Roulette Betting Strategies

Roulette table
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Roulette is a negative expectation game. On the American double zero wheel, the house has a 5.26 edge, and there is no betting strategy or system that can change the house edge. If you see any advertisements for a system that claims to beat the game of Roulette, don’t waste your money. These claims are false. Over the years some of the greatest minds in history have tried to devise a system to beat the game.

Albert Einstein studied the problem of how to beat the game of Roulette. After spending time on the problem he concluded that it could not be done and he was quoted as saying, "The only way to beat Roulette is to steal the money when the dealer's not looking." In a sense, he was correct. His point was that there is no way to employ some mathematical configuration of bets to overcome the house edge.

Roulette Betting Patterns

Although there is no strategy for beating the game, many players like to employ a set betting pattern when they play Roulette. Instead of dropping chips all over the layout they prefer to make bets that cover multiple numbers along with a straight bet on a single number in hopes of grinding out small wins while allowing them to play longer. Here are two popular Roulette betting strategies for playing the inside numbers. If you are unfamiliar with the inside bets, look at this Roulette step by step.

Double Street Quad Strategy

With this strategy, you will make wagers on two double streets along with a quad or corner bet and one straight up number. By using this betting pattern, you are covering 17 numbers on the layout, and there will not be more than five adjacent slots on the wheel that are not covered.

You will be wagering six chips per spin. You will put two chips on each of the double streets and one chip on the corner bet and straight number. You can select your favorite number to play straight up. I like to play the number five so here are the numbers I use.

Two chips on the double street to cover: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Two chips on the double street to cover: 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
One chip on the corner to cover: 17, 18, 20, 21
One chip on the number 5. (You can pick your favorite number, but it should be one that is not covered by one of your other bets.)

The Pay Off

The double street pays 5 to 1. You have two chips on it, so you will collect ten chips if the ball lands on one of the numbers covered by your double street bet. You will have a profit of six chips. (You will lose four chips. Two from your other double street and one from your quad bet and one from your straight up bet.)

The Corner/Quad bet pays 8 to 1. If the ball lands on one of these four numbers you will have a profit of three chips. (You will lose four chips on the double street wagers and one chip on the straight number.)

The straight up number pays 35 to 1. If the ball lands on your number you will have a profit of 30 chips. (You will lose four chips on the double street wagers and one chip on the corner bet.)

Five Quad Strategy

With this strategy, you will make five quad/corner bets along with a single straight up number. With this betting pattern, you are covering 21 numbers on the layout. If you select a straight up number that is included in one of your corner bets, you will only be covering 20 numbers. You will put a single chip on each of the following corner bets:
5, 6, 8, 9
10, 11, 13, 14
17, 18, 20, 21
25, 26, 28, 29
32, 33, 35, 36
Bet one chip on your favorite straight number.

The quad bet pays 8 to 1 so if the ball lands on one the numbers in any of you quad bets you will collect will make a profit of three chips. You collect eight but lose four on your other quad bets and one on your straight up bets.
The straight up number pays 35 to 1. If the ball lands on your number you will have a profit of 30 chips. (You will lose five chips on the five corner bet.)

Final Tips

Both of these strategies are designed to extend your time at the table. You will not get rich as you are only grinding out small profits on each winning spin. If you want to try for a bigger win, you can add one chip to the bet that wins in hopes of having repeating numbers. You can also vary the specific numbers that you use for the double street or corner bets. Experiment with your own betting patterns. You won’t get rich, but you will have fun. One final tip is always to try to play at a full table. This will slow the game down and reduce the time your money is at risk while increasing your comp time.