Roulette Strategy for the Pros: Our In-Depth Guide

What is a Roulette Strategy?

In simple terms, a roulette strategy is any sort of strategy or system that gives you an advantage at the tables. Ever since the game was first played at European casinos in the 1700’s, punters have been trying to devise the perfect strategy or system to win at roulette. Most strategies consist of a set of rules which you will need to follow and which tell you exactly what to bet and when to do so.

Out of all casino table games, none has more strategies dedicated to it than roulette, and in this helpful and informative guide to strategies, we give you the necessary information needed to find the perfect method that best suits your goals, so you don’t have to waste a lot of your valuable time on it through (perhaps costly) trial and error.

Why You Should be Cautious when Using Certain Roulette Strategies

It is important to exercise a certain amount of caution when using certain strategies, particularly those that require you to use a positive betting progression, where you need to double your bet on every loss. Let’s say for example that we decide that your strategy will be to only bet on a colour. In standard roulette games there are three colours available: red, black and green (although green only applies to the ‘zero position’). For our example we decide that black is the colour that we are going to be on for the next few rounds of our game. Our strategy also dictates that we double our bet on the next spin in the event that we lose on the current spin. This will continue until you either win and make a profit or (more likely scenario) lose everything.

So here’s our example in action:

• First bet: You bet 1 unit (chip) on black but you lose
• Second bet: You bet 2 units on black but lose
• Third bet: You bet 4 unit on black but lose
• Fourth bet: You bet 8 units on black but lose

You can probably see what’s going to happen here if this pattern continues in this direction. Regardless of how many times in a row a specific colour comes up, the odds of it coming up on the next spin are the same as the odds of the opposite colour coming up as well. The philosophy behind this strategy is simply that, if you keep going, eventually your chosen colour will come up and you will win, making all of your losses back plus a profit.

The above system or strategy is commonly known as a progression betting system and here’s where you might run into a problem:

Hitting the table limits

As you keep doubling your bet and losing, at some point in the game you will inevitably reach the table’s bet limit. This means that the table will not allow you to bet any higher than that amount. This means that you will not be able to make your next doubled bet in order to cover what you have already lost in previous bets. It may be a better idea then, to combine more than one strategy together so that, in the event of your positive progression growing too large, you have an alternative strategy to mitigate the potential of your bet getting to high.

Common Roulette Betting Strategies

Understanding common roulette strategies is a great way to find a betting strategy that is actually going to work for you. There are plenty of free roulette systems out there that are worth giving a try. You can even try them out with our free roulette games without risking any of your own money in the process. Here are some core principles that are found in many of the most popular betting strategies today.

Can your previous spins affect your next spins?

As most players already know, the odds of either red or black coming up in the next round, are exactly 50/50. By simply going back and checking the spins history on any roulette game, you will be able to determine this for yourself. However, there may be ‘streaks’ of either red or black which you can take advantage of, recognising when a streak is happening is a great way to maximise your proposition betting.

Using a long term balance to predict the next spin

One of the more popular strategies is based around the idea that you can use something called a ‘long term balance’ to predict wins. Here’s how it works: If you had to open the spin history on a particular game of roulette and go over say the last 500 spins, you might find that around 300 spins resulted in black coming up, while the other 200 spins resulted in red coming up. The idea here is that you switch it up and bet on red since it should now re-balance itself. This is also known as ‘trend betting’

Can you win with a betting progression?

Essentially a betting progression is designed to help you decide what your next size bet should be. There are two basic forms of betting progressions to choose from: a negative betting progression, or a positive betting progression.

Negative betting progression: In a negative betting progression, you will need to decrease your bet size after a loss.

Positive betting progression: In a positive betting progression, you will need to increase your bet size after a loss.

Things to be aware of when using a progression betting strategy:

Changing the size of your bet simply won’t have any influence on what the actual winning number will be. This is because, in a roulette game, the size of your bet has nothing to do with the physical aspects of the game, namely the ball or the spinning wheel upon which the ball travels around. Here’s a look at an example of how a progression bet might play out:

• First bet: You bet 1 unit on black to win but you lose
• Second bet: You bet 2 units or chips on black but you lose
• Third bet: You bet 4 unit on black but you lose
• Fourth bet:You bet 8 units on black and this time, you win

As you can no doubt see from this hypothetical betting scenario, you’re using a positive progression betting sequence, doubling after ever loss until your win, in which case you revert back to the start of the sequence again. Remember to be cautious with this strategy as explained a little earlier in our guide.

When you do eventually win, will it help you make a profit?

In most cases, if you’ve used your roulette method correctly, you should see a profit after a win. However, winning does not automatically mean that you will make a profit. You would first have to take into consideration how much you’ve already lost up until your winning spin. In some situations you may have to win several bets in order to even out your losses and see a profit. This is one of the reasons why we recommend that you always try out your betting strategies with one of our Play UK free roulette games first.

Using a short term strategy may be the best roulette strategy

A short term winning strategy is based on the idea of applying a given strategy to a single session of roulette until a specific goal or outcome is achieved. Playing roulette with a short term strategy is great for a quick game, especially if you use your short term strategy for some fun and exciting outside (even money) betting, say on red or black. However, if you are aiming to play long term campaigns, you may wish to either adapt your strategy for a longer cycle, or pick a different strategy altogether.

