Best Roulette Strategies to Have Fun and Retain a Fair Chance of Winning Big
Roulette strategies that guarantee profit don't work. But there are strategies that can shape volatility and improve your chances of winning even when you play for fun.
If you've been searching for the best roulette strategy online, you almost certainly have come across many websites that claim that their strategies are a surefire way to make money online. However, strategies like Martingale or Fibonacci don't work. If you keep using them on a long-term basis, you will almost certainly lose your entire bankroll.
Which roulette strategies actually work?
The strategies in this article are different, though. They help you play roulette effectively and have a realistic chance to win money and enjoy the game at the same time.
However, we are not saying they will help you turn roulette into an ATM machine. That's not possible, because the casino always has a statistical advantage over you when playing roulette. In other words, you statistically lose money with every bet you make.
Why volatility and RTP matter in roulette
If you've read some of our articles, you already know how much we underline the importance of volatility (also known as variance). Volatility is used to describe how often you tend to win in a casino game, and how big the individual wins are.
- High volatility means that you will not win very often, but the individual wins will be larger.
- Low volatility means the opposite. You will win quite often, but the wins will generally be small.
- Medium volatility is somewhere in between.
When it comes to return to player (RTP), there are different types of roulette with different RTPs. European roulette has an RTP of 97.3%. French roulette can offer an even higher RTP on certain bets. However, American roulette has a lower RTP of 94.74% due to the extra double zero.
Because of this, we generally don't recommend playing American roulette, especially if other variants are available.
That said, the expected RTP of any type of roulette bet within a specific variant is the same. This means that you statistically get the same percentage of your money back, regardless of which type of bet you place.
Comparison of high and low volatility bets in roulette
The nature of roulette dictates that you are statistically expected to lose. Placing bets with low volatility means your results will stay close to this expected outcome. But if you place highly volatile bets, you have a higher chance of winning some money.
The most volatile bet you can place is a bet on a single number (called Straight up). It has a payout ratio of 36 times your bet, and you statistically will only win once every 37 spins (on a single-zero roulette wheel). This is the highest volatility you can get for a single spin in roulette.
High volatility bets have a wider range of possible outcomes. That means while you're more likely to lose big, you're also more likely to win big, which gives you a better chance to beat the statistical odds in the short term.
On the contrary, the least volatile bets are known as even chance bets (placed on red/black, even/odd, high/low). The payout is 2 times your original bet. That means you have an 18:37 chance of winning. Technically, if you want to, you can lower the volatility even more by covering a substantial part of the roulette table with chips.
Low volatility bets also keep your results predictable, and since the odds are against you, predictable usually means a slow, steady loss.
This concept might be a bit difficult to grasp, but the charts below will hopefully help you understand why high volatility is generally better for the player.
Simulations of low volatility roulette bets
This simulation represents the results of 5 players who played 250 spins each, placing $1 bets on red/black.
As you can see, all of the five players who placed low volatility bets stayed close to their starting bankroll and the expected negative return. Only one of them ended up winning any money, with the other four finishing with around 80% to 90% of their initial bankroll.
Simulations of high volatility roulette bets
This simulation represents the results of 5 players who played 250 spins each, placing $1 bets on a number.
In terms of players placing high volatility bets, the results are much more interesting. One of the players lost everything after 136 spins, and another came very close to going bankrupt. The third player was pretty much break-even, and the two remaining players managed to win nice amounts. This demonstrates that to have a chance to win a bigger amount, you pretty much need to increase volatility.
Introduction to the best roulette strategies
There are many different ways of playing roulette, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. Also, each player has different preferences. Some want to win a lot of money, some want to have an exciting game, while others just want to spend some time playing the game.
That's why the roulette strategies that we put together are all about finding a balance between these factors:
- Expected value (Strategy RTP, Return to Player)
- Chance to win
- Thrill
- Play time
It is also important to say that not every strategy will be suitable for all players. Therefore, you should choose the one that's best for you based on your bankroll and other preferences.
We want to make it completely clear that these strategies are not miracle workers and will not guarantee you win every time. However, they are designed to help you enjoy the game as much as possible.
Below, we provide key information on the best roulette strategies so you can read the basics and skip the rest. But we also added links to detailed articles on each individual strategy for those interested in a more in-depth explanation and simulations.
