Tips to Win at Roulette

In a separate post on the subject of roulette, I discussed the ins and outs of roulette strategy and the importance of knowing what works and what doesn’t. As we discovered, well-known roulette strategies such as the Martingale can be a fun way to engage with the game and structure your bets, but they should never be considered as a serious approach, as they do not work in the long run.

Rather, the most important things to keep in mind when forming your roulette strategy are the rules of the game and the difference between different roulette variations, as these directly impact your odds of winning.

Meanwhile, you should be doing whatever you can to reduce the house edge so that it is as low as possible, as this means that you should lose less in the long run. Once you have these basic tenets of your roulette strategy nailed down, you can start looking at different ways to try and win a game of roulette.

For this, you have come to the right place. Read on for my expert’s guide on the things you can do to help win at roulette. 

Choose the Right Table

This one really does bear repeating, as it is one of the most important tips for winning at roulette. There are many different roulette variants out there, each of which with a different house edge. As a player, your goal is to find the table with the lowest house edge, as this represents your highest chances of winning. Let’s break this down properly. 

• • French roulette: this is the table with the best house edge – the single ‘zero’ reduces the edge to just 2.7%, while the la partage rule can lower the edge further to a mere 1.35%.

• • European roulette: with one zero, European roulette also has a 2.7% house edge, although it does not often have the la partage rule. 

• • American roulette: this Las Vegas variant has two zeros, giving a higher house edge of 5.26%. 

• • Triple Zero roulette: this is a roulette wheel with three zeros, which pushes the house edge up to an eye-watering 7.69%. Do not play this one. 

Don’t Count on Roulette Strategies

I can’t really stress this one enough. Do not listen to those YouTube videos that claim to have discovered a betting strategy that will teach you how to win roulette with every spin, as you will end up losing your money. One of the roulette winning tips I can always count on is that famous roulette ‘strategies’ such as Martingale or d’Alembert, which require you to adjust your subsequent bet after each win or loss, do not work any better than placing random bets. Granted, they can be a fun way to structure your wagers, but they will always leave you out of pocket if you rely on them. 

Set your Limits

One of the best tips for playing roulette is to set hard limits on yourself, because managing your bankroll is a crucial part of smart casino play. Before you enter the casino, figure out exactly what you want to spend per spin and what you are willing to lose before you get up and leave the game.

Budget an exact amount to spend on your roulette session and do not go over it. If Lady Luck kicks your ass and you blow your budget, it’s time to log out or get up and leave the casino. It’s important to remember that casino gaming is entertainment and that your bankroll is your budget for that entertainment. Sticking to this will help you avoid losing an entire paycheck in one sitting.

Pay Attention to Spins per Hour

Spins per hour are absolutely essential when forming any roulette strategy, as this will massively affect your bankroll. Remember, in a land-based casino, you will typically only get 60 spins of the roulette wheel per hour. However, online casinos allow you to wager on as many as 300 spins per hour. In this kind of fast-paced environment, it can be easy to lose track of your spending.

It’s simple mathematics. Let’s say you play 60 spins per hour, at $100 per spin, on a table with a 5.26% house edge. That would mean you lose $5.26 every spin. At 60 spins per hour, that’s a loss of $315 per hour. However, at 300 spins per hour, you lose $1,578 per hour, which is way more.

Leave When You’re Ahead

It is essential to know when to cut your losses and get out. Don’t get complacent just because you’re on a winning streak, as this tends to be the downfall of even the greatest roulette players.

Ideally, you should leave the table as soon as you are up, as you have already beat the house. Do not follow those roulette strategies that tell you to up your bets when you are up, as you will quickly lose everything. Always quit when you are ahead. 

Let’s walk through an example. Let’s say you started your roulette round with $100 and you’re now up to $250. At this point, I would give the dealer $200 in chips in exchange for two black $100 chips. Once I have these, they would stay in my pocket, meaning that I will leave the casino with double my money no matter what. The remaining $50 I would be able to wager freely at the roulette table without worrying about ending up in the red. A simple strategy like this will ensure that you can always quit when you’re ahead. 

Beware the Gambler’s Fallacy 

In roulette, the gambler’s fallacy is the common delusion that what is going to happen next at the roulette table is somehow based on your past numbers. Drop this now. The beauty of roulette is that it is truly random and that the previous spin of the wheel has no bearing whatsoever on your next result. Each spin is a fresh start. Let’s say you are running outside bets on red and the last 10 spins have all come up black. You might be thinking that red is well overdue and that it’s time to wager on that. However, the likelihood of red coming up is still the exact same as the likelihood of black. Don’t fall for the gambler’s fallacy.

By following these expert roulette tips, you can enjoy safe and fun gaming at more favourable odds. Remember this next time you are at the roulette table. 

Did you know?

Did you know that there’s an inverse of the gambler’s fallacy? Instead of assuming that something must be likely to happen because it hasn’t done so for a while, Ian Hacking proposed the opposite. If you walk into a room and see something unlikely happen, people (wrongly) think it’s the first time it’s happened because it’s so unlikely.