Can you predict a winning streak?

Modern online roulette UK games, just like online slots, use something called random number generators to create results. Since these highly complex mathematical algorithms are used to create true random results every time. However, on some occasions the same result (red for example) will come up several times in a row, being able to spot these streaks is a great way to take advantage of them and maximise your betting.

Managing your bankroll can help you to win

Here’s something interesting to think about: bank roll management actually has nothing to do with betting systems but rather, has everything to do with management systems. In other words, deciding how much you are going to bet each time won’t necessarily effect whether you actually win or not, but it will help you to have a bankroll which lasts longer. This will then give you a much longer run at getting those winning numbers in. Using a negative or positive progression betting system will also have an influence on how long your bankroll lasts, but not on whether you win more or not.

Waiting for a trigger could help you to win your next bet

A lot of punters will combine their positive or negative betting progression systems with a ‘trigger’ system. What this essentially means is that you wait for some sort of change, such as waiting for 4 to 8 colours of black to appear in a row (a streak), and then betting on red to win next. While this may not happen often, the fact that you are waiting and not betting on every round will also give you a better chance since you are not spending your bankroll on just chasing singe wins here and there. Check the history of your roulette game to see how often or when last a streak happened.

Play UK’s List of Most Popular Online Roulette Strategies that Work!

The Martingale strategy uses the outside betting options, also known as proposition bets, on any roulette table. Outside bets are popular with novices and casual players, as well as those that prefer low risk bets over high risk bets. These low risk bets are found on the edge of the table, outside the main number grid.

Outside bets include the following:

• Betting on the colour red
• Betting on the colour black
• Betting on even numbers
• Betting on odd numbers
• Betting on numbers 1 – 18
• Betting on numbers 19 – 36

Here’s how a Martingale negative betting cycle might look in an actual game:

• First bet: Bet 1 unit – Result: lose 1 unit
• Second bet: Bet 2 units – Result: lose 3 units
• Third bet: Bet 4 units – Result: lose 7 units
• Fourth bet: Bet 8 units – Result: Win 16 units (your 8 units + another 8 for the win)

Now that you have an idea of some of the core principles behind some of the most popular online roulette strategies, it’s time to take a closer look at our top list of the best and most widely used of these. Checkout the following roulette strategies and see how each one works. You can also try each of them with our free online roulette games to see if any of them are a good fit for your needs, without running the risk of losing any of your own money in the process. The best part is that, once you have found the roulette strategy that really works for you, you can come back and use it in our real money online roulette games and even with our live dealer roulette games too. Remember, these online roulette strategies will also work with our mobile roulette games, giving you the best on the go strategies to winning roulette ever!

The Martingale Strategy

The Martingale roulette strategy is based on one of the oldest strategies in the world. In fact, a version of the Martingale strategy was even used by French aristocracy in the casinos of Paris and Monaco. Today, the Martingale strategy is still one of the most popular strategies on the web, and is especially favoured by novice and casual players. The Martingale method is based on a negative progression betting. In other words, you will need to double your initial bet and keep doubling it after every successive loss. Once you hit a win, you go back to the original single unit bet and repeat the process.

The above scenario shows how the Martingale could be an attractive strategy, especially over a short term game. However, caution should be exercised as too many losses in a row could result in a very high loss which you may not be able to sustain over an extended cycle, which the following illustrates:

The Labouchere Strategy

Labouchere is another example of one of the oldest and most popular betting systems in the world. The Labouchere roulette betting system is known as a cancellation betting system. This strategy is popular with virtually all levels of player and is a very quick and easy system to learn and to use in just about any game including mobile and live games. Many players also find that the Labouchere system also offers a better game management system than other strategies like the Martingale system for example.

Let’s sum up the Labouchere method here:

• The Labouchere strategy is based on a cancellation betting system
• The strategy is one of the oldest and most popular betting systems in the world and can be easily adapted to any roulette game
• The strategy is flexible and can be used in a number of different betting situations

Using the Labouchere strategy in an online roulette game is so simple, even absolute novice players will have no problem using it within their first few games. Again, remember to use our free games to get the hang of it first. To start, decide what your winning goal is as well as what your basic unit value is going to be. Once you’ve got that worked out, work out how many units you will need in order to achieve your winning goal.

Once you’ve got this figure worked out, take each of your betting units and write them down as a series of numbers. For our illustration, let’s assume that our unit size has a value of ten; we will then be able to write out our sequence of numbers like:

1 – 2 – 3 – 2 – 2

As you can tell, adding the above sequence up will give you a total of 10. The Labouchere strategy works on the cancellation of each of these numbers, which will eventually take you to your end goal. The strategy only works if you are able to cross off all the numbers in your number sequence.

Now to use the sequence that you have developed in your roulette game. First, determine your initial bet value or amount. To do this, simply add the first and the last numbers in your Labouchere strategy sequence.

