In 1745, the French language gained a new word: roulette. Meaning “small wheel,” it denoted a game that involved placing a small ball on a spinning wheel with numbered and coloured sections. Bettors could wager on whether the ball would land on a specific number, colour, or range of numbers.
Today’s roulette is played exactly the same, becoming a staple game in every online casino ( site featured is in 🇦🇿 ). The rules are simple enough that the game is approachable, fresh, and fun.
However, a roulette beginner would benefit from having a roulette strategy. Mathematicians have spent countless hours devising the most successful roulette strategies. Here are some devised by non-mathematicians.
Table of contents:
James Bond Roulette Strategy
This roulette strategy focuses on covering both colours and all roulette numbers except 1–12. The wager is distributed as follows:
- Place 70% of the wager on numbers 19–36.
- Place 25% of the wager on numbers 13–18.
- Place 5% of the wager on zero.
If the James Bond strategy wins 16/20 spins, it will, on average, earn the bettor roughly 20% of the wager.
🚨 However, in a scenario where the strategy is applied over 37 spins and each number appears exactly once, the bettor will end up losing one entire wager.
One downside of the James Bond strategy is that it is a flat betting system, meaning the wager size is always the same. Losing streaks will decimate the bettor’s budget, whilst winning streaks will not be able to sufficiently recover it.
This roulette strategy was first devised in Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel Casino Royale, and it shows—it might look good on the screen, but it does not work.
Martingale Roulette Strategy
This roulette strategy is a progressive betting system, meaning that the wager size changes depending on the previous wager’s outcome. It works as follows:
- The bettor chooses a wager size.
- The wager is placed so it has a roughly 50% chance of winning and pays even, meaning it pays profit in the amount of the wager.
- If the wager is lost, the wager size is doubled.
- When the wager wins, the wager size is reset to the size from step 1.
This is an exceptionally risky roulette strategy that can wipe out the bettor’s budget in a couple of losing spins in a row. In addition, the bettor may be unable to place a wager due to the table’s betting limits.
The logic behind doubling the wager size is that all losing streaks must end. That is true, but a losing streak may last unreasonably long. Even when the Martingale system does work, the profits may be minuscule.
Paroli Roulette Strategy
This roulette strategy is another progressive roulette betting system. It works the opposite of the Martingale:
- The bettor chooses a wager size.
- The wager is placed so it has a roughly 50% chance of winning and pays even, meaning it pays profit in the amount of the wager.
- If the wager is won, the wager size is doubled.
- When the wager is lost, the wager size is reset to the size from step 1.
- In addition, every three wins in a row, the wager size is reset to the size from step 1.
👉 The Paroli roulette strategy is much more conservative than the Martingale and will ensure the bettor has plenty of chances to recover any losses.
However, it may turn roulette into a veritable test of endurance. The bettor may find themselves fatigued, which will lead to mistakes, wiping out their budget as if they had played the Martingale.
Again, just like with Martingale, the profits may be minuscule.
Fibonacci Roulette Strategy
This roulette strategy is another progressive betting system. The distinguishing feature is that the wager is adjusted based on the Fibonacci sequence, which means it works as follows:
- The bettor chooses a wager size, typically 1 unit.
- If the wager is lost, the bettor again stakes 1 unit.
- If the wager is lost again, the bettor stakes 2 units.
- For each wager lost, the bettor sums up the stake of the previous two wagers and uses that for the wager size.
- For each wager won, the bettor uses the wager size from two wagers ago.
👍 The advantage of Fibonacci is that consecutive losses do not increase the wager size as quickly as Martingale. That allows the bettor to recover losses without hitting the table limit, making it a good roulette strategy for beginners.
The disadvantage is that the bettor must play a bet that pays out evenly, such as red/black or even/odd, necessitating long playing sessions for a chance at small profits.
Summary
So to summarise, you have several strategies that can help you improve your odds of winning at roulette, although these are by no means foolproof.
- The James Bond strategy is fictional, and it involves covering as many numbers as possible, but it is vulnerable to losses.
- The Martingale strategy doubles the wager after each loss, so in theory, you should win back any money you have lost when you win, but you risk hitting table limits.
- The Paroli system is the opposite of the Martingale—doubling the wager after you win—so it's more conservative, though the approach can certainly lead to fatigue.
- Finally, the Fibonacci strategy adjusts the bets as per the Fibonacci sequence, offering slower increases in your bet amount, lowering the risk of losses over long sessions. The payoff is modest gains, and again, you may get bored with the strategy.
That said, the Fibonacci strategy is probably the safest and most foolproof of all of them.