Roulette: The king of all chance games. There is no more an iconic casino game than roulette, and for good reason. Roulette has everything. When you play roulette it’s a fast paced, high action game that delivers the ability for players to take wagers on a scaling system of wagers that ranged from the relatively safe to the high-yield/high-risk. The bright shimmering wheel and the decisive whimsical ball have quite the allure.
Despite all the fanfare and the prestige, Roulette has always had an air of mystery. It is a game that has eluded the same systemic break down you might see in blackjack or poker. Many have set their minds to developing systems of approach to the game, and many have come up short. This is due to a few simple facts have made Roulette earn its title as the quintessential game of chance.
In the world of roulette strategy there is one term that makes a regular appearance. This term is “Gambler’s fallacy.” In a game like roulette each spin of the wheel acts independently of all previous spins. There is no memory on the table in this game. Each round is subject to the exact same rules of probability as each round before it. Gambler’s fallacy is the notion that this is not the case; that there is some inherent chance of a different determination based on previous results. For example: if black came up 4 times in a row than the chances of the next spin landing on red would theoretically increase. This of course is not true, and as a result any strategies that base their logic on this concept is faulty from conception.
Outside of this notion there are a few betting schemes that, if employed correctly, can potentially yield positive results. The important thing to know about roulette, however, is that a balanced table will always (over time) default favor to the house. Regardless of betting strategies, roulette is a game that can not be ‘cracked.’ How to choose to bet and when you increase your money, however, can increase your chances.
The first and most straight forward is the Martingale system. Most likely this system has crossed your mind at some point without you realizing it was an honored system. Starting in 18th century France, the Martingale system worked by doubling the betting amount every time a loss occurred. Theoretically if the bet was always doubled then the inevitable win would re-accrue all the losses and the player would be able to start over from the value of the last win. Essentially you would double or nothing until you zeroed out. The problem with this is the exponential growth of the loss bets might add up to exceed the table limits or, worse yet, the pockets of the player. This would cause a very quick and ruthless downward spiral of money lost.
The Labouchère System worked on a similar idea, but with a delay mechanism spacing out the losses and wins so it was less likely to spiral so violently. The system works but taking a desired overall outcome and dividing it into a set of smaller stake bets. By working their way through the list linearly from both the front and the back until they arrive at their final determined number, players ease out the stress of simply tossing all their money on double zero to reach the desired goal. Losses are simply re-added to the front and back of the bet line and attempted to be regained. While a less brute-force method than the Martingale system, the Labouchère System does statistically favor the house over time (as with all roulette systems).
Lastly is the D’Alembert System, which seems geared towards smaller stake players. It essentially suggests that for every win a small increment is removed from the next bet, and for every loss a small increment is added. This results in a goal of statistically rounding out your bet to approach zero. It is also partially grounded in the Gambler’s Fallacy, being as it assume the results of your next bet based on the outcome of the previous bets. For example if you won, it gives statistical value to the next spin being a loss.
The truth of the matter is that roulette is a game that doesn’t really care if you play with a strategy or not. The best reason to use one is to help you keep track of your betting and optimize your chances of not taking a hit.