Roulette Strategy

Roulette: To strategize or not to strategize

Some feel it is pointless to use a strategy in Roulette, but that isn't necessarily true. It may be a game of chance, but just because it is based on pure luck doesn't mean that it is hopeless to develop some sort of strategy that will work to your advantage. You will also find that your strategy may need to be adjusted based on the casino you are playing in. An example is that Atlantic City casinos have a rule called "surrender." You can ask the table before you start play if they use this rule because any other strategy you have in mind may not work with this rule, which in itself is a strategy.

Let's look at this strategy/rule a little bit deeper:

• You will find that the surrender strategy only applies to outside bets that pay even. Those bets are: red/black, high/low, even/odd. At least when the ball lands on 0 or 00, you will lose half of your bet as opposed to losing the entire bet. You have now dropped the casino's edge by approximately 2.63%, which is better than the edge you had when the game started.
• Another thing to look at is keeping your eyes open for Roulette wheels that don't have the 00. Chances are you have found a European wheel and the house's edge is automatically decreased. You won't find these wheels often in the United States since they decrease the house's edge, but that is most certainly good news for you because it increases your odds of winning. When you bet 12 times, the house edge decreases to 2.7%, so paying attention to whether or not the 00 is on the wheel makes for a very smart Roulette strategy since you never know when a European wheel will pop up in the casino you are playing in.

Basically, Roulette strategy lies in the simple mathematics derived from the odds of winning or losing. Obviously, there is no mathematic system that applies to the wheel itself and the odds the ball will land on the right number, but the mathematics play to your advantage when you're trying to deplete the house's edge. Yes, there are some out there who claim to have 'the system,' but sometimes this is just to sell books or software opposed to having a legitimate system that works. That's when you can keep in mind that Roulette has very subtle strategies rather than hardcore "this is how you're going to win…guaranteed" strategies.

Basically, anyone is going to walk up to you and say "I tried this system and I won." What you have to ask is how many times they won with the strategy versus how many times they lost. If they lost more than they won, then they probably don't have a reliable strategy. Wins happen and loses happen whether a strategy is implemented or not, but the true strategy lies in how you bet, which is either through doubling your bets on loses to make up for them on the win or betting low after losses and high on the wins. How you play is up to you.

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