Are you interested in trying your hand at the popular casino game of roulette? There’s no doubt that it’s an exciting game, but you can’t just blindly jump into it and start placing bets wherever you want. It’s essential to understand how roulette works and know about some useful betting techniques. And it’s indeed a game of luck – you don’t have any control over where the ball lands. But you can be smart about how and where you put the bets, which can give you a better chance of winning roulette or at least avoiding big losses.
At the end of the day, roulette, like any casino games, is all about having fun and not a sure-shot way of making money. Win and loss are part of the game, and you never know how things turn up.
However, with more calculated strategies, you can enjoy the game better and try to increase the odds in your favor. Since you’ve already shown interest in the game of roulette, we’re here to help you win at roulette. So we’ll be giving you full details of the game and its rules, how it is played, and most importantly, explain some of the standard betting strategies, including the popular Martingale strategy.
Things to Know Before Playing Roulette
Before start playing, there are some things roulette players must know before playing roulette. First of all, you should have the right mentality when playing roulette, or any casino games for that matter. It’s a game of luck, so don’t expect to win money every time, irrespective of the strategies you use. You should only put in money that you can afford to lose, and it should not affect your regular finances.
Secondly, play on a fixed budget and know when to stop using strategies. If you’re not getting lucky on a given day and have played through your budget, then just call it a day. And even when you do end up winning, don’t get carried away and bet all your winnings again with the hope of winning even more.
Lastly, if you’re playing for the first time, or you’re not quite used to the game, make sure you understand the rules and types of bets clearly before you start playing. Some online casinos even let you play a demo version of roulette systems, so that’s a great way to get some practice. And if you don’t know the rules clearly, then read on below as we fully explain how the game is played.
HOW TO PLAY ROULETTE
Roulette Basics
To play roulette, you need to know about two things: the roulette table and the spinning roulette wheel. The roulette table is where you place your bets, and it includes a number chart. In European roulette, the table consists of numbers from 1 to 36 along with the number 0. American roulette also has all these numbers and an extra number – the double zero (00).
The numbers 1 to 36 are arranged in sequence in a 3 column, 12-row list. The number 0 (and 00) lies at the top. Outside the number chart, there are different boxes where you can place different bets, which we will explain later on. The numbers are also divided into red and black colors, except 0 and 00, which are green. That’s all there is on the table, and the spinning roulette wheel also includes all the numbers.
To play roulette, you make your bets by placing chips of different values corresponding to every spin on the table in appropriate boxes. Then the dealer spins the roulette wheel and throws the ball on it. When the roulette wheel stops spinning, the ball lands on one number, and all bets containing that number will win a payout.
Different Types of Bets in Roulette
Now that roulette players know about what you see on the roulette systems table, let’s take a look at the betting system. It’s not that complicated once you know about the two types of bets – inside and outside bets.
The inside bets are placed by putting chips directly on the numbers on the table. The simplest type of inside bet is a single bet where you place the chip on any single number to bet on it. Next, there’s the split bet. This bet consists of chips placed on the line between two horizontally or vertically adjacent numbers to bet on both of them.
Another option is a split bet where you place the chip at the start of a row to bet on all three numbers on that row, and also the double street bet where you put your chips on the line connecting two adjacent rows, so you’re betting on all 6 numbers on both rows. Then there’s the zero bet, which includes either 0, 1, 2 or 0, 2, 3 in European Roulette, while in American Roulette it includes 0, 1, 2 or 00, 2 ,3. The final inside bet is the basket bet which covers 0, 1, 2, 3 in European Roulette and 00, 0, 1, 2, 3 in the American version.
Coming over to the outside betting system, they are named as such because you place these bets by putting your chips on the boxes outside the number chart. Each box has its own betting combination, which is as follows:
- The even money bets and odd bets cover all even or all odd numbers.
- The red and black bet cover all the red or all the black numbers.
- The low bet covers all numbers from 1 to 18, while the high bet covers all numbers from 19 to 36.
- There are three ‘dozen bets’ with the first dozen covering numbers from 1 to 12, and the second and third dozen covering numbers 13 to 24 and 25 to 36, respectively.
- Lastly, there are three column bets which cover all 12 numbers in the first, second, and third columns respectively.
To win roulette computers, you can place as many bets as you want, both inside and outside, as you wish. And when the ball lands on a number, you will be paid for every bet that includes the winning number based on the respective payout rates of each bet. You just need to take some time to understand all the types of bets, and after that, it’s just a matter of placing your chips on the table and crossing your fingers as the dealer spins the roulette wheel.
Different Betting Strategies in Roulette
Even though roulette game is based on luck, experts have devised some strategies on betting system to increase the chances of making roulette profits. These strategies are not full proof and don’t guarantee a sure shot profit every time. If they did, casinos would go at a loss and soon be bankrupt. But such strategies do work most of the time and help you make wiser bets where you don’t rely completely on blind luck. Let’s check out some of the best roulette strategy tips and understand how they work.
The Martingale Strategy
The Martingale Strategy is believed to be originated from France sometime around the 18th century and applies to any luck-based gambling game where there’s a 50% chance of an event occurring, such as tossing a coin. So when used in roulette, it usually applies to color bets (betting on either red or black number), as each color will cover almost 50% of all the numbers.
