Roulette Strategy

An Introduction to Roulette Strategy

Roulette, as we all know, is a game of chance. So how important or effective is strategy in determining whether you win or lose at roulette? In terms of how important it is to have a strategy in place, the answer would be ‘very important’, because a proper strategy gives you that much more chances of winning than just depending on pure luck. However, in terms of effectiveness, a strategy really may not be all that helpful when it comes to winning at roulette.

When you take a close look at the layout of the roulette table and the wheel, you may be left wondering how to come up with a strategy, which is usually a well-thought out and rational plan, to beat something where luck has such a huge role to play? For starters, the wheel arrangement is such that the result of any given spin would be random.

Basically, in a game of chance, there really is not much room of strategy, though there are a few mathematical theories and ideas that people have tried using over the years to influence their winning at roulette, usually with mixed results.

Roulette Strategy and the Martingale Betting System

There are quite a few players who believe that the Martingale system is the strategy to adopt when playing roulette. This system basically requires a player to increase his bet by two times each time he loses. The rationale behind such a move is that by doubling the bet after a loss, he would be able to recover the money he lost on the previous bet and also make a profit on the current one. This strategy is inherently flawed, and may possibly work out if used sparingly. If you try using this over a long time, you will burn a big hole in your pocket.

Many players, despite the inherent flaw in the Martingale system, still use it or at least some versions of it. This is because of the large number of bets that promise even money in roulette.

Roulette Strategy - The Fibonacci System and Others
There are some roulette players who use the famous mathematical progression called the Fibonacci system. Using this system in roulette, a player works out his bets on the basis of the Fibonacci number sequence. While this may work in theory and to some extent, in practice as well, the problem with this system is that it can’t help you overcome the house edge.

There are other strategies that people adopt as well. One of these is the ‘Dopey Experiment,’ a strategy put together by Andres Martinez, who was earlier an editor at the Los Angeles Times. This experiment requires a player to divide the money he has put aside as his bankroll into 35 units. The player then bets one unit for 35 different spins, one after the other. The probability of the player winning within 35 spins, which is what the player would need to do to recover his money, is not very high when it comes to American roulette, standing at just over 60% (60.68%, to be precise).