The Best and Worst Roulette Strategies

Here’s the truth about playing online roulette — it is a game where you are hoping a ball will bounce and land where you want it to, so your ability to get an edge is pretty slim. It’s not like poker or blackjack where you can build up skill or work on a rock-solid strategy — you are mostly at the whims of luck and gravity. That’s kind of what makes roulette so fun, but also frustrating at times.

In saying that, there are a few do’s and don'ts in terms of roulette strategy, and while they are not hard and fast rules, they should help you have a better chance at having more fun and coming out on top in the long run. Let’s take a look at the best and worst roulette strategies you can use today.

WATCH: What is the Martingale System?

Picking A Winning Roulette System for New Zealanders

1. Pick a Low-Risk Roulette Strategy

If you pick a winning number, you will win at odds of 35/1, which sounds pretty sweet. However, the odds of hitting this win are 37/1 if you’re playing European Roulette or worse, at 38/1 if you’re playing American Roulette. This is because European Roulette has an extra number with zero, and American Roulette has two extra numbers with zero and double zero.

The winnings for picking the right number are so high because the odds of hitting that number are so slim. To avoid this high-risk approach, it’s usually much smarter to make outside bets on the roulette table. These outside bets allow you to pick more numbers at one time, which while reducing returns per bet, increases the odds of you winning overall. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have smaller returns but with smaller risks!

A good example of this would be betting on two sections/columns/dozens at a time. If you place equal bets on each dozen, you are covering just under two-thirds of the numbers on the roulette board with two bets, which is pretty good odds.

The low-risk approach isn’t an instant payday, and it doesn’t mean it’ll work every time. It will do, though, to make sure you spend more time at the table and have more fun.

If you want to find out more about basic betting odds and strategy, take a look at our article on Roulette Strategy for Kiwis: Odds and Payouts.

2. Play Roulette in Short Bursts

Kiwis are a pretty stoic bunch and like to keep their chins up when things get rough. On a rugby field, this is great, as a roulette strategy, it’s bloody awful. If you’ve been at the roulette table for too long, you’re going to get tired, and you’re going to lose focus and concentration. Worse still, you might get a bit emotional about the game, and you might start betting with your heart instead of your noggin.

The solution? Play in short bursts, and take regular breaks.

Like all things in life, most people can only concentrate full-on for about 20 minutes, so we reckon it makes sense to apply that same time period to your roulette gaming. Play for 20 minutes or so, take five minutes off to have a drink, check Facebook, and then get back into it.

Again, we’re here for a good time not a long time, so take breaks to make sure you get the most out of your roulette strategy.

3. Play at a Busy Roulette Table

This one isn’t so much about increasing your chances of winning, but more so about helping your roulette experience last longer.

If you play at a busy roulette table, whether it’s in real life or at a top online roulette site, there are lots of players, so bets take longer, and the wheel gets spun less often. If the wheel is spun less often, that means there is more time for you to chat with the croupier and the other players, and just generally enjoy your time at the roulette table.

While it might slow the pace of the game down a tad, it will help you enjoy the overall experience of roulette much, much, more. And that’s what we’re here for right?

The Worst Roulette Strategies — What You Shouldn’t Do

1. Look for Patterns

There’s a reason myths like the existence of a mathematically perfect roulette strategy persist: us humans are hardwired to look for patterns. It’s literally in our DNA, and it helps us survive in the wild. Snake? Danger. Apple? Yum. So it’s understandable that we naturally look for patterns in roulette — the ball landed there twice in the last hour, so surely that’s a “hot” number right?

Some online roulette games even tell you how often previous numbers have won. It kind of seems to make sense, but unfortunately, it’s all utter rubbish.

Seriously, don’t fall for this. That little ball spinning on the roulette wheel is at the mercy of physics on a random spin. The wheel doesn’t care where it stops, and the ball doesn’t care where it lands — they are both just inanimate objects after all.

So even if the roulette ball lands on the number 12 five times in a row, there is no mathematical or even theoretical reason that the ball will be more likely to land on number 12 again any time soon. Every time the roulette wheel is spun, it is 100% a new spin with a completely random chance.

If for some reason you think you start to see patterns in the numbers, chances are you are getting a bit tired, and you need to listen to our tip about taking breaks from the roulette table.

2. Trying Fancy Roulette Strategies

In the world of gambling, everyone dreams of hacking the system and finding some foolproof way to come out on top every time. There are a ton of these so-called systems, including the Martingale Roulette Strategy, the D’Alembert Roulette Strategy, and even the James Bond Roulette Strategy. They all sound fancy, but at the end of the day, they are flawed, and will most likely end in tears on the table.

Taking the Martingale Roulette Strategy, for example, you are required to double your money down on each bet until you win. Bet 20. Lost again? Okay, bet $40. You keep doing that until you eventually win. Once you win, you go back to your starting bet. In theory, it sounds like you’ll win eventually, but you might also lose your bankroll well before that winning bet comes in.

Honestly, as smart and sophisticated as these fancy roulette strategies and systems sound, it is best to keep away from them.

Key Takeaway: Your Best Roulette Strategy

At the end of the day, roulette is a game of chance, and most roulette strategies are just trying to break a system that isn’t there to be broken. Your best bet is to figure out your risk versus reward ratio and find a betting strategy with roulette odds that matches your risk profile. If you’re curious about basic roulette betting strategies, have a gander at our article on Roulette Strategy for Kiwis: Odds and Payouts.

If you want to have a crack trying the roulette strategies we suggest above, there are tons of roulette games at our recommended top online casinos. There’s only one way to find the actual best roulette strategy for you, so get going!