Roulette Betting Systems

Albert Einstein’s take on beating the game of roulette went something like this:

“The only way to beat roulette is to steal the money when the dealer is not looking”

Einstein was convinced roulette couldn’t be beaten but that hasn’t stopped plenty of punters from believing they have managed to find a way.

What would Einstein know about numbers anyway?

For what it’s worth, here’s our take on roulette betting systems:

  1. if it’s for sale, it definitely doesn’t work (the seller wouldn’t have to make money selling it if it actually worked);
  2. even if it’s free, approach it with a healthy dose or skepticism and always consider point 3;
  3. roulette outcomes are independent events and all possible bets for this event have a house edge (in the absence of an exploitable wheel bias).

Still it’s interesting to know how some of the commonly employed systems work, how they came to be, whether they’re flawed and how they can get you into trouble!

The Martingale Roulette betting system

Martingale is perhaps the best known, and most commonly employed  betting system used to try and beat roulette. You probably know someone, who knows someone who has this ripping system of doubling up successive losing bets on the roulette table at their local casino and they always win…eventually! Or so the legend goes. Chances are they’re employing a version of Martingale and between you and me, they are definitely not always winning.

Martingale is a very aggressive negative progression betting system that can get punters into trouble quickly! Learn more about Martingale here.

The D’Alembert Roulette betting system

If you’re not up for the white-knuckle ride that Martingale will take you on, then D’Alembert may be more your cup of tea. Here you’re facing single unit bet increases and decreases, rather than exponential ones. Mind you, it’s still flawed and won’t guarantee success at the roulette tables.

Learn more about D’Alembert here.

The Labouchere Roulette betting system

The guy who invented this one inherited a fortune and had more time and money than he knew what to do with. I’m not sure the rest of us could afford to spend as much time and money using his system as he did.

Learn more about Labouchere here.

The Fibonacci Roulette betting system

This is yet another negative progression system employed on even money roulette bets. The interesting part about this one, is that bet progression is based on the famous Fibonacci Sequence. The Sequences’ significance in maths, science and the universe is unquestioned. It’s successful application to the game of roulette is not as convincing.

Learn more about Fibonacci here.

The Oscar’s Grind betting system

The aim of the game here is to successfully complete a bet sequence following Oscar’s rules, and thereby take a single unit gain from the casino. This one’s a positive progression (or progressive) system (winning bets are increased) and as the name suggests, it is a bit of a grind.

Learn more about Oscar’s Grind here.

The Paroli betting system

Paroli seeks to limit your losses during losing streaks, and enhance gains during winning streaks. It’s a positive progression system that is also referred to as the Reverse Martingale, but not because it is known to reverse losses caused by Martingale!

Learn more about Paroli here.

The Parlay betting system

If you’re familiar with the betting term parlay you’re already part way to knowing how this system works: a positive progression system where you are basically letting successive wins ride. Trouble is, you need a decent win streak for it to work.

Learn more about Parlay here.

The Hollandish betting system

Hollandish takes a more measured approach to bet progression. Increases or decreases in bet amount are based on the outcomes from a block of 3 spins, rather than just the one.

Learn more about Hollandish here.