Constant Bet roulette strategy
This strategy is about always wagering the same amount of money on the same bet.
The Constant Bet roulette strategy is not very advanced. In fact, the majority of roulette players use it without even realizing it. As its name suggests, this strategy is about constantly placing the same bet for the same amount of money.
The Constant Bet strategy serves well as a baseline for comparing the rest of the best roulette strategies, as it represents a standard way of playing roulette. It can also be very versatile. The success of this strategy depends on what kind of bets you place, how big (or small) the bets are, how long you want to play, and how much money you would like to win.
EXAMPLE
A player walks into a casino with $100 in their pocket and sits down at a roulette table. The minimum bet is $10, and they start betting $10 on black every single round.
The Constant Bet roulette strategy could be the ideal option for you, if you want to:
- spend quite a long time playing roulette,
- have a reasonable chance of ending up with more money than you started with,
- play roulette for fun, without thinking about it too much.
We go into much more detail in the separate article covering the Constant Bet strategy. Feel free to read the article anytime, but we would advise you to first learn about other strategies before diving into the specifics.
Constant Proportion roulette strategy
This strategy is about constantly placing the same bet and increasing your bet size according to your bankroll.
The Constant Proportion strategy is very similar to the Constant Bet strategy, but instead of placing bets of the same amount, your bet size should increase by a certain percentage of your bankroll. This self-regulating mechanism makes this strategy a bit more interesting.
EXAMPLE
A player starts with $100 and bets 10% of their bankroll each round, which is $10. They win, so now they have $110. The next bet is therefore $11.
Every time, the bet size adjusts with the bankroll, meaning the bet size increases by 10% when the bankroll is bigger, and decreases by 10% when the bankroll is smaller. This keeps going until the player hits their goal, loses it all, or decides to walk away.
The most noticeable difference between this strategy and the Constant Bet strategy is that if you keep winning, your bets will increase, which makes it easier to win big. On the other hand, if you keep losing, your bets will decrease, which means you will lose at a slower pace.
You can find more information about the Constant Proportion strategy, including a number of simulations that show how it performs in real-life scenarios, in the article about the Constant Proportion strategy.
All-in roulette strategy
This strategy is about going all in. It is extremely volatile, which means there's a high risk of losing the bankroll in just one round.
All-in strategy means you wager your entire bankroll in a single round, at least once, or multiple times if you wish. The specific bets should depend on how much money you start with and how much money you want to end up with.
Even though you can easily lose it all on a single bet, this strategy retains the highest expected return of all the other strategies we recommend. Here are some examples:
EXAMPLE
- A player starts with $100 and wants to end up with at least $1,000. They place their $100 on a row (3 numbers). If they win, the player will have $1,200 and can leave the game satisfied.
- A player starts with $100 and wants to end up with at least $3,000. They make a single $100 bet on a random roulette number. If they win, the player will have $3,600.
- A player starts with $100 and wants to have at least $10,000. One bet will not be enough for that. However, the player can start off with the same bet we mentioned in the second example. They place another bet of $3,600 on a column or a dozen (in case the first bet was successful). If the player wins both bets, they will end up with $10,800.
The All-in strategy has a major drawback. The play time for this strategy is basically non-existent. You will most likely have only one spin, or a couple more if you are lucky.
That's why this strategy is not recommended for players who want to enjoy the game of roulette for a bit longer while they "go through" their bankroll.
However, if you'd like to try it out, we have the All-in roulette strategy article, which contains all the necessary details to understand this strategy properly, prepared for you.
Reverse Martingale roulette strategy
This strategy is the opposite of the well-known Martingale strategy. It is about increasing the size of the bet every time there is a win.
The Reverse Martingale strategy is very interesting for many reasons. It gives you a really fair chance of winning a substantial amount of money, while also enjoying the game for quite some time. It can also be thrilling to try out, so thanks to this balance, it's a great fit for many people.
It is also very easy to understand because many people have heard about the Martingale strategy that is somewhat similar. However, the Martingale system, which consists of placing a single even-chance bet and then doubling the wagered amount every time you lose, doesn't really work.
The Reverse Martingale strategy works the opposite way. You increase your bet every time you win. This enables you to transform a random series of lucky spins into potentially big wins.
EXAMPLE
- If they lose, they bet $1 again.
