All-in Roulette Strategy
The All-in roulette strategy is the most volatile roulette strategy that I can think of. It is extremely risky, and you will very likely lose everything in just a couple of spins. However, if you do manage to win these couple of spins there will be a huge reward waiting for you.
The All-in roulette strategy is very simple. It is played by going all-in and wagering your entire bankroll in one round, once or multiple times in a row, depending on how much you would like to win. It has only two possible outcomes; the likelihood of losing everything, or the possibility of reaching your target amount and walking away with a big win.
This strategy really isn’t for everyone. Although it has great RTP and the potential of attaining huge wins, it’s too volatile for the vast majority of players who want to enjoy a game of roulette for more than just a couple of minutes. It’s an extreme strategy that helps to demonstrate the effects of huge variances in outcomes.
Keep reading this article and find out:
- How can you benefit from extremely high volatility?
- What are the downsides of going all in?
- What your chances are of winning huge amounts of money using this strategy?
Table of contents:
How the All-in strategy works
The All-in strategy is extremely simple. It works by exploring the shortest path between your initial bankroll and the win you’d like to walk away with, then following that path. Here’s a more thorough description, for greater clarity. These are the individual steps:
- Pick a starting bankroll and an amount of money you would like win.
- Calculate the series of bets you need to place in order to get from your starting bankroll to your target amount in the fewest possible spins.
- Follow the series of bets and hope for the best.
Here’s an example to help you envisage how this strategy works. A player starts with $100 and would like to win at least $10,000. There are multiple series of bets this person can choose from:
- $100 * 36 (Straight up) * 3 (Row) = $10,800
- $100 * 18 (Split) * 6 (Six line) = $10,800
- $100 * 12 (Street) * 9 (Corner) = $10,800
Let’s say the player chooses option #2. They wager their $100 on a Split Bet, for a potential win of $1,800. If they win this bet, they then place their $1,800 on a Six Line, hoping to win $10,800. If they manage to win these two bets in a row, they achieve their target winnings and can happily leave the casino, although this scenario isn’t very likely.
In terms of expected return, it really doesn’t matter which of these options the player choses. Due to the RTP of any roulette bet being the same (at least in single zero roulette), it really doesn’t matter. The chances of finishing with $10,800 are the same, as long as the player only places two individual bets in total. If you manage to find another way of getting from $100 to $10,800 using a higher number of individual bets, the possibility of achieving this would be lower.
Bet size limits
There is one particular issue that this extremely volatile strategy can run into; the bet size limits imposed by the casino. The minimum bet limits shouldn’t be an issue with this type of strategy for most players, but the maximum bet limits can be if you are aiming for a really big win.
If your aim is to win the $10,800 figure I mentioned in my earlier example, it shouldn’t be a problem. If your target amount of money is higher, however, make sure you verify the casino table limits first and find out if you are permitted to place the entire sequence of bets, just in case you get lucky and actually make the last bet.
And remember to pay attention to the specifics of bet size limits. The casinos often have various maximum bet limits for different bet types, enabling you to bet much more on Color than you can on Straight Up, for example. Using these kinds of bet size limits, the casinos effectively limit the amount you could win in one spin. Always check the bet size limits before playing.
Does the order of the bets matter?
I have already stated that individual bets don’t matter at all in terms of RTP, as long as the number of bets in this sequence remains the same. There is one thing, however, that the individual bets and their order influence; the amount of time you get to play.
Let’s say you chose the first option from the three aforementioned suggestions, and you would like to progress from $100 to $10,800 by placing a Straight Up Bet and a Dozen Bet. You have two possible ways of doing this:
- Bet $100 on a Straight Up number, which is followed by, assuming you win, a $3,600 Dozen bet.
- Place a $100 Dozen Bet, which is followed by, assuming you win, a $300 bet on a Straight Up number.
In both instances you have the same chance of winning $10,800. In the first example you lose 36/37 of your first game rounds and only have a 1/37 chance of being able to place the second bet. If you switch up the bets, you will have a 12/37 chance of playing both spins. That means you’ll statistically play 1.027 roulette spins in the first example, and 1.324 roulette spins in the second example. It’s a very small difference, but it’s still something worth taking into account.
Chances to win – statistics and calculations
Simulations were used for all of the other roulette strategies I tested to demonstrate how they function across a larger number of spins. This doesn’t really make sense for the All-in strategy, however, as you’ll almost never want to play more than 3 spins in a row. Such a small number of spins can be very nicely expressed using simple statistics and calculations.
| Target amount ($10 start) | Bet sequence | Probability of winning | Average cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| $120 (12x) | Street (12x) | 32.43% (12/37) | $0.27 (2.7%) |
| $360 (36x) | Straight up (36x) | 2.7% (1/37) | $0.27 (2.7%) |
| $720 (72x) | Straight Up (36x) – Color (2x) | 1.315% (1/37 * 18/37) | $0.53 (5.33%) |
| $1,080 (108x) | Straight Up (36x) – Dozen (3x) | 0.877% (1/37 * 12/37) | $0.53 (5.33%) |
| $3,240 (324x) | Straight Up (36x) – Corner (9x) | 0.292% (1/37 * 4/37) | $0.53 (5.33%) |
| $12,900 (1,290x) | Straight Up (36x) – Straight Up (36x) | 0.073% (1/37 * 1/37) | $0.53 (5.33%) |
| $116,640 (11,664x) | Straight Up (36x) – Straight Up (36x) – Corner (9x) | 0.008% (1/37 * 1/37 * 4/37) | $0.79 (7.89%) |
As you can see, the average cost depends on the number of bets you place in succession, nothing more than that. The first two examples both consist of one bet only, which means the house edge (2.7%) also gets applied only once.
The four following examples consist of two bets, which means the house edge gets applied two times in a row, causing the players to lose more over the long run. The last example consists of three bets, which is why the average cost is the highest of all.
Conclusion and recommendations
The theoretical return of this strategy is high, especially when compared to the possible wins you could achieve, but the chances of winning big are extremely low, as you would expect. This is a good strategy to try out if you have a couple of bucks you don’t mind losing, but you really shouldn’t expect to win huge amounts of money, as this is unlikely.
Regardless of whether you win or lose, you will only play two or three spins at the most. If you are looking for a way of playing roulette that allows you to enjoy the game for longer periods of time, I strongly suggest you check out my other roulette strategies. You might find a better alternative.
However, if you decide to use the All-in strategy, make sure your expectations remain realistic and that you verify the bet size limits at your brick-and-mortar or online casino, so that you know whether you’ll be permitted to place the last bet of your series if you manage to make it that far.
