You know of the modern-day streakers, the individuals (be he male or be she female) who remove their clothes and run around naked to the shrieks, cheers, and sounds of disgust from their compatriots attending some event in some kind of serious manner.
You do not see as many streakers today as you did in the past, but they are out there. Yes, just not in great numbers any more. Seeing naked bodies running wildly, bodies that more often than not are not so hot, flouncing their flab about as these streaking persons attempt to bounce and bobble to some victory over some imagined something or other.
Streaking is their way to get a sense of self – a sense of importance, a sense of true worth. I can understand that. I am sure most of my readers can understand that too.
Casino Streakers
You get such streakers in the casinos too; though hopefully not the naked kind. Yes, indeed these folks are looking for winning streaks and various streaking methods can always be found in the Temples of Chance. Unlike the naked streakers, casino streakers have one thought in mind and that is to beat the casinos at their own games. Flipping, flouncing, and flopping is not what they want.
They want victory.
There is a great sense of self when you beat the house. That I understand. I am sure almost all casino players understand this too. Most casino streakers are aware that they face a thoroughly uphill battle because of the casino’s edge over them.
A win over those edges is a truly great experience, maybe the equivalent of those jangly naked physical streakers tackling running in the outfield of Yankee Stadium before the legion of security guards catch and clobber them.
Will almost all casino players find it impossible to beat the house? Probably.
Except for some who have won loads of money on a slot machine paying out millions or the fractional number players who have developed advanced advantage strategies, the future is bleak for beating the house and even bleaker for casino players who play often and a lot. Even most poker players are probably losers too, and poker is a game of skill mixed with a certain amount of randomness.
None of this is foreign to casino players. The pursuit of victory is enough to satisfy almost all of us; otherwise, there would be no casinos in the world.
Types of Streaks
All casino games and machines have streaks. It is almost impossible to sit at a table or a machine and not experience almost every kind of these streaks. A tremendous percentage of players have worked out how they will handle such streaks. Some casino players are streak finders and bettors. That’s their thing.
Of course, players can create their own streaks: “I will bet all odd numbers under 12 if two reds come up in a row and that is how I will play for my whole trip.” Yes, that would be a streak in the broadest sense.
The Starting Gate Streak
Let’s hear from some of our casino streakers:
Jersey Ed: “You come to the roulette table and watch the board. Any number that comes up twice from that point on becomes the number on which you bet. And, brothers and sisters, you will bet that number a lot!
“The number 6 hits and a few spins later it comes up again. The 6 is now your starting gate. You will bet that 6 on every spin for 35 spins. That’s right, you bet it for 35 straight spins of the wheel. You are looking for this to be your streak.”
[Frank adds: This bet of the 6 or any starting number will be the same on both the single-zero (0) wheel and the double-zero (0, 00) wheel where it is played 35 times on either with hopefully a winning hit.]
“If the 6 does not hit within 35 spins the player abandons it for another starting gate number. If it does hit, the player again bets the 6.”
[Frank adds: This is a classic starting gate streaking bet. However, there are other ways to use the starting gate method.]
The Multiple Starting Gates Strategies
Benny Lemon: “To do this method you will need to have a large enough bankroll to bet more than one number at a time. You do have a better chance to win with this but you also have a better chance to lose more money if the strategy backfires.
“I like this strategy because I really want to go for the wins and not have to wait a long time for a number to hit twice. I come to play and not just wait around.
“Okay, here goes: you come to the table and watch the wheel. Let us say that the 13 hits. You now place a bet on the 13. Next the 23 hits and you bet the 23.
“You can now go step by step, meaning number by number, and bet as many as you see fit. Let us say you now have the 13, 23, 17, 34, and 5 as your numbers. You can either count 35 spins for each number or simply count 35 spins for the 5 and hope one of those other numbers might hit as well. I use the 5 as my number and go thirty-five spins from the 5’s arrival. After a couple of drinks, it is kind of hard to count 35 for all the numbers individually.
“If nothing hits, you start all over again. You have a decent chance that a number will hit within those 35 decisions.
“If one or more numbers hit, you stick with your number or numbers. Or you can keep the winning number, get rid of the other numbers and add new numbers except for that winning number or numbers.”
