In this article, he three best roulette strategy tips are for casual roulette gamblers who want to increase their chances of winning while having fun playing roulette.

Contents

  1. Most successful roulette strategy in history
  2. Best roulette strategy basics
  3. What is the best roulette strategy?
  4. What is the most successful roulette strategy for online players?
  5. Roulette Strategy: The Martingale betting system
  6. Using the Martingale betting system on roulette
  7. Is the Martingale betting system a roulette winning strategy?
  8. Is the Martingale betting system worth using as a roulette strategy?
  9. How good is the Martingale betting system on roulette games?
  10. Scobe's Simple Gun & Run Martingale
  11. Is this a good roulette winning strategy?
  12. Scobe's Simple Paroli System
  13. How I turn the Paroli betting system into a roulette strategy
  14. The best roulette strategy: Scobe's Martingale or Paroli variants
  15. Scobe’s verdict on the best roulette strategy
  16. Roulette Strategy: Questions and Answers
     

Most successful roulette strategy in history 

Roulette and craps are probably the two casino games with the longest pedigree. We know that dice were first used as a serious incantation to find out what the gods had in store for people.

This was probably five thousand (or more) years ago. Should our army attack the village across the valley? Roll them bones – yes, either sheep bones or human bones composed the dice – and we’d find out what we should do.

Roulette was somewhat the same, except that many military men used their shields instead of dice. The spin of a shield determined what was to come in a future conflict.

It's thought that some of the soldiers—drunk on horrible tasting wine—spun themselves on top of the shields. I have no idea if this is true, but you never know.

Please note: Were these instruments used for gambling as we know gambling today, as in just for fun?

Indeed they were. In ancient literature, we even see evidence of soldiers and civilians using such instruments in war, peace and gaming. People seem to have played games for fun as far back as we go in gaming history.

Roulette was probably the first true casino gam. The game of roulette was likely introduced in the middle ages. Noblemen attempted to beat roulette with various roulette systems (AKA strategies) of play.

Was there ever a successful roulette strategy in history?

We don’t know what the best roulette strategy was back then, or the most successful roulette strategy, because the information in literature is minuscule.

Roulette strategies were developed in the 1700s, but there’s only a few well-known betting systems — such as the Martingale — that can be tried on roulette’s even-money wagers. 

If we had a time machine we could go back to the days when roulette began to be played in casinos. We could then tell them that the systems they invented and used, while fun, just couldn’t give them a true mathematical edge over roulette, because of the house edge. 

Best roulette strategy basics

  1. So what were some of the most famous roulette systems used by our ancestors in attempting to beat the wheel?
  2. And are any of these roulette systems still used today when people are learning how to play roulette?

I can easily answer both questions, with the latter first: Yes! the roulette systems of the past are still used today. Why? Because those roulette systems are fun to play and structure a player’s game-plan in a way that makes sense to the player.

A roulette player always knows what to do next when playing a system. There’s no guesswork in how or what to do next.

Is the player using the best roulette strategy? Well, he may not be using a roulette winning strategy, but he’s chances of winning are based on the structure of his game-plan.

What is the best roulette strategy?

I’m going to go through the old roulette strategies and even some of the new ones. This will take a few articles but be patient because patience is a great virtue, especially for an offline and online casino player.

You might find that one or two of these roulette strategies hit a responsive chord in you. In the end you might work out what the best roulette strategy is for you.

What is the most successful roulette strategy for online players?

So here we go, on a trip into the most inspired, enjoyable and (at times) exhilarating ways to play roulette. First up are two simple roulette systems that can structure your play.

Could one of them be the most successful roulette strategy for online players? Well, they are the oldest gambling strategies used on roulette games. But before we draw any conclusions, let’s read all about them now.

Roulette wheel

Roulette Strategy: The Martingale betting system 

If you've gambled in a casino, even only a few times, you've probably stumbled on the Martingale betting strategy. The Martingale is a gambling system that can be used as a roulette strategy.

Is the Martingale betting system the best online roulette strategy? Well, let’s find out.

Even if you didn’t know the word Martingale, you might have even figured you invented it. I know I did. It seems this is the very first concept most gamblers have and it is expressed in the following phrase: “I have to win sooner or later, right?” 

The above sentence is in fact right as well as totally wrong when it comes to casino games such as roulette when using the Martingale.

Using the Martingale betting system on roulette 

First, what is the Martingale betting system?

That’s simple:

  • The player doubles his bet if he loses a decision in the hopes that “I have to win sooner or later, right?”

