Smarter Roulette – How to Stay on the Wheel without Falling Off

Roulette can sometimes seem a bit ‘stop the ride I want to get off’ at times…

The game moves fast, streaks of either red or black can appear to go on forever, and it may be your imagination, but ‘0’ seems to come up far more frequently than the 37:1 true odds would suggest.

So how do we stay on the wheel? Read on and we’ll fill you in…

Myths about Roulette

First of all, let’s get some common misconceptions out of the way.

First of all, and this is likely to affect only beginners, is that false belief that Roulette is an elitist or ‘glamorous’ game, where you need to own an Aston Martin to be able to play. Nonsense!

This this makes about as much sense as saying that you can’t drink bottled water, because the Queen drinks it!

And with pretty much well all online casinos offering Roulette, you can play at the online casino of your choice in your pyjamas if you wish!

Another prevailing attitude is that the tables are weighted against the player to prevent anybody getting away with any big wins.

Again, this is baloney. With the online version, a table can’t be physically ‘weighted’, nor defective in some other way, and all the reputable casinos (which means not Unibet, for instance) are subject to very strict laws and regulations concerning payouts, the outcomes of every spin etc.

Another myth that has persisted is that it is impossible to win money at Roulette.

Again this can be disproved by simple statistics. For instance if you engage in the first type of bet outlined below, you can expect to have a winning number 30 out of 37 times.

Admittedly big winnings aren’t always going to come your way, but a steadily-rising bankroll can be the reward for the patient.

Conversely, avoid such fallacies as the idea that streaks actually occur – the same odds apply every spin of the wheel and, whilst in the short run black, say, can appear more frequently than red, after 1,000 spins the incidence of black and red will be about the same.

Some preliminaries

Play on European Roulette only, and avoid American Roulette (because it has a ‘00’ as well as a ‘0’, significantly reducing your chances of winning.

Better still, go for French Roulette if available, as this doesn’t take your stake when ‘0’ comes up, but rather lets you respin (or pushes back half your stake).

Cover all bases

This method can slowly build up a bankroll, and in the worst case scenario not lead to a seriously depleted one.

You should bet on one of the two colors (let’s say red) and then put a roughly similar amount on each of the first 2 columns at 2:1. This leaves un-covered the 4 black numbers in the top column (6, 15, 24, 33) and ‘0’, but you can put smaller bets on these as well.

Pick some ‘lucky’ numbers

This is a slightly riskier technique than the above, although with potentially better rewards.

It rests on the fact that the Roulette table is divided into 2 halves, 1-18 and 2-36.

You should choose a number of bets from 1-18, say about 10 numbers, and bet small, equal units on each of them. Then betting the same amount on the 19-36 square (at evens) has most numbers covered.

Of course you can also bet on zero, just remember to bet the same total amount as you did on the low numbers, in the high number square (or even 1 more is better).

So for example if you bet 1 on ‘0’, and numbers 1-10, you’d bet 11 on the 19-36 field.

Stay in the short run

Finally, don’t chase losses, and don’t stay for long periods at a table. You can make small, steady wins in a few spins if you’re sensible.