For this example, your first betting amount will be 30 units. To arrive at this total, calculate your betting unit in the following way:

1 + 2 x 10 = 30

Now, if you bet this total value and win, you will then be able to cross these numbers off your sequence.

The next sequence in your Labouchere strategy should now look like this:

2-3-2

Again, determine your new betting unit for your next bet by, once again adding the first and last numbers together like this:

2 + 2 x 10 = 40

You now have your next bet value of 40 units.

If you happen to lose your bet, according to the way that the strategy works, you would then add this betting unit number to the end of the string.

This is what your sequence would then look like:

2 – 3 – 2 – 4

Now, go back to the same formula of adding the first and last numbers together to give you your new betting unit for your next bet. It should now look like this:

2 + 4 x 10 = 60

If you win your bet, cross those numbers off your list of numbers, like this:

3 – 2

Your remaining two numbers would then be added together to give you your final betting unit. Of course, if you happen to lose, remember to once again add the unit value lost to the end of the sequence and go again until the entire string has been crossed off.

The D’Alembert Roulette Strategy

Named after the famous French mathematician who invented it, Jean Le Rond D’Alembert, the D’Alembert strategy is another one of those really old betting strategies that goes all the way back to when roulette was still a new game. One of the reasons why this is still such a popular system is that many users swear that it is safer and simpler to use than other systems or strategies.

Just like other betting systems like the Martingale, the D’Alembert uses a negative betting progression but it is far more lenient than the Martingale system is. This is a great option for novice players to start off with as this system will really help in the early stages of learning how to bet. Again, it is a good idea to try it out first with our free games.

As with the Labouchere strategy, the first thing to do is to establish the basic value of a single betting unit. The D’Alembert strategy also works with betting units so it is important to know the value of a single betting unit in order to keep track of your bankroll while playing. If you are still new to the game or the D’Alembert strategy, it may be a good idea to simply start with the table minimum bet.

Once you have established your basic betting unit, place your first bet using a single unit, let’s say for the sake of this illustration, your unit is 5. You can place your bet on any of the outside or even money options including red or black, odd or even, 1 to 18, 19 to 36, and so forth. Based on the strategy, once the dealer announces the result you will have one of two options for your next bet:

1. In the event of a loss – increase your bet unit by another unit
2. In the event of a win – decrease your bet unit by one unit unless you are on your initial bet, in which case you will remain with your single unit

Here’s a recap of how the D’Alembert strategy would work in practice:

• Round 1: bet 1 unit – result: lose
• Round 2: bet 2 units – result: lose
• Round 3: bet 3 units – result: win
• Round 4: bet 2 units – result: win
• Round 5: bet 1 unit – result: lose
• Round 6: bet 2 units – result: win
• Round 7: bet 1 unit – result: win
• Round 9: bet 1 unit – result: lose
• Round 10: bet 2 units – result: win

The Fibonacci Roulette Strategy

We’ve talked about some pretty old roulette betting strategies so far but if you really want to try an ancient system there’ nothing better than the Fibonacci strategy. If the Fibonacci sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because you might have learnt about it in school. This is because the Fibonacci sequence isn’t actually a betting system, but rather a mathematical sequence that has been adapted for use in online casino games like roulette and blackjack.

While the Fibonacci sequence seems quite complicated at first glance, the truth is that it is really quite simple to understand and to master. The Fibonacci sequence begins at zero and progresses in a specific sequence from there in a mathematical relationship. To start the sequence, simply add 0 and 1 together, this gives us our base of 1 which, when added to itself produces 2. The sequence continues in this way, always adding the current number to the previous number, so continuing with the sequence, 2+1 would give us 3, 2 plus 3 would give us 5 and so on.

The basic Fibonacci sequence written out looks like this:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 and so on

How the Fibonacci Betting System works in the real world

Now that you see just how easy the Fibonacci sequence is to create, you can adapt it to your online play. Begin with a single unit bet. A single unit bet is usually whatever the table minimum is but can also be whatever amount you can afford as your base. With the Fibonacci sequence, the betting progression follows the exact same sequence, as long as your bet is a winning bet. If any bet loses, the sequence will revert back to the beginning of the sequence and start to build up again in the same manner.

Here’s an example of how it might look when you’re at the roulette wheel:

• Round one: bet 1 unit – result= win
• Round two: bet 1 unit – result=win
• Round three: bet 2 units – result= win
• Round four: bet 3 units – result= lose
• Round five: bet 1 unit – result=lose
• Round six: 1 unit – result=win
• Round seven: bet 1 unit – result=win
• Round eight: bet 2 units – result=win

Online Roulette Strategies - Summing it All Up

We hope you’ve enjoyed our in-depth guide to roulette strategies half as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it all together for you. If you are new to online roulette, welcome! We are sure that you are going to have a whale of a time exploring all of game options right here at Play UK.

The strategies that we outlined here are obviously just the tip of the iceberg and there are many others that you should try at least once. Remember, you can try any betting method with no risk with our exciting free games. Once you’ve found the perfect strategy that works for you, why not try a bet or two for real money? Find out if you can beat roulette with the perfect system and, once you have it all figured out, why not switch over to a high roller game for some added excitement and maybe even the ultimate adrenaline rush?