- If they win, they take the amount they initially won ($36), then wager it again by placing a $36 bet on a random number.
- If they win this $36 bet, they collect their money ($1,296) and leave the table or keep betting again with an initial $1 to have a chance of winning once again. If they lose, they go back to the first step of $1 and begin again from there.
The player has only three possible outcomes:
- They either lose their entire $100,
- or they manage to win two bets in a row, collect their winnings of $1,296, and keep the portion of their bankroll they haven't yet wagered,
- or they can choose to continue, "play through" the remaining portion of their bankroll and possibly win another $1,296.
Remember, the outcome of the Reverse Martingale strategy will vary enormously. It all depends on the percentage of the bankroll you wish to wager as your initial bet. Another important thing to decide on before you start the game is the amount you wish to win.
If you're not sure if this strategy would work for you, read detailed article about the Reverse Martingale strategy and learn why we think it's the best possible way to play roulette.
Progressive Bet roulette strategy
This strategy is also about increasing the size of the bet after a win, but by more moderate amounts.
We created the Progressive Bet roulette strategy as a spin-off of the Reverse Martingale strategy. While the Reverse Martingale strategy is mathematically great, we believe it might be a little difficult for players to place their entire win from previous spins in a single bet.
So, instead of wagering the entire amount of your winnings at once, you wager only a portion of what you won in the previous round.
EXAMPLE
A player starts off with $100 and chooses to place Corner bets at a $2 basic bet size. Every time they win, they wager 2/3 of the amount won in the next round. This is what their gameplay strategy might look like:
- The player places a Corner bet of $2. They have a 4/37 chance of winning $18 (including their initial stake).
- If they win, they then place a bet of $12 (2/3 of $18) for a chance to win $108.
- If they win again, they then place a bet of $72 (2/3 of $108) for a chance to win $648. They can continue like this as long as they wish.
- Whenever they lose, they go back to the initial bet of $2 and continue from there.
This example is one of the most interesting options out of the 27 different combinations of bet types, basic bet sizes, and multiplication factors that we tested in our simulations.
There are other very important differences between the Progressive Bet strategy and the Reverse Martingale strategy. As you might have noticed, Reverse Martingale has practically only two possible outcomes – either you win your goal winnings, or you lose everything. The Progressive Bet strategy, on the other hand, enables a wider variety of results.
You could save a part of your bankroll, or you could end up with a slight profit. And you could even win a substantial amount of money, provided you have luck on your side, as well as a good combination of all the important factors mentioned in our detailed article on the Progressive Bet strategy.
What's more, you can choose less volatile betting types for this strategy, meaning you get to place more bets of higher sizes. This makes the gameplay more enjoyable for a lot of players.
Conclusions and recommendations
There is no single strategy that's suitable for everybody. Each player has their own roulette strategy, and they all have certain advantages and disadvantages. The most important thing to realize is that no roulette strategy will guarantee a win. To put it bluntly, there is no way to outsmart casinos. You will always lose money in the long run.
Still, we believe we have put together the best roulette strategies that make the game even more fun. They do not remove the house edge by any means, but they do minimize its effect on your bankroll.
After running these strategies through simulations and explaining the math behind them in our detailed articles, we sum up the basics for you right here:
- The Constant Bet strategy can be used in all situations, as it is very flexible and extremely easy to use. But it won't give you really big wins. The possibility of winning big also increases the chances of running out of money too quickly.
- The Constant Proportion strategy is a bit more balanced thanks to its self-regulating mechanism of changing bet sizes. However, it's a bit more difficult to use because you have to calculate the proper bet size in each game round. You should be able to do this pretty much automatically after a while, though.
- The All-in strategy has the potential to deliver huge wins but is also extremely risky, overly volatile, and likely to give you just one or two spins, so play time is not ideal, to say the least.
- The Reverse Martingale strategy is the best strategy in our opinion. It has a predictable amount of play time, offers a fair chance to win, and has a great expected value. But it is not the most suitable for land-based casinos since the basic bet size needs to be really small (unless you have a really big budget).
- The Progressive Bet strategy is also a great option, especially for players who might not enjoy the need to wager their entire winnings from the previous game. This strategy also maintains a solid chance to win a bigger sum. In order to do this, optimal parameters must be chosen, so make sure to read the article dedicated to the Progressive Bet strategy to find out more.