So it would go like this:

  1. First, the player bets $10 and loses.
  2. Second, he bets $20.
  3. If he wins the $20 bet he has recouped his original $10 loss and makes a $10 profit. .

But don’t get too comfortable here. Using the Martingale betting system on roulette, if the $20 bet loses, for the third bet the player will double that to $40. 

If that bet loses:

Fourth bet he goes up to $80.   

If that bet loses:

Fifth bet he goes up to $160.   

If that bet loses:

Sixth bet he puts up $320.  

If that bet loses:

Seventh bet he goes to $640.  

And if that bet loses:

He might be allowed to go to $1,280. But many casinos limit the maximum a player can wager. 

A $1,280 bet might be too much because it could exceed the maximum bet for the table. 

The casino dealer and pit boss may very well be feeling mixed emotions—happy that the house is cleaning up, yet sad for the player losing so much money. But at the same time thinking how stupid the player is to have taken the Martingale betting system so far.

Is the Martingale betting system a roulette winning strategy?

Wait a minute! That means a bad streak of six, seven (or eight) losses in a row can probably sink the player. Yep!

Please Note: The Martingale is much like the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. So, as you can see, the Martingale betting system used as a roulette strategy is far from being the best roulette strategy out there.

The loss of six to eight wagers in-a-row seems like a real longshot; but anyone who has played roulette has seen streaks of red or black, odd or even, or high or low producing such frequency many times.

Casinos put a cap on the amount a person can bet so that such relatively short streaks can sink players who use the Martingale betting system.

Is the Martingale betting system worth using as a roulette strategy?

When a player gets to the upper reaches of the Martingale what is he looking to accomplish? Very little. Using the above dollar amounts, even if the roulette player bet $640 or $1280 – he is looking to win a mere $10.

That is an awful lot to wager on roulette games for only a $10 win. At every step of the traditional Martingale, the payoff is just that $10. 

The untraditional Martingales (other variants of the Martingale betting system) are even worse! If you must allow yourself the Martingale to try and win on roulette spins, then stick to the original.

How good is the Martingale betting system on roulette games?

The Martingale betting technique can be summed up as a method of playing against losses without capitalizing on wins.

It’s a negative flow strategy of increasing bets on roulette games because previous bets have lost. True, on far more occasions the player will win that $10, but it’s inevitable that a devastating losing streak will happen. 

The saying “I have to win sooner or later,” should be changed to “I will get clobbered sooner or later.”

Please Note: While the devastating loss is inevitable when using the full Martingale system there will be plenty of $10 wins along the way.

Are they enough to make up for the big loss? No.  If you’re looking for the best roulette strategy, the Martingale betting system in its true form is far from being the ideal roulette winning strategy.

roulette

Scobe's Simple Gun & Run Martingale

I would use a Martingale only on the even-money outside bets on roulette games i.e., the odd or even; high or low; red or black. 

  • These bets give the player 18 chances to win with 20 chances to lose on the American double-zero roulette wheels.
  • And 18 chances to win with 19 chances to lose on the European Roulette (single-zero wheels).

Obviously, if you can play the European wheel that is the preferred one as long as the betting ranges fit your bankroll.

Your first bet is $10 (or whatever your normal bet size is) on one of the even-money roulette proposition wagers. 
If you lose that bet, you bet $20.
Now, you sit out two spins; correct, you do not bet. 

After two sit-outs, for the next roulette spin, you increase your bet to $40.

If you lose that? You quit and go back to your original bet. You’ve lost $70 on this sequence.

Is this a good roulette winning strategy?

  • My goal with this roulette strategy is to keep you away from the devastating loss that the Martingale betting system ultimately entails.

  • Plenty of times on the two spins that you sit out there will be a winning spin – had you bet it. More times there won’t.

Remember the casino has that edge on all of those even-money wagers. That fact should always be front and center in your mind. Never think you are playing an even game even on bets called “even-money” bets.  

If you have lost that $70 you can:

  • choose to start all over again or;
  • You can head to another wheel to start all over again o;
  • You can take a break. It's up to you.

If you started with a $500 bankroll for this session, you would now have $430 left with which to play more of your online roulette strategy.

Scobe's Simple Paroli System

The Paroli betting system is another betting strategy that many novice casino players and roulette gamblers think they have discovered.

It's a positive betting system, attempting to make money at a game where the player has been winning in the immediate past.

When using the  Paroli system players figure wins will follow wins. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t.

