The game of roulette is truly a gambling classic.
An icon of the casino, the sight of those red and black pockets spinning round and round and silver ball dances along the wheel, is a famous sight. Portrayed in films and TV, it is probably fair to say that more people know what the roulette wheel is compared to any other casino game, even if not everyone knows how to play.
The fact is though that the roulette wheel is actually a wonderfully dynamic and very simple game to play and understand. A long list of bets that range from the simple evens bets of red or black, odds or even, to more elaborate bets across the wheel, makes the roulette wheel a really fun and accessible game for gamblers of all levels.
The simplicity of the game means that it is also a game which many players approach with their best strategy for roulette. Mathematicians and gamblers alike have been intrigued by the spinning roulette wheel since it was first introduced in France back in the 17th and 18th centuries. A game of odds, there are various ways to approach the roulette wheel and some really well known betting systems and roulette strategies.
Here, we have gathered some of the most basic betting systems in roulette that are simple to understand and easy to apply to your own game, be that in a real casino or indeed or online, as the virtual roulette wheel continues to thrive in the exciting world of online gambling. So, whether you like to bet in person or on your smartphone or tablet device, try out one of these three simple roulette betting systems yourself.
What is a roulette betting system?
A roulette betting system is a calculated approach to the famous roulette wheel.
There are a number of roulette systems due to the games predictable amount of outcomes – European roulettes have just 37 slots and America roulette wheels have 38, and the ball has to land in one of them. This has lead to some great minds of the mathematics conjuring up some methods as to how to beat the casino or at the very least, cover your losses.
The systems are always based on the sometimes simple and sometimes very complicated complex nature of odds. We will be sticking to the most simple roulette betting systems here, so you can put your calculator down and just read up on how these methods are done. In other words, someone has already done the maths, do you do not have to.
The Martingale system
The Martingale system might be a betting method that you have heard of before.
This is surely one of the most famous betting systems ever created and it exclusive to games that have or can at least offer, a 50-50 chance of winning. In this case, it more appropriate to say that the roulette wheel has what is very, very close to a 50-50 chance of winning, what with the addition of the green pocket or pockets altering the likelihood of red or black simply being a 50-50 style bet.
Simply, the Martingale system requires you to double your bet every time you lose on red or black, or odds or evens. Aimed at covering your losses and doubling your bet when you win, the more you lose, the more you bet, because eventually the bet will have to come in… right? Well, this old fashioned method was introduced before the roulette tables of Paris set limits of how much or how little you can bet on the wheel.
This means that, if you are betting high and lose a few in a row, by the time you’ve double your money multiple times to cover your losses, you could end up outside of the betting range. Due to the way in which gambling limits are set, it is likely that gamblers cannot afford to lose seven bets in a row using this classic but perhaps slightly dated betting method.
If you want to use the Martingale method effectively, maybe it is best to stick on the heads or tails outcome of a coin, rather than taking it to the slightly complex world of roulette.
The anti-Martingale system
That’s right. The Martingale system is so famous, so often challenged, criticised and referenced, that it has it’s own opposition strategy.
Now this is not some kind of hate-fuelled systems that aims to outdo the above. Rather, it uses a similar outlook to do with doubling your money but rather, you actually reduce your bets.
Instead of doubling your bets when you win to cover you losses when you eventually do win – should the casino limits allow it – you have to reduce your bets when you lose and increase them when you win. In all honesty this is a method that thrives off the feeling of momentum in a game of roulette, rather having any mathematical perfection.
Similar to Martingale, this method, for all it’s fame or infamy, has major critics and flaws in a game of roulette.
Betting on Red
This is the most simple roulette betting system of the whole lot.
It’s name is as simple as the method and simply involves the gambler just betting on the same outcome over and over again, providing that it is one Red, Black, odds or evens. Betting on Red therefore, can simply mean that you just bet on red over and over again, using the same amount every time.
An odds game, you have a 47.37% chance of getting it right each time with your money doubling every win. The thought is that the you could just as easily end up losing three in a row as you can win three in a row, meaning that this is a really simple strategy to follow.
Again, remember that the odds are always shifted slightly towards the house thanks to the addition of green pockets, though.