Modifying the Strategy
From Frank: Players can change the strategy at whim. Maybe the player wants to only go 25 spins and then jump to another number (or numbers). That is fine. The key idea is that you are trying to give your number(s) the opportunity to hit on more than one attempt. Obviously, this strategy is streaking at its basic level.
Even with five or more numbers, you are never guaranteed a win.
The player does not have to bet the numbers one at a time as they come up one at a time. You come to the table, see the first two, three, four, or more numbers on top of the scoreboard’s list and you immediately bet those for 35 spins of the wheel.
You can also go to the bottom numbers and bet some of those or even select a few middle numbers. Still, remember this, the key to these strategies is to give the number or numbers time to hit and that is why they are played over and over.
Betting Blocks of Numbers
Pauline DiMauro: “I like to pick a block of numbers but my bankroll is not big enough to bet each number individually. Losses doing that are way too big for me. I therefore put a single chip on a line that will allow me to have some six numbers covered.
“I will give my numbers a chance to hit so I will bet maybe three spins of the wheel to hit that group. No hit? I will move on and go for other groupings. I find this a very exciting way to play roulette.”
Those Even-Money Bets
Not all bets have to be made directly on top of the numbers or on various lines that incorporate selections of numbers. You have the option of betting outside proposition bets such as the columns and the even-money bets.
Linda Morgan has a streaking method for the even- money bets of red/black, odd/even, and high/low.
[Please note: These four bets are called “even-money” but they are not 50/50 propositions for roulette players. Each of the bets will pay even-money but the odds of hitting such bets still favors the casino. On the double-zero wheel, the player will win 18 times and lose 20 times because the green 0 and 00 wins for the house. On the single-zero wheel, players will win 18 times but lose 19 times.]
Let Linda explain her method:
Linda Morgan: “I like the even-money bets because I get regular feedback and a close contest with the casino. I can usually stay at the tables much longer betting this way. I know the casino has the same edge over me but the wins and loss decisions seem much closer together. That factor I like.
“I will bet on these propositions one after another. The first bet can be on odd or even. If I win that I stay on odd or even until it loses for me. Then I switch to high or low and follow that same principle. If I win, I stay with that proposition until I lose. Then I move on as I said.
“Finally, I bet red or black and follow the same process.
“Can I say this is a winning roulette strategy? I have been playing it for over six years and for me it is a winner because it is fun and I do get to go back and forth with the house. That’s what I am looking for,the back and forth.
“Overall wins? Probably not but how many players beat the house over any length of time? You have to know that you are facing a house edge and it will get you sometime. It could get you right off the bat or maybe over a little or a lot of time but it does get you. We all play with that knowledge or we should anyway.”
Frank adds: Some even-money players like to bet two of these propositions at the same time. You can bet on red or black and odd or even, or high or low and so on. That gives you a lot of chances to see one or another of your numbers win. Does it change the house edge? No. It just throws out more money to get more chances to win and more chances to lose.
Two to One
Let’s take a look at another proposition bet on the outside, the columns. These are three columns of twelve numbers each. You win 2-to-1 if your selected column wins. You have the 12 ways to win a column and you lose if a number that is not in your column wins or if the zeroes come up. The house edges on these bets are the exact same as on all of the other bets at roulette.
Barnabas Eli: “I want to win more money than just even money on my bets so I go with the columns. At times I bet two columns at once. I can win 24 times and, sure, I lose 14 times on the double-zero wheel which is the only wheel where I play. There are no single-zero wheels.
“But I do not go up on two columns the first time I bet. I need to win a few bets on the column I am choosing. If that column wins twice in a row, I bet it again and I pick another column and bet that one too.
“Whichever one of those two wins, I will bet that column again and add the column that I hadn’t bet before that decision. If both of my columns lose, I select that third column I hadn’t bet on and follow the same procedure as above. I just bet that one and hope to go to two and so forth and so on.”
I think the streakers on roulette have a strong sense of the correctness of their betting attack on the game. I haven’t really spoken to many players who hate the way they bet at the game because if they don’t like how they bet – then why bother to bet that way?
All the best in and out of the casinos!
