Best Roulette Strategies

Author Tom Wilson

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Best Roulette Strategies to Win Online

Roulette could be said to belong to the group of casino games with the longest pedigree in the world of games based on luck. Out of all casino games, roulette contains the biggest element of luck, as it all depends on a wheel and where a little ball will land.

If you are new to the game of roulette and already managed to master all the rules, you have undoubtedly turned to look for some roulette betting strategies to help you elevate your game. That notion is nothing new, as people have been trying to develop strategies and ploys to turn the roulette scales to their favor ever since the game was invented in the Middle Ages.

The Internet offers a variety of supposed “strategies,” guaranteeing you win. However, these strategies are a hoax and don’t work at all, especially in the long term, and would only result in the shedding of your bankroll.

There is one thing that every gambler needs to bear in mind — casinos are not messing around. If there were a strategy of a trick that would result in a win on every spin, they would soon find themselves out of business.

So, you should bear in mind that no strategy can turn roulette into a cash ATM and no roulette strategy can be considered a sure method for winning.

By reading this article, you will discover:

  • Strategies that will help you really improve your chances of winning and hone your roulette betting skills even further;
  • Why RTP and Volatility are essential when choosing the type of roulette game;
  • How to know which roulette strategy is for you.

RTP and Volatility in RNG-Powered Roulette Machines

Roulette strategies, to a great extent, depend on the manner of play of individual bettors. Some like to move a bit aggressive and go for big payouts, while others prefer to keep the winning low but steady. But before any of these strategies can be weighed, some things need to be addressed, and those are the payout percentages and volatility rates of RNG-powered roulette games.

Roulette RTP

Namely, in modern online casinos, most casino games are powered by a random number generator software that ensures spins are indeed random as they would be in land-based casinos.

Based on RNG, roulette games have exact mathematical odds illustrated by RTP and are telling players how much they can win. The RTP, or return to play ratio, shows you how big of a percentage you can hope to get from your bets. That number can never be 100% since that would take away all the fun from the game and render it pointless.

For example, the European Roulette has the 97.3% RTP, meaning the house-edge, or house-advantage, is only 2.7%. The American Roulette has a slightly lower RTP at 94.74%. However, the percentages are calculated on the basis of thousands, if not, million spins, and can’t be taken for granted, especially without considering the volatility.

Volatility

The volatility of a casino game refers to how often that game is expected to pay and how big a win on individual bets you can expect.

With high-volatility roulette, payouts are less frequent but are more substantial in order to compensate for the lack of frequency of wins. Low-volatility roulette games, on the contrary, are expected to pay more frequently, but the gains won’t be substantial. The medium-volatility games, as their name suggests, come somewhere in between.

To effectively put a roulette strategy to work, you need to consider the volatility and RTP. For example, the Straight Up bet (betting on a single number) is a bet with the highest volatility which pays 36 times your stake. Still, statistically speaking, every 37th spin will be victorious.

With more standard bets like betting on black/red, even/odd, and high/low, you will be betting on lower-volatility bets with an 18:37 chance of winning.

The stats say that players who prefer the lower volatility bets will eventually hover around the payout ratio and will be less likely to earn any money. In contrast, the high-volatility stakes are the ones that help break that trend and allow players to walk away with some cash in their pockets.

Roulette Strategies

The effectiveness of a roulette strategy is not measured solely by mathematical percentages, odds, and other contributing factors. Their efficacy is also seen in the style of players who use them. Some players love the risk and would put C$1,000 on black and possibly walk away with a pile of chips worth C$36,000, or wind up empty-handed. On the other hand, some players choose the C$1 bets and prefer to go slow even though that kind of play mode won’t likely bring any significant wins and might also result in losses.

Some players are after the thrill and huge wins, some prefer a safer road, while others just want to kill some time at the roulette table. The players’ motives are different, and the bottom line is that the best strategy is the one that works best for you and your playing style.

You shouldn’t expect miracles when using these strategies since no one can guarantee you wins. They can only help you adapt your playing style to the one that has a chance to produce a win.

Progressive Roulette Betting Strategies

First, we can divide all types of roulette betting strategies to progressive and non-progressive betting strategies. Progressive betting strategies are based on a concept or belief that you should increase your bet size after a round has been played. The most famous of all progressive roulette betting strategies of this type are the Martingale, Reverse Martingale, and the D’Alembert system. However, not all of these deserve to be counted as the best. Reverse Martingale system has proven to be safer than the two, which is why we start with it.

The Reverse Martingale System

The Reverse Martingale system, or the Paroli system, is the opposite version of the Martingale system. The Martingale system is a strategy where players double the amount of their single even-chance bet every time they lose. The premise is that you only need one win to cover the entire losing streak. For example, a player places a C$10 and loses, then bets $20 on the next spin. If it is a winning hand, the player will have recouped the initial $10 loss.

