Best roulette strategies
Did you know that some of the worst bets you could make at a casino are at the roulette table? If you bet on a single number, your odds are pretty slim at 37:1. Not only that, but also if you win, your payout will be lower than your odds, at 35:1.
However, that doesn't mean you should stay away from the online roulette table. There are good strategies you can use to boost your chances of winning at this exciting game much loved by adrenaline junkies everywhere.
Three roulette strategies that actually work
The Internet is aplenty with roulette strategies drawn up by experts and novices alike. Because there are so many different strategies to choose from, it can be difficult to decide on one. That's why we're here!
There's no magical mathematical configuration of bets to help you overcome the house edge when it comes to roulette. Albert Einstein even tried to find one. His attempts were futile. He concluded his search by saying, "The only way to beat roulette is to steal the money when the dealer's not looking."
However, there are a few strategies that will help you last a bit longer at the roulette table and grind out a few small wins. We'll cover three of them here:
1. Martingale
This strategy is as old as the game itself. It's best used when you play the game for a short time (less than an hour). Here's how it works:
You make your standard bet, and if you win, you make the same bet for the next round. However, if you lose, you double your bet for the next hand. That way, you'll get your money back once you hit a winning hand.
Here's an example: You bet $1. You win, so you bet $1 again. This time, you lose, so you bet $2. You lose again, so you bet $4. You lose again, so you bet $8. At this point, you're out $15. So let's say the $8 bet wins. In roulette, your payout will always be at least 1:1 (double your bet). So if you bet $8 on red, black, even, odd, low, or high, and if you win, you'll get $16. That's your money back, plus $1. Even better, if you spread your $8 bet around the table and have $1 on a certain number, and that number wins, you'll net $36. However, that's not recommended. This system is actually based on betting on colours, where there's always a 47.37% chance you would win.
Even though this is an old system, it's still not perfect. Like the game itself, this strategy is heavily dependent on luck. You're not guaranteed to walk away from the roulette table with more money than you put in. In fact, there's a chance you will run out of money before you hit a winning hand.
The key to this strategy is to start out with a small bet and to keep the game short and sweet. The longer you play, the more likely you'll hit a losing streak that will eat up most, if not all, of your money. The less time you spend playing with this strategy, the better.
2. The Double Street Quad Strategy
This strategy allows you to cover 17 numbers on the table and cover all but five adjacent slots on the wheel. To do this, make wagers on two double streets (two rows).
To do this, put a chip on the outside line and the line between the above and below rows. This single chip will cover six numbers. Make another double street bet. Now, you will have four rows, or 12 numbers, covered.
Next, make a quad bet. To make a quad bet, place your chip at the intersection of a vertical and horizontal line between four numbers to make it touch all four numbers.
Finally, choose a straight up number to bet on. Some players have a favourite number they like to use every time; others would just choose a random number.
At this point, you'll have 17 numbers covered with 4 chips.
The double street payout is 5:1. If the ball lands on a number covered by one of your double street bets, you'll get a profit of one chip.
The quad bet payout is 8:1. If the ball lands on a number covered by your quad bet, you'll get a profit of 4 chips.
The straight up number payout is 35:1. If the ball lands on a number covered by your straight up number bet, you'll get a profit of 31 chips.
3. The Five Quad Strategy
With this strategy, you make five different quad bets plus one straight up number. This strategy allows you to cover 21 numbers on the table with 6 chips. However, if you choose a straight up number covered in one of your five quad bets, you'll have only 20 numbers covered.
The quad bet payout is 8:1. If the ball lands on a number covered by your quad bet, you'll get a profit of 2 chips.
The straight up number payout is 35:1. If the ball lands on a number covered by your straight up number bet, you'll get a profit of 29 chips.
Both the Double Street Quad Strategy and the Five Quad Strategy are designed for long-term playing. Those strategies will extend your time at the table, as you will be grinding out small wins (when you're not being hit with small losses here and there).
Why European roulette is better than American roulette
Just like American roulette, European roulette includes a wheel, a metal ball, and a table where players place their bets on numbers and colours. The payouts are the same. However, European roulette has one green colour slot with one zero, while American roulette has two (one with one zero; another one with two zeroes). Because of that, the odds are slightly worse with American roulette, especially if you bet on black or red. American casinos added that extra green colour slot so they could earn more profit (since those two green colour slots force a small house edge into the game) and make players lose money faster.
Quite frankly, European roulette is better, and it's not just because they have only one green colour slot.
It's also because European roulette has the en prison rule. The en prison rule allows you to recover your bet whenever the ball lands on a green colour slot. This rule only applies if you bet on high, low, even, odd, red, black, 1-18, or 19-36. Straight up number bets don't apply.
Here's how this extremely favourable rule works:
If you make an even money bet (high, low, even, odd, red, black, 1-18, or 19-36) and the ball lands on zero, you automatically get half of your bet back (a rule known as "la partage")
You can choose to forfeit that half and instead imprison the whole bet for the next spin. If you win on the next spin, the bet is released and you get that money back, without the winnings.
What happens if the ball lands on zero again? It's up to the casino. At some casinos, you'll lose your bet, and at other casinos, the bet will become double-imprisoned.
If your bet is double-imprisoned, that means if it wins on the next spin, it will become single-imprisoned again. If that bet wins, then you'll get your money back without the winnings.
In America, what happens if the ball lands on zero? You lose your bet. End of story.
All in all, European roulette has better odds than American roulette.
How French roulette is different
It'd be a good idea to familiarize yourself with how French roulette works in case you ever decide to visit France one day. It's different from any other kind of roulette in America and the rest of Europe.
Did you know that roulette originated in France during the 18th century? The game has since evolved into American or European-style roulette and is played everywhere... except France. French roulette is still the same as it was 300 years ago.
French roulette is more similar to European roulette than it is to American roulette. It has one green colour slot and the en prison rule.
However, in France, there's no double-imprisonment. If you have an imprisoned bet, it will remain single-imprisoned, regardless of how many times the ball lands on zero again.
All in all, French roulette has better odds than European roulette does. That means French roulette has the best odds of all roulette games.
There are even more versions of roulette available online, including No Zero, Live Dealer and Multi-Wheel.
