Roulette has been played for hundreds of years and is hugely popular in European and US casinos. There are a number of great strategies to winning at roulette, from the James Bond strategy to the Fibonacci sequence, but the first thing you must do is decide which version you’re going to play. Below, we give you the lowdown on how to end the game in profit when spinning the wheel. 

Getting Started By Learning The Basics Of Roulette 

Tracing its history back to 17th century France, roulette is one of the classic casino games and it stars in many major gambling films and TV shows. It features a spinning wheel, an even number of red and black numbers (ranging from 1-36) and comes in two official versions – American and European. 

Alongside the wheel, roulette comes with a ceramic ball and a betting table (known as the layout). In American roulette the layout has a double zero, while in European roulette it has a single zero. 

American roulette table 

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European roulette table 

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Players can wager two different types of bets in roulette, each of which offers a selection of different betting possibilities – outside bets and inside bets. 

Outside Bets  

Outside bets are made on groups of numbers which are located away from the centre of the roulette table. Outside bets have a greater chance of winning than inside bets, but offer a lower payout. 

Inside Bets In Roulette 

Inside bets are wagered on the middle section of the roulette layout. They can be made on a combination of numbers or on individual numbers. While the odds of winning are lower than with outside bets, the payouts for inside bets are larger. 

How Do You Play Roulette? 

While there are two different versions of roulette and two different types of bet, overall, the rules of this casino game are very simple. You wager your chips on either an inside or outside bet, the croupier then spins the wheel and if the ball lands on a number that matches your bet you will win – it’s that easy to play and win at roulette!  

Learning To Play Roulette Online

Once you have a grasp of the rules of roulette, there are many great online casinos you can test out your knowledge of this game. 

Begin playing online roulette by selecting a freeplay option. This gives you free spins to place bets without the risk of losing your own money and allows you to get a feel for how the action plays out. Once you have a knack for roulette, you can head over to a live or land casino to spin the wheel in real-time.  

What Are The Five Best Strategies To Win At Roulette?

Like most casino games, there are many different strategies used by gamblers to help improve their chances of winning at roulette. From the Martingale system to the D’Alembert approach, we’ve explained the five best approaches to roulette below. 

Martingale System 

The Martingale system is one of the oldest, simplest, and most popular strategies for winning at roulette. The idea is that you double your bet every time you lose, meaning that you’ll win back your original loss once one of your bets come in. 

How does doubling up in the Martingale system work? Like this – if you bet £1 and lose then your next bet is £2; if you lose again, you bet £4 next time – this continues until you win. 

You can see a casino example of the Martingale system in the video below: 

Fibonacci Sequence

If you’re a fan of progressive betting, then the Fibonacci sequence could be the ideal roulette approach for you. It works only for even money bets and uses a progressive style of betting, meaning that you place a sequence of bets on red/black, even/odd, and 1-18/19-36. 

The Fibonacci sequence is derived from a continuous sequence of numbers that was discovered in 200 BC, whereby you find the next number in a sequence by adding the two numbers before it, which looks like this: 1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 8 – 13 – 21 – 34 – 55 – 89 – 144 – 233 … 

D’Alembert Approach 

Another progressive strategy for winning at roulette, the D’Alembert approach sees you determine your wager by using a pre-set unit of betting. You remove a unit each time you win and add one every time you lose, with the idea being that it means you focus on bets where the odds of winning are close to 50%. 

Your pre-set bet units are based on a percentage of your bankroll and you can set whatever amount you want to. This means conservative gamblers can have lower bets, while more aggressive ones wager higher bets. 

The video underneath gives a detailed run through of how you can win at roulette by using the D’Alembert approach.

Reverse Martingale System

As the name reveals, the reverse Martingale system applies the same principle of progressive betting as the Martingale system, but in reverse. The outcome is that you play a strategy where you double your bet when you win, rather than when you lose. 

How does doubling your bet work in the reverse Martingale system work? I’ll explain –  If you bet £1 and win, then you wager £2 for your next bet, and £4 if that bet comes good – you keep betting in this way until you lose. 

James Bond Strategy  

If you want to throw caution to the wind, then gamble like James Bond. This strategy sees you bet 20 units for each round of gambling, with your bets placed as follows: 

• 14 units on numbers 19-36

• 5 units on numbers 13-18

• 1 unit on 0 

If your bets come good then you’ll make the following profits: 

• 8 units from 19-36

• 10 from 13-18

• 16 from 0

The downside to this aggressive approach (alongside not actually being James Bond) is that you’ll lose your whole bet if the ball lands on any number from 1-12.

Tips In Picking A Winning Roulette Wheel

Unlike games where you compete against either other players or the dealer (particularly poker), you cannot simply pick a winning table to sit down and play roulette – this is because you are battling against chance, rather than the raw playing ability of an opponent. However, despite chance playing such a crucial role in roulette, there are some tips to help you pick a winning roulette wheel. 

Select a ‘friendly’ roulette table 

Gambling is about making the right betting decisions wherever possible. If you play at an aggressive table, you may lose your focus and make poor betting choices. 

Pick a legit roulette table 

It’s not impossible for tables to be rigged (though the chances of this happening in a professional casino are very low). Keep an eye on the action and establish if you’re sat at a fair table, otherwise you might be cheated out of your bankroll. 

How Much To Bet To Get The Maximum Win

The best way to win the maximum amount at roulette is to be patient. Betting your entire bankroll on a single number is the quickest way to win big. This is because it has the biggest payout (at a rate of 35 to 1). If your bet doesn’t come in though, this strategy is the easiest way of losing all of your money. 

To win the most at roulette, keep your bets low, with the odds in your favor, and only spend money that you have to spend — set yourself a limit before you enter a casino. Do not go into debt in order to win at roulette, or any other game. Instead, try to win small, and then use your winnings to place more or larger bets.

How To Choose The Right Bets

Like many casino games, roulette has a range of different bet types with varying payouts. Choosing the right bet is about knowing what payout you can expect and balancing it against the chances of the bet coming through: 

American Vs Europen Roulette — Which Is Better For Winning

There are two versions of roulette – American and European. Each game uses a wheel, has the same betting types, and feature red, black, and green sections for wagers. They’re identical except for one detail – American roulette has an extra 0 (using 0 and 00) and this gives the house an advantage of 5.26%, as opposed to 2.7% in European roulette. 

Whenever you have the choice, play the European version of roulette rather than the American version. Because the American version has two zeros (0 and 00), there is an extra space on the wheel, which increases the odds of you winning. The European version only has a single zero (0), which means that there is one space less for the ball to land, thereby decreasing the odds for that roulette table.

You may find that the minimum bets are larger at a European roulette table. This is intentional as it is possible to win more at the European roulette odds.

FAQs

What Is The Best Bet That Can Be Made In Roulette?

There are 22 different bet types in roulette, with the payout ranging from as high as 35 to 1 down to as low as 1 to 1. While placing a single bet has the best payout in roulette, it also gives you the lowest chance of winning. The best bet you can make in roulette is one that is in keeping with your chosen roulette betting strategy, as this gives you the highest chance of winning in the long run. 

Is There A Strategy For Roulette?

There are many different strategies in roulette, from the progressive D’Alembert to the unit-based James Bond strategy. The Martingale strategy is the most popular roulette approach to betting and it works by doubling down when you lose. 

How Do You Bet On Roulette?

There are two different types of bet in roulette – inside bets and outside bets. In an inside bet, you wager on the middle area of the roulette table; during outside bets, you wager on the outer area of the table.