Is there a trick to playing roulette?

Joseph Jagger – the Man Who Broke the Bank

Have you ever heard about Joseph Jagger? 

He was an English engineer who is still known as The Man Who Broke the Bank – and yes, he’s related to Mick Jagger. He assumed that no machine is perfect, and every mechanism has its flaws.

And he was right.

What Joseph did was send his six assistants to take notes of roulette results in the Beaux-Arts Casino in Monte Carlo. When analyzing them, he discovered that only nine numbers dropped out on one of the six roulette wheels. And so he started playing himself.

On the first day, he won the equivalent of today’s $70,000. During the course of three days, he made four times this amount until the casino realized what he was doing and switched the roulette wheels. He managed to find his wheel again, but the casino finally altered it. Still, Jagger left Monte Carlo with almost $2.5 million.

The moral of the story is that even random roulette wheels have their patterns.

Improve Your Game with Math and Whatnot

Now, we know that you can’t just go to a casino, start looking for patterns or biased wheels and then start making huge bets, especially if you play online roulette. And no, there aren’t any complicated algorithms and purely mathematical tricks that will make you rich in no time.

But there are other ways you can use math and common reason to improve your game and increase your chances of winning (or at least decrease the risk of losing big).

Tip #1 Know the Odds Inside Out

This one seems like a no-brainer, but it’s essential. You need to know the roulette odds by heart. Why? Because you need to know how much you can win and how much you can lose for each bet you make. Only then can you make adequate decisions about what to bet on and how much.

Here are the most important roulette odds for you to memorize:

• The odds of hitting a single number are 37 to 1;
• The probability of winning on a black/red or even/odd bet is 18/37, or 48.65%;
• Your chances of winning on a high/low bet are the same as with the even/odd one;
• The probability of hitting a column/dozen is 12/37, or 32.43%.

Tip #2 Create and Stick to a Budget

Now that you know the odds, it will be easier for you to budget your game. This may not sound like math, but it really is. 

First of all, you should never put more than you can afford to lose on the table. It’s good to live a little, but don’t forget that this is your hard-earned money and you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks. As such, it’s highly recommended to create a budget before you head online.

Start by calculating your income and the necessary expenses, such as rent, food, and other life necessities. Then, subtract your expenses from the income – this will give you how much money you have left. Of course, you shouldn’t gamble with everything; come up with a reasonable amount that you can afford to lose. Remember about any loans you’re paying and other obligations. It’s also reasonable to set some money aside to add up to your savings in an emergency fund.

If you are living on your own and have managed to save up some money, you can play roulette with a little more leeway. If you are supporting a family or a significant other or if you recently had to come up with some large sum of money, you probably want to be much more careful. 

This is how much you should be putting on the table. You can increase your budget as you gain experience, earn more, and get better at the game.

Tip #3 Use the Martingale Method

The Martingale Method will probably sound familiar to you, whether you’re a roulette player or not. It’s a betting method where you double your bet after every loss. Eventually, you’ll win, and you’ll recoup your losses and then some.

For example, let’s say you bet $10 on black and lose. On the next spin, you bet $20 on black. If you lose again, you bet $40 on black, and so on. Eventually, you’ll win, and when you do, you’ll have more than recouped your losses. 

It’s important to remember that, once you win but want to keep playing, you should start again with the initial bet. Also, it’s a strategy for people with large budgets only; otherwise, you may quickly lose everything you have at your disposal.

Tip #4 Try the Fibonacci Strategy

The Fibonacci strategy is similar to the Martingale one, but instead of doubling your bet after each loss, you use numbers from the Fibonacci sequence (hence the name): 1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 8 – 13 – 21 – 34 – 55 – 89 – 144 – 233 – 377 – 610 – 987 – … ad infinitum.

After each loss, you move one step to the right, and the amount you bet is the sum of the previous two numbers in the sequence. So, if you bet $5 and lose, you bet $8 next. If you lose again, you bet $13, and so on. You increase your bet after each loss but decrease it after each win.

Tip #5 Know Your Wheels

This one’s very important. If you’re playing in a land-based casino, taking note of the roulette wheel is crucial. You need to know if it’s the American wheel with two zeros or the European wheel with only one. The difference is significant as the double zeros on the American wheel increase the house edge, doubling the advantage for the casino.

