When I was 14 years old my parents took me on a 2 day cruise, it was great; my dad spent the whole time looking a bit green whilst my mum introduced me to the wonders of onboard casinos – that was the beginning of my love affair with roulette. Ten years latter, I still love the roulette wheel, it’s appeal and excitement hasn’t waned. In the course of those ten years, however I have noticed a number of strategies that people tend to play with – personally I think they take the fun out of the game, but hey, everyone has a right to know what their options are, right?
The most common strategy used in roulette is known as the Martingale. This strategy is based on the theory that loosing streaks don’t last long, therefore if you continue to bet on the same one of two chance options (e.g. black or red/odds or evens), it won’t be long until you win. Now, the way that you actually make money on this is by doubling your bet each time each time you don’t win. Confused? Don’t be! If I bet $5 on red and it comes up black, then I’ve lost $5, however the next spin I bet $10 on red – oops came up black again, now I’ve lost a total of $15. Never mind, I stick with the Martingale theory, I double my bet on the same choice and so I put down $20 on red. Hallelujah, it’s red! I win $40. Does it work out? Yes, I bet $5 + $10 + $20 = $35; I made a $5 profit. Make sense?
Once you’ve grappled with the Martingale, the next strategy for you to deal with to is the Uber Martingale, actually more commonly known as the Grand Martingale. This strategy works in much the same way as the regular Martingale, except that with the Grand Martingale you double your bet and you add one of your original bet. So, after the first loss of $5 you double it to $10, but you also add one, i.e. another $5, so your second bet is $15. If that one doesn’t come in for you, you double the $15 and add one, i.e. $5 to make your third bet $35, and so on. This increases your profit margin when you do win.
The truth is that I have seen people win big with these strategies; they’re highly logical and do work. However, I’ve also seen people loose big on them because they didn’t plan properly; a table with a low limit can cause problems when playing the Martingale strategies because it increases the chance of reaching the limit before you win. So, if you’re going to play this strategy, play at a high limit table, and always start your bets low.
This isn’t the only roulette strategy used, but it is the most common. Personally, I find all strategies to be a little dull, except for mine that is – favorite numbers, birthdays and following the gut; frankly you can’t beat it.
