Best Online Roulette System
In this system, you will always double your betting amount when you min, which means that you bet on roulette positions that pay out 1:1. Your bet can therefore be placed on the 50% chance areas such as red/black, odd/even, 1 – 18/ or 18 – 36. Those looking for the best roulette system that works, or the best roulette system to use, are in luck as we have found the most successful roulette system. You are in luck. Here we’ll show you not only how to Win at roulette. We’ll also show you the best system you can try.
Within the game of roulette, one system stands tall as the go to for players looking for an easy to understand, straightforward, winning strategy. The Martingale system has been used for over two centuries and continues to be the most popular roulette strategy choice for players. In this guide, you will learn exactly how the Martingale roulette strategy works, both in theory and in practice.
Further to this, we will give you an in-depth understanding of how the Martingale odds play out over the course of a game before discussing whether or not the system is technically legal. Finally, we will compare the Martingale roulette system against other well-known systems before ending with some of its shortcomings.
Martingale Roulette System – The Theory
With origins dating back to the 1800s, the Martingale system descends from probability theory where within a sequence of fixed random variables, there will always be a point where the next value will be equal to the present value. Now don’t run away. With a simple example, this theory becomes very straight forward and easy to understand. First, think about a person continually betting on the outcome of flipping a coin where the outcomes are fixed – heads wins and tails loses. If the person betting was to double their bet after every loss, a win would recover all previous losses in one bet plus a profit equal to the first bet in the sequence. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the the following section below and you will see it for yourself.
The idea behind this system is that at some point, you have to win, and this win will recover all your previous losses, plus one unit of profit. In layman’s terms, double up until you win! By now, I’m sure you can see the attractiveness of such a system when utilised as a roulette strategy.
Martingale System in Practice
Now that you have a better understanding of how the Martingale system works in theory, let’s have a look at a practical example in roulette. Similar to the above coin example, players will choose a ‘relatively’ even-money bet. I say relatively because in roulette, these are not exactly 50 bets but we will discuss that in more detail later. In roulette these bets can be on low (1-18) or high (19-36) numbers, odd or even numbers or the most commonly used bet on red or black. For this example, we will be betting £1 on the probability that the ball lands on red.After the first spin, if the ball lands on red, we are very happy and have won our first bet with a profit of £1. If the ball lands on black and we have lost, at this point we will double our original bet from £1 to £2. If the ball then lands on red, we will have recovered our previous lost bet of £1 plus an additional unit of profit £1. If on our second spin, the ball lands on black and we lose again, we will continue doubling our bets on red until we win. No matter how long it takes, or the size of the bet, we will eventually win and recover our original bet.
But how will this strategy hold up if we lose five games in a row? The answer is: completely fine. Check out the above example and you will see just how straight forward the Martingale roulette system is in action.
Martingale Odds: Working Out Your Risk
The secret to the Martingale roulette strategy is really no secret at all; it’s a simple numbers game. As referenced earlier, the success of the system is down to the assumption that at some point, after a series of losses, you have to win, and with this win, you can recover all of your losses plus one unit of profit. So how can we believe that a player will eventually recover all of his or her losses? In order to demonstrate this theory, we have outlined in the table below how a player can recover all of their losses, even after losing nine games in a row by utilising the Martingale strategy.
| Spin Progression | Bet (Units) | Outcome | Total Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Loss | -1 |
| 2 | 2 | Loss | -3 |
| 3 | 4 | Loss | -7 |
| 4 | 8 | Loss | -15 |
| 5 | 16 | Loss | -31 |
| 6 | 32 | Loss | -63 |
| 7 | 64 | Loss | -127 |
| 8 | 128 | Loss | -255 |
| 9 | 256 | Loss | -511 |
| 10 | 512 | Win | 1 |
So, the Martingale theoretical approach implies that, for instance, if you lose nine games in a row and double your bet on the following tenth spin, you will recover all of your losses and come out with a profit of plus one. Once you land a win after a series of consecutive losses, you start anew. The Martingale odds are stacked in your favour! Of course, Martingale only strictly works theoretically if you have the bank roll to support it.
Is the Martingale Strategy Legal?
