Watching the way Roulette players place their bets can reveal many interesting styles of play. Some seem to use a random approach, “feeling” their way around the field and dropping a chip or two wherever it “seems” right. Others bet the same numbers over and over again, waiting for their selections to come up.

Many believe in betting on numbers that have recently appeared, perhaps under the assumption that wheels are not perfect and some numbers occur with greater frequency than others. And of course there are always a few beginners who stick to the safer outside bets, where little is risked or gained and guesswork is their main method of selecting where to wager and how much to bet.

Progressive Betting

Winning at roulette may take some luck, but those who are successful consistently never rely on luck alone. They realize that the wheel has no memory, that every spin is an independent event, and that nothing that has occurred in the past can predict future outcomes. With this in mind, they develop a strategy or employ a system based upon mathematical probabilities that will allow them to place optimum wagers on the most likely results for every spin of the wheel.

One of the most common Roulette strategies is to use a betting progression. Among the oldest and perhaps the most widely known of these is the Martingale Roulette Betting System, which can be used for even-money bets—Even, Odd, Red, Black, Low (1~18), and High (19~36). When playing Martingale, whatever amount is bet is simply doubled following any loss. After a win, all previous losses are recouped along with a profit, and the progression begins again. The downside is that losing streaks can quickly lead to huge bets, as the progression mounts from one unit to two, and then 4-8-16-32-54-128, etc.

Other progressive betting systems include Labouchere (the cancellation system), d’Alembert (based upon the law of equilibrium), and Fibonacci (named for a famous mathematical sequence). Anyone who wants to create a winning strategy for Roulette should become familiar with each of them, know their benefits and drawbacks, and be willing to shift from one to another as circumstances demand.

Using All Available Tools

Using progressive betting systems is not the only component in a winning Roulette strategy. Knowing where to bet is just as important as knowing how much. Toward this end, numerous betting patterns have been developed, some focused on sections of the table and others on sectors of the wheel.

Targeting areas of the table can take several forms. Statistics show that randomly generated winners will occur in equal amounts throughout the field of 37 or 38 numbers, so there is no reason to believe any particular area is more likely to contain the next winner than another. Still, many players believe a certain section or group of numbers may be “overdue” if it has not had a winner in a while.

Oddly enough, there is no harm in this belief, because all numbers have an equal chance of coming up in any event. The way the chips are placed, along with how many numbers are covered, is more important than where they go. Elsewhere on this site, Roulette Pattern Betting and Reverse Roulette Betting are discussed, giving more specific examples of ways to target areas within the field.

Those who target sectors of the wheel have a similar mindset—that certain groups of numbers are more likely to contain a winner than others. This would absolutely be true if the wheel was discovered to be broken, but a fair wheel will turn out winners randomly and unpredictably.

Again, there is nothing wrong with focusing on a specific set of numbers grouped together. In fact, in France and Great Britain, special names have been given to various parts of the wheel, such as Voisins du Zero (neighbors of zero) for sector of 17 numbers with zero in the middle. For more information on sector betting, see the topic entitled Roulette Pattern Betting.