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The Best Strategies for playing Online Roulette at Casinos
If you’re playing roulette and would like to make the most of your long-term winning chances, then you need a strategy. There are many tried and tested strategies you can use, as well as some that might be better left untested.
To help you out, we at Gamble Online Australia have collected all the best online roulette strategies that you should try out. With these, you can truly put your skills to the test while giving yourself the best possible chance to beat the house.
Pick the Right Roulette Game
To succeed at online roulette, it’s crucial to understand the differences in house edge among the various versions. There are three common types of roulette, and most online casinos offer all of them. So make sure you pick the right one.
- American Roulette features a double-zero wheel, with a house edge of 5.26%
- European Roulette is played on a single-zero wheel, with a house edge of 2.70%
- French Roulette also uses a single-zero wheel, with a house edge of only 1.35%
Selecting French Roulette over American or European Roulette gives you a significant advantage. This version is played like European Roulette, with the addition of the La Partage and En Prison rules. T rules lower the house edge to half that of the European version, at least when you place even-money bets.
The advantage of the European game over the American version is due to the single zero wheel. With one slot less on the roulette wheel, your chances of winning are increased. This goes no matter if you bet on a single number or a larger group of numbers.
The Best Betting Strategies When Playing Online Roulette
The best strategy to ensure long-term gains when playing roulette is a betting strategy. There’s no lack of such strategies, as mathematicians have come up with new sure ways to win for many decades. And, in theory, these betting strategies will, in fact, guarantee that you win long-term.
You should note that these betting strategies should be used with even-money bets. And, they’re not exclusively online roulette strategies, as they can be used for any game of chance where you have close to a 50% chance of winning. With that said, let’s have a closer look at some of the most common easy-to-learn online roulette strategies.
The Martingale Strategy
The Martingale strategy is straightforward: you double your bet after every loss, aiming to recover all previous losses with a single win. For instance, if you bet $10 and lose, your next bet should be $20. If you lose again, bet $40, and continue this pattern until you win. The Martingale relies on the assumption that you will eventually win. By doubling your losing bets, a win will offset all prior losses and give you a win equal to your base bet.
The Fibonacci Strategy
The Fibonacci strategy uses the famous number sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…)to determine what your bets should be. After a loss, you move to the next number in the sequence for your bet. If you win, you move back two numbers. The numbers will represent the multiplier of your base bet that you should be placing on the table. This strategy aims to balance losses with smaller increases in bets.
The D’Alembert System
The D’Alembert system involves increasing your bet by one unit after a loss and decreasing it by one unit after a win. The assumption is that wins and losses will balance out long-term. You win more from lucky streaks and lose less when you’re in an unlucky streak. With the slower progression, it’s considered a safer strategy than the Martingale theory.
The Labouchere Strategy
The Labouchere strategy is often called the ‘cancellation system.’ It involves writing down a series of numbers that add up to the profit you want. Your bet should be the sum of the first and last numbers you’ve noted down. You cross out those numbers if you win, and if you lose, you add the amount lost to the end of the number sequence. This strategy aims to cancel out the numbers until all are crossed off. By that, a completed series should leave you with the targeted profit.
The Likelihood of a Long Losing Streak In Roulette
The likelihood of the “wrong” outcome occurring repeatedly can derail even the most well-planned strategies. You might think that by placing a bet that gives you close to 50% chance of winning, it’s not likely that you’ll lose many times in a row. But, that’s not the case.
Since each game round in roulette is independent of the previous round, you will have some long winning streaks as well as some long losing streaks.
If you place a bet on all red, you’ll win as long as the ball doesn’t end up on black or green. So overall, your chances of winning are good. But, it’s been calculated that on average, you should be expecting a losing streak of at least eight losses for every 200 game rounds you play.
With an initial bet of $10 while using the Martingale theory, your bets will look like this, assuming you lose 8 in a row and win on the 9th:
- 1st bet: $10 | total losses: $10
- 2nd bet: $20 | total losses: $30
- 3rd bet: $40 | total losses $70
- 4th bet: $80 | total losses: $150
- 5th bet: $160 | total losses: $310
- 6th bet: $320 | total losses: $630
- 7th bet: $640 | total losses: $1,270
- 8th bet: $1,280 | total losses: $2,550
- 9th bet: $2,560 | total losses: $5,110
If you win on the 9th bet, you’ll have risked $5,110, while your total win after all of this will be $10. Let’s not forget, it’s rather uncommon for a roulette table to accept bets from $10 to more than $5,000, so in all likelihood, you won’t even be able to bet as much as you need to, even if you have the bankroll to do so.
Bets You Should Be Avoiding When Playing Roulette
When playing online roulette, avoid high-risk bets with low winning probabilities and high house edges. The worst bet is the five-number bet in American Roulette, as it has the highest house edge of 7.89%. Instead, focus on bets with better odds and lower house edges, like even-money bets (red/black, odd/even, high/low), to maintain a balanced bankroll.
However, even when playing even-money bets, it’s always best to pick the most profitable game. As we’ve already discussed, whenever possible choose French Roulette and avoid American Roulette.
Tweet: Increase your chances of winning with the best online roulette strategies. Read all about different betting strategies and find the one best suited to your preferred risk level and bankroll. Head to Gamble Online Australia to get the latest tips from our game experts!
Conclusion
Even though most roulette strategies are supposed to ensure that you win long-term, it’s not always the case. There are two things that tend to stand in the way of you actually winning. The first of those is that you run out of money to complete the strategy. The second is that the casino or game’s table limits won’t let you increase your bet according to the betting system.
For example, the Martingale strategy requires progressively larger bets after each loss. If you start with a $10 bet, consecutive losses can quickly escalate the required bet amounts to $20, $40, $80, $160, $320, and so on. Unless you have a very substantial bankroll, many losses in a row will end up costing more than you can afford. Alternatively, you won’t be able to double as you’ll hit the maximum bet limit on the table. If you’re not able to double a losing bet, you can’t recoup your previous losses, and hence, the strategy fails.