As it stands, the use of the Martingale roulette system is perfectly legal. However, casinos do have countermeasures in order to decrease its effectiveness. One measure is to put in place maximum betting limits which mean, if a player is in a deep losing streak, there will come a point where they can no longer place a high enough bet to cover all their losses. For example, if a casino has a £500 maximum betting limit and a player has lost a £275 bet, they will not be able to double it £550. Another countermeasure to help reduce the players’ odds of successfully utilising the Martingale strategy is the fabled ‘other’ colour on the roulette wheel; the green. The green slots are filled with the number zero. In European Roulette there is only one slot and thus one zero, whereas in the American version there are two slots, one for zero and another for double zero. These green zeros represent the house edge. In European Roulette the green spread is worth 2.7% giving the house an edge of 51.35% in total. In American roulette, with two green slots, the spread is worth 5.26% giving the house an even bigger advantage of 52.6%.
Other Roulette Systems
Now that you’ve dipped your finger and got a taste of what the Martingale strategy has to offer, let’s see how it compares to some of the other more niche systems available to roulette players today. The following two are just a preview of the available betting systems. If you’re interested in finding out more about the existing strategies, we would recommend our comprehensive guide to roulette systems.
- Counts on winning and losing streaks
- Bet same after a loss
- Up wager by one unit after a win
- Less flexible than Martingale
- Advocates betting on 20+ numbers
- Numbers should be spread well
- Aims to reduce potential losses
- Somewhat chaotic, yet very flexible
The Oscar’s Grind system is based on the idea that there are periods of both winning streaks and losing streaks. In brief, when you lose a bet, you bet the same amount and when you win, you raise the bet by one unit. The method can withstand many bad runs however, the Martingale system is far more resistant to alternating wins and losses in short streaks.
The Kavouras system involves betting different amounts on at least 20 numbers chaotically spread around the roulette wheel. This method eliminates possible dealer interference, places several defensive numbers in play to minimise potential future losses and offers the opportunity for big wins. The system is deliberately very chaotic and flexible, however, if you prefer a far more standardised system that you can follow, the Martingale strategy is the one for you.
The Downfall of the Martingale System
As with any roulette system, both pros and cons exist and the Martingale strategy is not without its flaws. If it was foolproof, we would all be millionaires by now! Theoretically, the Martingale system is really sound, however in reality, there are two gaping holes which cannot be ignored. Firstly, the theory assumes players have an unlimited bankroll and can withstand huge losses. For most people, this is not the case. Secondly, open-ended table limits very rarely exist. As discussed above, many casinos impose maximum betting limits on their roulette tables in order to inhibit players from recovering from large losses.
Whilst it is statistically very unlikely that you will ever be unlucky enough to lose eight, nine, even ten spins in a row, it will eventually happen. At the end of the day, the roulette wheel doesn’t know you or remember your previous spins. In every spin, you either win or you *cough*die*cough* lose.
Conclusion
Whilst not completely fool proof, the Martingale roulette system can be a very useful way to ease yourself into a game of roulette and familiarise yourself with the mathematical side of gambling and odds. It is a very interesting theory and certainly worth testing out, but should always be played with low stakes at first. That said, if you prefer a high stakes game, we would recommend our guide to the best high stakes online casinos in the UK. If you want to find out more about roulette, check out our guide to the best online roulette casinos in the UK. Set yourself profit goals and loss limits so you don’t get carried away and above all, enjoy yourself!
Over the last few weeks I have explained how some of the most popular roulette systems in the world are used by professional gamblers every day. If you want to learn how to use these systems yourself, check out the articles on the Labouchere Roulette System, the Reverse Labouchere Roulette System, the Three Two Roulette System, the Martingale Roulette System, the D’Alembert Roulette System, and the Andrucci Roulette System.
Now that we have seen how all of these different systems work, we put 2 of the most popular ones to the test- the Reverse Labouchere System and the Martingale System. Can they really break the bank? Let’s Find Out!
Best Online Roulette System Review
The Reverse Labouchere Roulette System
Of these systems, the most famous is probably the Reverse Labouchere system. This system was used by Norman Leigh and 12 companions to break the bank of the Casino Municipale in Nice back in 1966. This true story was later chronicled in the book “Thirteen Against the Bank”, written by Norman Leigh. Check out the book on Amazon.