We say ‘almost’ 50% because 0 and 00 don’t belong to either red or black category. You could also use this strategy on even money bets/odd bets, which still cover half of all numbers excluding 0 and 00, but gamblers mostly use it on colored bets.
The strategy is to double and increase your bet every time you lose so that the first win will cover all your losses and give you a profit equal to your starting bet.
An example will make this clear – let’s say you only bet on reds and start with ₹10 but end up losing. You still keep the bet on red but place ₹20 this time.
If you win, you get back ₹40, which means you’re at a profit of ₹10, you’re starting bet amount. But if you had lost again, you double the bet again to ₹40, and winning this time gets you ₹80, which again puts you at a profit of ₹10.
So no matter how much you keep losing, the first win will directly put you at a profit of the same amount as your starting bet as long as you double the bet after every loss. And when you win, you can start over again with a new starting bet.
Does Martingale Strategy Work Perfectly Every Time?
In theory, using the Martingale strategy would guarantee profit at all times as long as you have unlimited funds to play with and no limit on how much you can bet on a win. But no one has genuinely unlimited money, and casinos also have limits on the maximum bet you can place and the maximum amount you can win. So these limitations cause Martingale’s strategy to fail at a point if you face a long losing streak.
Check out the Top Online Roulette Sites here!
Another problem with Martingale’s strategy is that to keep doubling your lost bets, you need a big amount of money, but the profit will be small.
For example, you start betting with ₹10, and keep losing and doubling your bet, to ₹20, ₹40, ₹80, and so on up to ₹640 and finally win. At this point, you will have placed more than ₹1000 worth of bets but only made a profit of ₹10.
Any gambler who has thousands to bet with will hardly be pleased with a small profit. You might think of starting with a bigger bet like ₹100 or ₹200, but then you would hit the maximum betting limit sooner, and if you didn’t get a single win until then, you’d end up losing a lot of money.
How to Overcome the Limitations of Martingale Strategy?
Due to betting limits placed by casinos, the Martingale strategy becomes less effective the longer you keep losing as you’re just doubling your bets to larger amounts while getting closer to the maximum bet amount. So Martingale strategy works best only in short streaks and with a fixed budget that you can afford to lose. Every time you win, you’re earning a profit, and if you hit a losing streak on an unlucky day, you should get up the moment you run out of your designated playing budget. Martingale strategy also works better on tables where the minimum bet is small, and the maximum bet limit is higher so that you can start small and extend the bets longer if you keep losing.
However, the main thing is that instead of relying on complete luck in a roulette system, the Martingale strategy lets you profit on just a single win. So it’s safe to say that it’s one of the best roulette strategies because even though it’s not flawless, at least it increases your odds to the point where all you need is just one win to make a profit.
Other Notable Roulette Strategies
Reverse Martingale Strategy
True to its name, the Reverse Martingale strategy requires you to double your bet when you win and lower the bet each time you lose. This strategy isn’t mathematically sound but instead focuses on the idea of minimizing losses when you are on a losing streak and maximizing profits when you are on a winning streak. Just like the Martingale strategy, the Reverse Martingale is also suitable for tables with smaller minimum bets and higher maximum bets.
Fibonacci Strategy
The Fibonacci sequence strategy is a little complicated – it follows a betting pattern where every bet is equal to the sum of the last two bets. So let’s say you start with ₹1, and the next bet doesn’t have two previous bets to add so you bet ₹1 again. Now the third bet will add the last two bets, which equals to ₹2, then ₹3 (2+1), then ₹5 (3+2), then ₹8 (5+3), and so on.
You continue this pattern when you’re losing, and when you win, you reduce your bet two steps. So if you win on the ₹8 bet, you go back two steps and bet ₹3 in the next round.
Just like Martingale betting strategy, the Fibonacci betting strategy also aims to cover previous losses with a bigger bet, but by increasing the best slowly (and not directly doubling) as well as going two steps back when you win, your total bets don’t pile up too quickly and it lets you keep betting longer before hitting the maximum betting limit.
D’Alembert Strategy
The D’Alembert Strategy is a safer approach to the Martingale strategy, where you increase the bet by one after each loss and decrease it by one every time you win at roulette. This strategy will eventually even out things or put you in a profit if you win as many times as you lose after a series of rounds.
And if you’re on a winning roulette streak, you will be reducing your bets by one each time so the next loss won’t be a big deal. It’s a nice strategy that keeps you in the game longer without approaching the maximum bet limit anytime soon and also aims to keep losses at a minimum.
Conclusion
So you know how roulette is played, the types of bets you can play, and you’re eager to try out the strategies you have just learned. It’s time to head over to your favorite online casino for roulette, and put these strategies into action to win at roulette. You should surely try out the Martingale strategy, but do note its limitations and the tips we have mentioned.
Finally, keep in mind that these strategies are not meant to make you win all the time. Also, these strategies are for even bets, which cover almost half of all the numbers, like red/black and even/odd. But they don’t include the 0 and 00, so casinos still have a house edge. That’s why you should never get carried out, and even when you are using these best roulette strategies, don’t forget to play wisely and gamble responsibly.