Roulette Betting Systems – Top Betting Strategies or Gambling Myths?

Although it’s undeniable that roulette is strictly based on chance, strategy for roulette is a common point of discussion among casino fans. Specifically, roulette betting systems are often presented as fool-proof strategies to win roulette. At the very least, they’re supposed to minimize risks and maximize profits.

How do roulette systems work, though? Do they even work in the first place? In this article, we’ll take a close look at some of the most common betting systems for this game. We’ll also consider whether there’s merit in trying to use them in live casinos online.

A roulette progression system is a strategy that adjusts your bets according to previous outcomes. The idea is simple. Since you can’t change the outcome of a round of roulette, you should focus on changing what you can – the stake.

Positive Progression Roulette Systems

Positive progression systems in roulette are based on increasing the stake if things are going well. It’s a relatively intuitive way of doing things. The goal is to try and get the most out of winning streaks while minimizing losses if you’re having bad luck.

Of course, the problem is that this way of thinking is based on the gambler’s fallacy. Just because you win or lose a round doesn’t mean that the next round is any more likely to win or lose. However, roulette positive progression systems are not quite that simple. There’s more of a method.

To explain how positive progression works in roulette, let’s use an example. We’ll look at one of the most popular roulette strategies of this kind – the Paroli.

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The Paroli System in Roulette

The Paroli betting system is a simple strategy that requires you to double your stake every time you win. Like most systems of this kind, it’s based on even-money bets such as Red/Black. If you win a bet with $10 as a stake, use the $20 you won as your next stake. Then do the same with the $40.

If you lose at any point, start from the original stake again.
If you win three bets in a row, pocket the winnings and revert to the original stake.

The idea is that the parole system keeps your winnings and losses balanced until you get a streak. Once you do, you walk away with a tidy profit.

The problem with the Paroli is that it still relies on fundamentally flawed logic. Almost every scenario except a 3-win streak is a net loss. Moreover, resetting back to the smallest stake means that you’re not making up losses. This inevitably leads to losing more money than you win.

The idea of winning and losing streaks in roulette is one many players share, but it’s not based on actual statistics.

However, there are some valuable lessons that we can learn from the Paroli:

Using your winnings as a stake for further betting is a good idea. This approach allows you to keep playing while not wasting hard-earned cash.
Always have a point at which you cash out. If you never do with the Paroli, you are sure to lose your bankroll sooner or later.
Consistently using the same roulette bets is a good way to keep track of your spending.

Keeping these points in mind while playing roulette is a good idea. The Paroli or Parlay roulette betting systems? Not as much.

Oscar’s Grind strategy is another, more nuanced example of positive progression.

Betting System Versatility

Many roulette systems can also be applied to other casino games as well. Most of them simply require a chance to make even money bets - wagers that double your money.

Negative Progression Betting Systems in Roulette

Let’s look at roulette strategy from a different angle. By that, we mean that your main goal while playing should be to not lose. If you can guarantee that you’re at least at a net-zero, you can only go up from there, right?

Negative progression systems in roulette increase the size of your stake whenever you lose. The goal is to make up for any previous losses, while the winnings are pocketed as a profit. In theory, such strategies to win roulette are the opposite of positive progression systems.

In practice, negative progression is not without merit. We often point out that gambling beginners should focus on not losing first, and winning second. After all, playing live casino games online is all about having a good time. Not losing allows you to do that longer and without losing too much money. But such strategies also come with heavy risk.

Where positive progression has a small chance of working and winning big, negative progression has a small chance of not working and losing a lot. Again, we’ll use an example to see how negative progressions in roulette work. We’ll start with the (in)famous Martingale.

Martigale for Roulette

Like with all staking plans in roulette, using the Martingale for roulette comes down to repeating even money bets. Red/Black can work, as can Odd/Even or High/Low.