It brings us to tip #1 again, as the difference in wheels means that you can expect to lose 2.7% of your betting money in the long run in the case of European roulette and 5.26% with American roulette.

What About Combining Roulette With… Physics?

No, we’re not joking.

The idea first appeared in the late 70s, but the technology at that stage wasn’t enough to carry out the necessary experiments.

During that time, a physicist, Doyne Farmer, was still a graduate student, and, along with his friend, came up with a plan to beat the game of roulette. They bought their own roulette wheel and started theorizing and experimenting to figure out the physics behind the game. Once they developed a system, they built a wearable digital computer (it was around the time Apple launched their first desktop computer, so you can see that it was quite an achievement). 

Farmer hand-coded a three-kilobyte computer program in machine language; there was a floating-point package, an OS functioning with toe inputs and vibrating outputs, as well as a sequencer to perform the calculation. The students wanted to make use of the knowledge that there is usually around ten seconds elapsing from when the croupier releases the ball until bets are closed. That’s when their machine was supposed to come into play.

First, they hid it in the armpits, later in a shoe. The person with this device was to measure the position and velocity of the ball and rotor; everything was to be switched with the click of the big toe in a shoe. Then, the computer used this information to predict where the ball is likely to land, and the first person was to convey the message to the one placing bets. 

Farmer and his friend made trips to Reno, Las Vegas, and Tahoe – eleven trips in total. Initially, they managed to get a 20% advantage over the casino. However, the limitations of their times started to catch up with them, and the students suffered continuous hardware issues. As they didn’t want to risk engaging in a conflict with a casino, they never decided to play for big money, and they soon gave up the experiment. 

But with today’s technology, it wouldn’t be impossible, right?

The Newtonian Casino

The ambitious students’ story was told by Thomas A. Bass in his book The Eudaemonic Pie (published as The Newtonian Casino in the UK). It describes the gamers’ use of Newton’s laws of motion. 

The croupier spins the wheel in one direction and the ball in the other. The ball starts slowing down, gravity takes hold until it falls into one of the numbered compartments. According to science, it’s entirely possible to predict the moment when the ball will leave the rim. However, as wheels differ from each other, the next movements are pretty random. The ball bounces and strikes obstacles, and you can never tell where it will land exactly.

But you can at least estimate in which area of the wheel it will end up, and it already significantly increases your chances and advantage over the casino.

How Can You Increase Your Chances When Playing Online Roulette?

Apart from some valuable but universal tips, we’ve mostly shared stories about roulette in brick-and-mortar casinos, but what about online roulette? After all, that’s where most people play these days.

So, we’ve got some advice for you in this regard as well. No, you’re not entirely powerless when it comes to online casinos. There still is a handful of things you can do and take advantage of to ensure you’re safe and maximize your winnings.

Tip #1 Check the Casino’s Reputation

There are numerous online casinos of different kinds and with many different names, all claiming to be the best ones. And while there is no doubt that some truly are the best and most reputable, you can never be too careful.

One of the most important things you need to do is check what other players have to say about the casino in question. If you take a look at the top casinos, you’ll notice that they’ve got enormous amounts of positive reviews from players around the globe. As a rule of thumb, we recommend that you avoid any casinos that don’t have any reviews at all or a great part of them is negative. 

If you’re not sure where to start your research, we have some recommendations for you here. You may also visit casino forums and blogs. 

Additionally, always check if your chosen casino is properly licensed and regulated. You want to play in a casino where there’s no way you can be cheated or scammed out of your money. You can easily find that out by checking the license details on the official licensing bodies’ sites; a casino website should also have such a logo included on its home page or in the About Me section. Moreover, look for games developed by top software producers and tested by independent, third-party testing and certification companies.

Tip #2 Consider Payments Options

You don’t want your winnings to get stuck in limbo or, even worse, be returned back to the casino. So pay attention to the payment options and their limits, as well as withdrawal limits (or lack thereof). This is, by far, one of the most important factors you should never ignore when playing at any online casino. In case you’re not sure how to go about it, here are some quick tips:

Check if the casino accepts secure payments with minimal withdrawal times. We highly recommend that you do so because that way you’re protected against unauthorized charges and other similar frauds. Also, different payment methods have different withdrawal times, so it’s best to know how each one works.

