There are many different strategies which may enhance your chances of winning. After all, that’s the reason for playing. We’ll run through some of the more common.
The American Wheel versus the European Wheel
This is the most simple roulette strategy of all. The difference between the American and European wheel is that the American has both a zero and a double zero. The European only has a zero. Not every casino runs a European wheel, but it is well worth taking a look around, and if you find one, ensure that you play on that wheel as it decreases the house edge and therefore offers you better odds.
Special rules
Not all casinos will offer these rules, but if you find them, make sure you understand how they work, and use them to your advantage. These are known as ‘Surrender’ and ‘En Prison’.
Surrender (or La Partage)
Basically, this reduces the house edge by removing the zero and/or the double zero advantage. If the ball lands on these numbers, then instead of losing all your money, you receive back some, or all, of your stake. But, for this to apply you need to be betting on ‘even odds’ only – in other words red or black, odd or even or high or low.
En Prison
This system again applies when the ball lands on the zero or double zero, and again on even money bets. If it lands here, you don’t lose your stake, but your money is held on the board for the next spin of the wheel. Effectively it is held ‘in prison’. If you then win on the subsequent spin, you receive back your original stake. If you lose, then the money goes to the house. If it once again lands on the zero or double zero, then it is held again for the next spin.
The next one to consider is one of the oldest roulette strategies known.
The Martingale
Fairly straightforward and ideal for beginners at the Roulette table, involving even money bets (chose either red or black, odds or evens, high or low) and you stay with that choice. You start off with a stake of, let’s say, $1. If you lose, double your stake on the next bet, and so on. Doubling ensures that when you do win, you’ll recover back all of your previous losses. When you win, you take your money and reduce your next bet back to your original stake.
There are other, more complex strategies which can be followed once you are more adept at the game.
The D’Alambert System
Once again, this is for even money bets and is similar to the Martingale. The basic idea is that if you lose, then you add one unit to your next bet and if you win, then you minus one unit from the next bet.
The Laboudere System
Again, this works with even money bets and involves writing down a sequence of the numbers and using the sum of the first and last numbers in the line to determine the size of your stake. For example, if your number sequence is 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, then your stake is 1 plus 4 – so you bet $5. If you win, then the outside numbers (1 and 4) are crossed out, and your next stake will be 2 plus 3 – equals $5. But if you lose, then the stake, in this case $5, is added to the end of the line. So the line now reads 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5. Therefore the next bet will be the first and last numbers, 1 plus 5 = $6.
There is also a reverse system of this strategy, which means that if you lose, you take away the first and last numbers, and if you win, you add them to the line.
The Dozens System
This involves betting on either the first, second or third group of 12 numbers. 1-12, classed as low, 13-24, classed as medium, or 25-36, classed as high. You will need to print off a chart, and keep a precise note on exactly which groups (low, medium or high) comes up in each series of 5 spins of the wheel. With this strategy, you don’t bet straight away, you wait for a series of five when one of the groups (low, medium or high) has not come up. Then you place gradually increasing bets until you win.
This is quite a complicated system which requires some careful discipline. Therefore not really one for the beginners.