In Martingale, you start by placing a bet with a small starting stake – let’s say $10 for convenience sake. If you win, you take the money and make the exact same bet again. If you lose, you double the stake to $20 and bet again. This doubled bet can then make up the bet you just lost you’ll earn $20 in profits, after all. Any winning bets remain as pure profit, too. The idea is that even if you keep losing, you’ll eventually make up losses.

The problem with the Martingale strategy in roulette kicks in if you hit a losing streak. You have to double the stake again, and again, and again. Eventually you’ll simply run out of money to cover the expanses and lose everything.

The Martingale doesn’t work because of its exponential losses. $10 turns into $20, which turns into $40, and $80, then $160, and you’re already down $310. And remember, this is just 5 unfortunate losses and you were originally hoping to win $10. In short, the Martingale would work if you had an infinite budget and an infinite amount of time. No one does, so you’re playing with fire.

Alternatives

To counteract this issue, players developed more conservative negative progression roulette systems. These are somewhat less likely to work as a roulette strategy to win real money. They’re also less likely to leave you bankrupt, though.

The Fibonacci system increases the stake every time you lose, using the sum of the previous two stakes. For example, if you lose two consecutive $10 bets, only then do you increase it to $20. The next loss bumps this up to $30, and so on. It’s a lot less risky than the Martingale. However, your losses are not completely reversed either. As a result, the Fibonacci keeps potential losses consistent, but more manageable.
D’Lambert splits your bankroll into equal units, and the stake is increased by +1 unit every time you lose. It has the same advantages and disadvantages as the Fibonacci, only more pronounced.
The Laboucherre system in roulette is a more complicated system that adjusts the progression based on the context. It’s arguably the most advanced of all negative progression strategies in roulette and does the best job at countering the negatives.

As always, negative progression is not a guaranteed strategy to win roulette. There is no such thing. However, we can again learn some lessons from it.

Protecting yourself from losses can be more valuable than chasing profits.
Adjusting the stake to fit the current state of your stake is essential.
Knowing when to quit is important because gambling losses can be exponential.

Flat Betting in Roulette

The third type of wagering system for roulette is both the simplest and arguably most “honest.” We would venture so far as to call it a proven roulette system because it doesn’t promise anything it can’t deliver. Flat betting is an incredibly simple notion – you just wager the same amount every time. Why is this even considered a winning roulette strategy, then?

The flat betting system in roulette allows you to do more with a single round than bet on even money every round. It also doesn’t allow for a Risk of Ruin like the Martingale. Sounds interesting? Let’s explain through a great example – the Romanosky.

The Romanosky Bet in Roulette

The Romanosky takes full advantage of the fact that its stake is always the same. How? By covering as much of the table as possible for a maximum probability of winning.

The Romanosky betting system makes four separate wagers each round: two Dozen bets and two Corners. First of all, you need to split your stake into 8 units of the same size. Then, place them in the following way.

3 units on the 1^st Dozen bet
3 units on the 2^nd Dozen bet
1 Unit on the 25/29 Corner
1 Unit on the 32/36 Corner

Note that you can actually combine any two Dozen bets with any two Corner bets. As long as the Corner bets cover the third of the table that the Dozens don’t, you’re good to go.

This means that over 86% of all possible outcomes win. Only 5 numbers on the wheel don’t win. If a Dozen bet wins, you win 9 units in total. If a Corner wins, you also win 9 units. That leaves you with a high likelihood of a small profit every round.

The problem with Romanosky is that one lost round takes 8 winning rounds to make up. With an 86% chance of success, though, that’s not difficult to achieve.

Final Thoughts

The age-old game of roulette was carefully constructed to always have the same chance of winning. No matter which bet or strategy for roulette you use, this fact does not change. Believing otherwise is a common misconception among players new to roulette.

However, systems and staking plans allow you to keep closer tabs on your spending and earnings. While a system in roulette strategy won’t win for sure, there are major advantages to sticking to a plan. Ultimately, though, the best roulette strategy to play with is bankroll management. Don’t spend more than you can afford, and you’ll do fine.

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