Check if they accept your country’s payment method(s) and make sure you know where you can use them. Once again, make sure that you check everything before you put your money into action.

You can also consider playing with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, as they offer an excellent alternative to traditional methods of payment, keeping your sensitive data safe from prying eyes and your identity from thieves.

Tip #3 Take Advantage of Bonuses and Promotions

Different online casinos have different offers for their new members. Fortunately, almost all of them offer some sort of welcome bonus. As the name suggests, that’s only given to new players and is one of the most effective ways to earn a bit of cash.

But there are quite a few other bonus deals that you can take advantage of. Some casinos offer bonuses for making deposits, clearing different wagering requirements, and even feeding your specific gaming habits. For example, if you like to play slot machines, they may give you an extra bonus specifically for that; or if you like playing roulette, you may end up with a bonus specifically for roulette. You get the idea.

Just keep in mind that those bonuses have their own terms and conditions and most likely some sort of wagering requirement. Make sure you read them carefully before claiming your bonus; this way you’ll know exactly what you need to do to claim your winnings.

Tip #4 Check the RTP Percentage

The Return to Player (or RTP) percentage indicates how much of your money is likely to be returned to you, taking into account the house edge. If a game has a higher RTP percentage, it’s more likely that you’ll win more money than if it had a lower one.

Most online casinos display the RTP on their homepage or near the information about a specific game. If you’re playing at a reputable casino, most games will have a respectable RTP percentage of between 96% and 98%. If it’s less than 95%, we recommend that you keep looking for something better.

Tip #5 Take a Break and Know When to Stop

No matter how sure you are that you’re going to win, it’s best to never get too carried away at the roulette table. That’s true for both online and offline casinos.

It’s quite easy to get caught up in the moment, especially when you’re making a winning streak. But the best thing you can do is follow your own rules and limits. And that’s why we recommend that you set aside a certain amount of time to play roulette and stick to it. That way you won’t have a problem when you need to take that break; in fact, you’ll look forward to it.

Another important thing to keep in mind is to never bet beyond your means, no matter how good your luck is. The reason for that is simple – one bad spin can turn a series of wins into a devastating loss. And that’s not something any player wants to experience.

And remember – never, ever, chase your losses! It’s a very bad practice, and if you do it repeatedly, you’re going to lose all your money or even get yourself into some serious debt.

Tip #6 Learn the Rules and Practice

Like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. There’s no better way to learn than through trial and error, so to speak. That’s why you should take your time to familiarize yourself with all the rules and intricacies of roulette and its different versions. 

Then, instead of just jumping into playing for money, why not play for free? This way you can practice on your own time and at your own pace, without any pressure at all. And while you’re doing so, you can also get familiar with the software and find out how it works.

Once you’ve got the hang of things, you can change to playing for real money. A good idea is to start by playing small amounts so that you can get a better feel of how everything works. Once you’re used to it, you can try playing at higher stakes.

Finally, there are many different roulette strategies that you can use to increase your chances of winning. The best part is: they’re all available for free and can be easily found on the Internet. A word of caution though: no strategy can guarantee that you’ll win every time, not even close! So, keep that in mind, and don’t bet more than you can afford to lose.

Tip #7 Always Read Terms and Conditions

We know that it can be long and boring to read through the terms and conditions, but you need to do it. Ensure that you understand them; otherwise, you may end up with a nasty surprise once you try to withdraw your winnings or use a bonus.

It’s always best to know exactly what you are agreeing to and what the terms of the offer are.

You may also want to check if a casino has specific rules regarding player behavior. It’s common for a casino to block or freeze your account if you’re found to be cheating or breaking any sort of rules. So, the last thing you want is to find yourself in such a situation.

The Bottom Line

Roulette is a game with a long and rich history full of interesting stories and characters. At the same time, it’s a game based on pure chance with no real way of increasing your chances of winning in the long run, there’s no denying that. But does it mean that there’s nothing you can do to increase your chances of winning?

Of course not. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use certain strategies to your advantage or that there is no way of improving your game.

By studying roulette, its features, its rules, and odds, by practicing for free, and by using the right strategies, you can significantly improve your game and increase your chances of winning.

We hope that our tips will help you become a better roulette player, whether you play online or in a land-based casino.

And who knows, maybe one day you’ll be the one to beat the odds and walk away with a huge win.