Norman claims that the system alone was the key to his resounding roulette success. In fact, Norman and his cohorts won so much money that they were banned from all casinos in France for the rest of their lives. The story in the book has driven many a gambler to use the Reverse Labouchere system to try and beat the house. It worked for Norman, but can it really make you millions of dollars at the roulette table?
The Martingale Roulette System
The Martingale Roulette System is perhaps the most commonly used betting system in all of gambling. Its simplicity, promises of winnings at the end of every round, and its ability to be applied to bets in a variety of different games has lead to its enormous popularity. But does it really win you money at the roulette table?
Testing The Roulette Systems
To test the roulette systems, we will be using a roulette simulator developed by Woodger Computing. James Woodger was kind enough to let us use his company’s software for the purposes of this test.
To really put these systems to the test, we are using the following methodology:
- Each roulette system will go through 10,000,000 simulated spins to ensure a good sample size.
- The simulated table limit will be $10,000. This is rather high, but it gives the systems a chance to work, and these limits CAN be found in the high roller rooms at many casinos.
- The simulations will use the North American rules (the table has both 0 and 00 green squares on the roulette wheel). Using these rules, the house advantage is 5.26%
To understand what each results field means, take a look at the complete results explanation from the Woodger Software website.
Without further ado, let’s put these roulette systems to the test!
Reverse Labouchere Roulette System Results
As we can see from the graphic above, using the Reverse Labouchere Roulette System over 10,000,000 spins produced results (4.97% loss) only slightly above the house advantage of 5.26%. Based on these results, the famous Reverse Labouchere Roulette System should not win the player any money over the long run.
Martingale Roulette System Results
After 10,000,000 spins, it appears that the Martingale Roulette System performed worse than the Reverse Labouchere System AND worse than the normal house advantage, coming in at a lose rate of 5.61%. After 10 million spins, starting with a $5 bet, you would lose a total of close to $20 million according to the simulation! You also would have wagered over $341 million, so I guess $20 mil isn’t that bad if you have this kind of money to burn.
Finally, lets take a look at what would happen if we made a straight bet of $5 on every spin using no system whatsoever. According to the laws of statistics, we should come extremely close to, if not directly on, the house advantage of 5.26%.
Straight Roulette Bet Results
Best Online Roulette System Forum
As expected, over the long term, the straight roulette bets end up losing at a rate of 5.25%, extremely close to the predicted 5.26%. According to the simulation, simply making straight $5 bets will beat the Martingale System, but lose out to the Labouchere System.
According to these simulations, none of the systems can beat the casino. However, the big limitation of the Martingale System is the maximum bet allowed on the table. If a player has basically infinite money, and an extremely high table limit, would he be able to beat the casino over the long term? Lets find out!
Martingale System No Restrictions Results
To test how much of an effect the table limit has on the Martingale system, I kept the same parameters as above, except I raised the table limit to $100 million. Lets take a look at the results:
Well look at that! Over 10 million spins, the Martingale System would make you an estimated $23,000,000+ profit! All you have to do to achieve these results is make sure you have a starting bankroll of hundreds of millions of dollars, and find a casino that will let you play roulette with a table limit of $100,000,000. If you can pull this off and want to bring me along, please let me know.
Roulette System Test Conclusion
After putting the systems through the test, it looks like over the long run, none of the systems can really help you beat the casino. However, if you can get lucky, playing with these system can show you some short term wins, you just need to know when to quit!
There are still thousands of players who swear by these systems and have indeed had success using them. Just check out Norm Leigh’s book to see a great example of that. Also, in extreme situations we have seen that the Martingale system can work over the long run; you just need an enormous bankroll and a casino that will let you make extraordinary bets at the roulette table.
Jeff White
Jeff has been an active gambler from the age of 18 when he won a small local poker tournament in San Jose, CA. He moved on to playing other casino games shortly thereafter, with a great interest in the statistics and mathematics involved. He has studied the historical gambling systems of nearly every popular casino game played today, and has written strategy books for several of them including blackjack, slot machines, craps, and roulette. Jeff has been a daily contributor to the Silver Oak Casino blog since the beginning of 2009.