, but there are a range of strategies and betting systems you can learn and employ to boost your odds, and your enjoyment. If you’re going to play roulette the strategies below will help you do just that.
Players have developed a number of strategies aimed at spreading risks, minimising losses and simply having fun. Click here to view the Coral guide to the Martingale, D’Alembert, Labouchere, Fibonacci and Paroli roulette betting systems.
Responsible gambling
If the fun stops, stop gaming. If you’d like to find out more about gambling responsibly and protecting yourself from problem betting, click here for Coral’s responsible gambling guide.
Basic roulette strategies
These basic strategies are the bread and butter of the roulette world, and a must-learn for all players.
Understand the odds and payouts
By memorising the odds, house edges and payouts in the table below, you’ll be able to make more informed plays, hedge against your losses and better capitalise on your wins.
In the payouts column, 1:1 means you get one chip plus your original bet, 2:1 is two chips plus original bet, and so forth.
Decrease roulette bet size as your funds decrease
This strategy is perfect if you simply want to enjoy your game for the longest period possible.
Set a profit goal
Quitting while you’re ahead is important for all betting games, and by setting a solid goal, you can make sure you don’t lose your winnings.
Don’t believe in luck
It’s a fallacy that a particular number is ‘lucky’ or ‘due’. The odds are the same each spin, and each spin is independent from the last, so don’t think that your number will come up – it might, but only because it was randomly chosen!
Place outside bets
As you can see from the table above, outside bets (those that fall outside of the numbered area of the roulette table) carry the best odds, so it can be beneficial to focus on these if you’re feeling risk-averse.
Avoid two zeros
American roulette boards feature two zero cells on the wheel, so avoiding these can reduce risk if you’re a beginner or want a less risky game.
Advanced roulette strategies
A little more complex than our basic strategies and tips, the systems below should nevertheless be fairly easy to understand and employ.
Three-column bets
Column bets have a decent 2:1 payout, and by placing equal stakes on two of the three columns, then doubling up on every non-winning spin, players can try to cancel out their losses. This strategy works in a similar way to the Martingale system explained in this guide.
The Paroli system (aka the Reverse Martingale)
The Paroli system is the Martingale system reversed. Place a single column bet, and if your first bet wins, double the stake. If you win again, keep doubling until you lose – then return to your original stake and start again.
The idea is to keep going until you get three consecutive wins, yielding a total return of seven times your original stake. We explain the Paroli system in more detail in this guide.
The Bond strategy
Another risk-cutting strategy, the Bond system involves spreading your bets around the table. Many people play this as a flat betting system – rather than increasing or decreasing your bets in response to wins or losses, you bet the same amount each round, trusting in the odds alone to pay off.
There are a few variations of it, but a popular one, assuming you’re betting £20 in total each round, is:
- £14 on 1 to 18 – 70% of your total bet
- £5 on a 19 to 24 – 25% of your total bet
- £1 on zero – 5% of your total bet
Note that none of these bets overlap, and any win results in a profit. In fact, you only lose when the last third of the board comes up, giving you a roughly two-thirds chance of winning each round.
If this sounds too good to be true, it’s because, of course, it is. When the Bond system loses, it loses big – and despite the cool name, it doesn’t really offer an advantage over any other spread betting system. But if you want to feel like 007, it’s a popular and fun way to play!
The Fibonacci system
How’s your maths? The Fibonacci sequence involves starting with one, then adding the number before it to get to the next number in the sequence. In practice, it looks like this:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc
Applied to roulette, these numbers represent your betting units – the minimum amount you’re prepared to stake on one spin of the wheel.
Instead of doubling your bets as in the Paroli and Martingale systems, in the Fibonacci system you progress gradually through the sequence – moving one step forward on a losing bet, and two steps back on a win.
For example, say your betting unit is £1. If you lose your first three bets on evens with this system, you’ve lost £4 so far (£1 + £1 + £2). On the fourth bet, you’ll stake £3. On a win, you’ll receive £6 – recouping your losses, plus a gain of £2. You then move two steps back to the second number 1 in the sequence, so your next bet is £1.
This system essentially tries to cancel out losses gradually, rather than banking on a streak or one big win as other systems do. It’s a long-term, slow burn strategy for patient players. You can read more about the Fibonacci system in our guide.
Do you have a favourite strategy that you’d like to share with the world? Let us know – and take a look at our top games for more ways to play.
Sources
http://www.fortunepalace.co.uk/fibonacci.html