The Paroli system is merely the parlay system that many gamblers use, that is:

  1. You increase your bet after a win and;
  2. Keep increasing your bet as the wins increase.

Generally, a Paroli player will go three decisions before decreasing his bet to its original amount.

So it would go:

First, a $10 bet. Then a win.

Second, a $20 bet. Then a win. 

Third, a $40 bet. Then this winning bet is kept:
And a new sequence begins at the minimum $10 starting wager.

Please Note: There are, sadly, Paroli players who wish to go long winning distances by continuing to double up their previous wins. The excellent movie, “The Gambler” shows the results for such a player who does this.

How I turn the Paroli betting system into a roulette strategy

My take on the Paroli system for even-money roulette games is to use the three-win method but to start it after the session bankroll has gone up.

  1. So, the first bet, if won, doesn’t entail an increase in the betting for the second bet.

  2. Instead, the second bet is the same as the first, $10.
  3. If that bet is a winner, then the player’s bankroll, $500, is above the minimum.
  4. Now with that second win, the third bet entails the player going the full Paroli bore.
  5. With any loss, the player goes back to the original $10 bet.

Here is my Paroli variant betting sequence:

The pattern here is interesting. The first two wins bring your session bankroll up to $520.

Now that third bet of $20 could be lost, but the player is still even for the sequence, $500, as he returns to his original $10 bet and tries to Paroli himself a win.

A loss of that $40 means the player returns to the original $10 bet as well.

This is a relatively safe system (as systems go) and if the player does not try to magically accomplish a truly prolonged Paroli, he might find this a pleasing method of play.

Once again, the Paroli system at roulette should be used on the even-money bets.

The best roulette strategy: Scobe's Martingale or Paroli variants?

I will pick my favorite of the two systems but here is the rub; over time the total amount of money wagered will fall prey to the house edge, only the pattern of the wins and losses will be different.

  • You can’t escape the 5.26% house edge on the American Roulette wheels
  • And you can’t escape the 2.7% house edgeon the European wheels.

 

Imagine increasing to a bet size over $600 knowing this is the last double wager you can make. There is no fun, as I see it, having to sweat like this.

Such a betting system can never turn out to be the most successful roulette strategy. Not now, not in the future, and could never have been in the history of gambling.

Scobe’s verdict on the best roulette strategy

With the Paroli, the losses, when they come, can be quickly terminated. When you find you’re down “X” amount, you can quit.

I do believe that if you use my “gun and run” Martingale, the agony will not be as bad. Still, I prefer the “gun and run” Paroli.

But every gambler should decide for him or herself how to play and bet on roulette and other casino games.

All the best in and out of the casinos! 

Roulette Strategy: Questions and Answers

What is the most successful roulette strategy?

Over the years, roulette gamblers have had varied success using many different roulette strategies in casinos. Some big wins have been bagged, but tonnes of casino chips have ended up in the hole. Because accounts are seldom kept – backed by evidence – there’s just no way of knowing what the most successful roulette strategy is.

How to play roulette strategy?
Each roulette strategy you’re able to read about should have a set of rules you can follow. The rules should explain when to wager and how much your bet size should be. Some roulette strategies will also tell you what to bet on and when to make bets. Good roulette strategies go into a lot of detail and publish examples.

What is the best roulette strategy?

The best roulette strategy is one that is designed to limit losses while giving the player a winning opportunity if his bet selection is hitting. All roulette strategies are up against the house edges in roulette games. Most roulette gambling experts only bet on European roulette wheels because the house edge is lower at 2.7% vs. 5.26% on American roulette wheels. The Paroli is a positive progression betting system, and many gamblers use some variant of it when betting on roulette games.

How to win at roulette strategy?

Choose a decent roulette strategy and follow the methods within its rules. The best roulette strategies will aim at protecting the player’s bankroll while trying to secure a reasonable profit. To win playing a roulette strategy luck needs to be on your side. If your bet selection decisions are winning and you’re wagering big you should be winning lots of casino chips. To win at a roulette strategy is to win at the timing—make the right decisions at the right time and you’ll beat the wheel. 

First publish on: 14/3/2018

Frank Scoblete grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He spent the ‘60s getting an education; the ‘70s in editing, writing and publishing; the ‘80s in theatre, and the ‘90s and the 2000s in casino gambling.

Along the way he taught English for 33 years. He has authored 35 books; his most recent publisher is Triumph Books, a division of Random House. He lives in Long Island. Frank wrote the Ultimate Roulette Strategy Guide and he's a well known casino specialist.