The Reverse Martingale is quite the opposite. With the Paroli System, you increase the size of your bet every time you win and decrease it when you lose. The idea is to benefit from a winning streak and capitalize on lucky spins while keeping the rough patches under wraps.

For example, a player always bets on an even wager and wagers C$1. The first round proved to be victorious, and now the player has won C$2. Then, the player wagers the C$2 again, this time on black, and gets another win, increasing the win to C$4. The player continues with this strategy until they lose, which then takes the player back to square one and a new beginning with C$1 bets.

This system is classified as a steep progression system that works best with outside bets like betting on color, even/odd numbers, low/high, and similar. These bets have a reasonable probability of success, close to 50%, which helps the system and players achieve the balance between the expected value, the chance of winning big, and exciting playing time.

The D’Alembert system

Jean-le-Rond D’Alembert was a brilliant French mathematician who developed the D’Alembert roulette betting system. This system can be seen as the more moderate version of the Martingale system, as it implies increasing your bets gradually after a loss, and decreasing them when on a winning streak. This betting strategy falls under the flat progression strategies since it is not as aggressive as the doubling down we see in Martingale bets.

The premise behind D’Alembert’s strategy is that the bets will eventually even out and that, if there was a long streak of high numbers, a long streak of low numbers must ensue.

The system is best applicable to even bets, like red/black, even/odd, and 1–18/19–36, as these have the probability of a payout close to 50%.

The most important thing about this strategy is to choose the amount of bet that you will add or subtract from your wager, depending on whether you are on a winning or losing streak, and usually, that amount is C$1. Experts claim that the amount shouldn’t be over 1% of your casino balance and that the best ratio is either 0.50% or 0.33% of the balance.

Non-Progressive Roulette Betting Strategies

They are quite the opposite of the progressive roulette betting strategies that imply rapid increases or decreases in the bet amounts. Non-progressive betting strategies tell you to keep betting the same value throughout the game or change the bets; choose however you see fit.

The Constant Bet Roulette Strategy

The Constant Bet strategy can’t be seen as a highly innovative betting strategy, as it is probably the one most players use even without realizing it. Namely, this betting strategy implies betting the same amount all the time.

For example, a player who has C$1,000 balance chooses to sit at a $10 minimum bet roulette table. They decide to bet on black and place $10 on each round. The end result would be either that the player would have spent an hour or two having fun and ultimately losing everything or doubling the bankroll leading to a 100% profit.

This type of betting strategy is a perfect choice for those who want to win big but are not willing to risk too much.

The James Bond Strategy

The world-famous MI6 operative James Bond, also known as the agent 007, was created by Ian Flemming who wrote numerous books involving the adventures of the fearless agent who is also an avid gambler and a true ladies-man. In the novel “Casino Royale,” Bond tests his luck and skill at the roulette table with a betting system and roulette strategy of his own making.

Namely, the strategy has an illustrious goal of shifting the odds in his favor and is considered a flat non-progressive betting system. Namely, at every spin, Bond places the following bets: C$140 on the high numbers from 19 to 36; C$50 on numbers from 13 to 18; and a C$10 on 0 for insurance purposes. The betting strategy ultimately includes 25 numbers that will turn a profit and 12 numbers where you will lose.

If any of the bets prove successful, you will be looking at a lofty prize, but then again, the strategy is far from perfect. There can be streaks where the ball just hits numbers from 1 to 12, causing you to lose a lot. The math says that, in the long run, you stand to lose C$20 every 37 spins, which does not seem like a lot, and ultimately, covering almost half of the table in bets might be a sound move. It all depends on how lucky you are.

Betting All-In

One of the roulette strategies that implies the highest volatility is the all-in roulette strategy. As you can deduce from its name, this betting strategy suggests you bet the entire casino balance in a single round and at least once on specific bets depending on the size of your chip stack.

If you start your adventure with C$100 and want to win C$1,000 or more, you should bet on a single number, which has a 36:1 payout, leading to a C$3,600 win. If you want to spice things up even further, you should then take C$3,600 and place them on either a column bet or a dozen bet. If you are successful, you might end up with more than $10,000 in wins and walk away from the table with a smile on your face.

Of course, the all-in bet is the riskier of them all. There is much to be won and lost, and it all depends on how much you are willing to risk. If you are a player going for the big wins and ready to risk what it takes, then you might benefit the most from betting all-in.

Conclusion

There isn’t one roulette betting strategy suitable for all kinds of players and all bankrolls. As no strategy can guarantee success, the most important questions you want to ask yourself are: what playing style suits me the most and what I am hoping to get? If you are a player who prefers playing it safe, then the constant bet might be your best pick. If you are a thrill-seeker, then go for all-in bets and cash out big time. However, players must bear in mind that the advantage is always on the house, and if you are to emerge victorious from this matchup, you need to find your playing style, believe in your strategy, and hope for a bit of luck.

Author Tom Wilson

Chief editor and creator, Tom drives the direction of CanadianCasinos.ca with the goal to provide the best and most honest resource for online gambling enthusiasts in Canada