- Roulette Systems Can Lower the House Advantage - Stoneflower
Progressive betting systems for roulette date back to the mid 1800’s. Roulette itself has been around slightly longer, the current version being put into practice in Paris in 1796. The statistical advantage on a roulette table depends on whether it is French or English. An English table has only one zero while the French has both a zero and a double zero. The house advantage on the English table is roughly 2.7% while on a French table the house has a 5.26% advantage. A betting system can beat the house in a short term game but in the long term the house will always enjoy the spoils.
Simple Roulette Betting System
The simplest of progressive betting systems in called a “Martingale” system. In this system the player bets a specific initial bet on the table, usually on either the Red/Black or 1st half/2nd half spots. If this bet does not win the player then doubles the next bet. This doubling of the bet continues until the player wins and recuperates his bankroll. There are two major flaws with this system.
- Most casinos have limits to the maximum amount that a player may bet on any given spin of the wheel. This means the player will max out on his bet and no longer be able to recoup the entire lost amount in one spin.
- Players have a limited bankroll and playing this system will result in the player making huge bets until he runs out of money.
Scope of the Martingale Roulette SystemThe Martingale is not limited to the bets that the house pays 1:1 for. An example of an extension of the system is betting on thirds. In this way the player may bet on a particular third of the wheel to hit, the dozen bet; 1-12,13-24,25-36 or one of the three betting rows or column bets. These bets pay out at 2:1. This can be taken even further to allow for a player to place bets on everything up to a single number that pays 35:1.
The main advantage to playing a system like the Martingale is that it takes the randomness out of the betting situation. It allows the player to control the amount of the bet based on a logical system instead of as an emotional response. Although this does not put the player at an advantage over the house it can significantly lower the house advantage.
Decreasing the House Advantage in RouletteA tweak on the Martingale is to wait for a run of five either black or red numbers and then bet the opposite. This will allow the player to begin betting on the sixth occurrence of a color. If the player was initially betting $10 the fifth bet in the series would be $160 (10,20,40,80,160). By placing the bet on the sixth occurrence the player can start with a higher initial bet or simply conserve bankroll.
New roulette players can use this system to acclimate themselves to the situation of live brick and mortar casino betting but this system can be used just as well at any online casino. This system will allow a new player to keep his cool even in such a fast paced betting game. By using the Martingale the player can watch other players and continue learning the game while feeling confident in his bets.
Sources
Barboianu, Catalin. “Roulette Odds and Profits: The Mathematics of Complex Bets” INFAROM, 2008.
Kenneth Sleight - Ken Sleight is a resident of Haslett, Mi. He was voted among his friends as, "most likely to be the phone a friend on Who Wants to be a ...
