The Most Popular Roulette Strategies – Pros & Cons

It comes as no surprise that Roulette holds the first place in popularity when it comes to casino games. While it is always fun to play and provides exciting experience, emotions can quickly prevail draining your bankroll budget. That is why it is important to play responsibly and stick to certain rules while enjoying time at the table. If you’re serious about risk management it is best to implement a roulette strategy.

Different strategies may be affected by the variant you’re playing, so it might be a good idea to read our Full Guide to Roulette to make sure you know all about this amazing game’s variations.

First things first. If you think that a single strategy is guaranteed to land you big wins, you’re simply wrong. It is in the game’s nature to eliminate the chance of a given approach

Roulette strategies are usually split in two groups:

Progressive betting

These strategies based on the concept of constantly enlarging your bet, knowing the result from the previous round.

Non-Progressive betting

Strategies where you stick to the same bet amount regardless of the previous round outcome.

Now that you know the main difference, read on to learn about the most popular roulette strategies as we cover the basics and point out their advantages and drawbacks.

Martingale Strategy

This strategy is based on the idea that if you lose a bet, it is important to double your bet in order to get back on track. It is also called the “doubling down” strategy.

Martingale roulette is a betting strategy where the player doubles their bet after every loss.It is based on the idea that eventually, the player will win and recoup all previous losses. However, this is not always true. The martingale roulette strategy can be very risky for players and it can lead to bankruptcy if they don’t have a large bankroll to cover their losses.

Pros

Easy to implement, with no need for complex calculations. This makes it an attractive option for novice gamblers who are looking for a simple way to play roulette without knowing much about statistics or mathematics.

Cons

Requires a big budget.

The main downside of this strategy is that it relies on chance and luck to work, which means there is no guarantee you will win money at the end of a series of bets.

Fibonacci Strategy

This is another popular way to improve your odds in roulette, although it might be a bit hard to follow for those not that good in maths. Like the name suggests, it is based on the Fibonacci sequence, which is a mathematical sequence where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers.

Fib sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233 and so on.

Compared to Martingale, this strategy offers a less speculative betting progression. You wouldn’t need as big of a budget to break even when things start to go south. Chances are you’ll be able to recoup any losses with only about a third of your bets and the opposite would work too—you know, if you happen to have a lucky streak.

This betting system is to be used with even bets. You start with 1 and follow the sequence for every loss. Once you win, you go two numbers back to find the amount you have to bet. If you’re on a winning streak, you should be able to get back to the beginning of the sequence.

Here’s an example with 10 roulette spins:

Bet Amount	Result	Profit
1	Loss	-1
1	Loss	-2
2	Loss	-4
3	Win	-1
1	Win	0
1	Loss	-1
2	Loss	-3
3	Loss	-6
5	Win	-1

Pros

A rather safe strategy.

Compared to other progressive strategies, losses are kept a a reasonable level.

Cons

Requires a big budget.

You may need to wait for multiple rounds to pass to even out after a losing streak.

James Bond Strategy

The famous agent’s roulette strategy has been around for a while. The name comes from the 007-esque feel to it and also because players who don’t know the approach may find it to be an exciting, high-risk gamble, just like James Bond himself! Let’s now take a deeper look into the logic of this approach.

For simplicity, let’s assume your budget is $20. For each round you place the following bet:

$1 goes as straight up bet on 0, $5 as line bet 13 to 18, and the remaining $14 cap numbers from 19 to 36. As you can see, this approach secures quite a bit of numbers, but let’s not forget the built-in casino advantage. For each loss you take, you’d lose more than what you’d gain if the ball lands on one of your numbers. This simply means, unless you are exceptionally lucky, in the long run you’ll be on a losing streak.

Pros

A simple combination bet that doesn’t require complex calculations that covers decent amount of numbers.

Cons

If you do the math, you’d see that even the highly-skilled secret agent can’t beat the house edge. Unless you’re extremely lucky, chances are you’ll end up in progressive loss.

D’Alembert Strategy

In this betting technique the player places even bets only – that is red or black, even or odd, and high or low (1 to 18 or 29 to 36). Once you decide on the amount of your initial bet, you increase or decrease your bet by the same amount depending on the outcome – respectively loss or win.

Example: if your starting bet is $5 and you loose on the first spin, the next bet would be $10. If the second one is a win, the third bet would be $5.

The key point here is that the base amount should be a minor part of your total budget. That’s because at some point you will have to wager X times the initial bet’s amount.

Although it seems to be a safe approach, this strategy surely has it’s drawbacks. One of them is the odds of winning even bets – stats for European roulette show that’s a 48.6% probability. This simply means if you have to play a lot of rounds, chance is not on your side.

Pros

Simple rules that can be followed easily.

Can be profitable in the short run.

Works with smaller budgets.

Cons

Most likely to generate smaller profits.

Can turn against you in the long run.

Conclusion

When playing roulette, placing bets without having a clear strategy can take your gambling budget to zero in no time. Choosing the right approach can be crucial if you’re not relying entirely on luck and want to have better odds of winning. Although none of the popular roulette strategies are going to guarantee you a big win, following one will surely up your playing style, keep your bankroll under control, and increase your chances of scoring some good wins.