There is no guaranteed way to beat the game of Roulette and we can’t endorse the use of any Roulette strategies. However, such strategies do exist and have been used for many decades. Three of the most common Roulette strategies are:
1. Martingale
This is one of the oldest Roulette strategies on record. It’s believed to have been created before the invention of table limits, with some suggesting that this strategy is the reason such limits were invented (there are actually many reasons).
The idea behind this strategy is simple: You double your bet every time you lose and you return to your original wager when you win. Here is an example of how this particular Roulette strategy might be used:
Bet | Outcome | Gain/Loss | Total |
$10 | Lose | $-10 | ($10) |
$20 | Lose | $-20 | ($30) |
$40 | Lose | $-40 | ($70) |
$80 | Win | $+80 | $10 |
$10 | Lose | $-10 | $0 |
$20 | Lose | $-20 | ($20) |
$40 | Lose | $-40 | ($60) |
$80 | Lose | $-80 | ($120) |
$160 | Lose | $-160 | ($280) |
$320 | Win | $+320 | $40 |
$10 | Lose | $-10 | $30 |
There are a few obvious flaws to this system, namely the fact that it can get very ugly very quickly and may require you to bet sums of money that are far beyond what you can afford. It is also rendered relatively useless by low table limits.
2. Paroli
The Paroli strategy is similar to one known as the Reverse Martingale and in many cases, it is used interchangeably. However, there are some slight differences. With the Reverse Martingale, players double their stake after every win and continue to do this for as long as they keep winning.
With the Paroli system, players double their bets following a win but return to their original stake if they win three times in a row.
3. D’Alembert
The D’Alembert Roulette strategy is based on the idea that if a coin is flipped 5 times and shows “heads”, “tails” will appear more often in the following 5 throws. This is a complete fallacy though and goes against everything that we know about mathematics and probabilities.
Followers of the D’Alembert betting system increase their bet by 1 unit when they lose and decrease it by 1 when they win. A unit can be $1, $5, $10 or $100—it all depends on your affordability and stake. When employed, this system may look like this:
- Bet $10 = Lose
- Bet $20 = Lose
- Bet $30 = Win
- Bet $20 = Lose
- Bet $30 = Win
- Bet $20 = Win