Roulette, at first glance, is not a game that can be “mastered”. Since the outcome is largely based on chance, there isn’t a cast-iron way to guarantee a result every time, so technically there’s no way to accurately predict what you’re going to get. If we look a little closer at the game and its surrounding rules, though, we discover that it is actually possible to “master” online roulette.
Of course, there will always be that element of chance, that wild card that means you could be wrong or right; it wouldn’t be gambling otherwise. Everything around the game, though, can be learned, understood and committed to heart in order to ensure as favourable an outcome as possible for you each time you play. We’ve gathered together a list of handy tips and tricks to help you master online roulette and (hopefully) start raking in the cash.
- Learn the rules of the game
It sounds obvious, but this sort of thing can really trip many new players up. If you’re new to the game, and you’ve seen people playing it on TV or in films, you might think you know exactly what the rules of roulette are already. You probably don’t, and it’s not wise to assume you do, because you’ll lose money quickly when an unpredictable rule creeps up on you. It might sound basic, but familiarising yourself with the essential rules of the game is a great idea. Learn concepts like outside and inside bets, red and black and odds and evens and you’ll be well on your way.
- Choose your format carefully – European vs. American roulette
There are two prominent kinds of roulette which are played both in brick-and-mortar casinos and online. Both kinds feature roulette wheels which have 36 number segments on them divided up evenly between red and black, but that’s where the differences start. European roulette has a “zero” sector which isn’t red or black and doesn’t count as either an even or odd number; American roulette also has this segment, but it’s joined by a “double zero” which effectively doubles the chance of a loss if you’re placing a red / black or odd / even bet. European roulette is the far superior version, because the house edge is only 2.7% as compared to the American 5.26%.
- Accept your losses and play around them
If this was a predictable game which could be cracked open, then there wouldn’t be a gambling element to it and the house (the casino or website which is running the event) would never get any money from its players. Put simply, you’re going to lose sometimes in roulette, and there’s not very much you can do about that. What you can do is mitigate your losses and play around them; if you’ve been betting badly for a while, there’s no shame in bowing out and nursing your bankroll. Many players lose a lot of money in a short space of time because they have a “this is the one” mentality, wherein they’ve been losing for so long that they think they’re due a victory. That’s really not how roulette works, and realising this could mean the difference between profit and loss.
- Learn the strategies and pick the right one for you
There are three prominent strategies in roulette, each of which has a different risk / reward ratio associated with it. Martingale requires a significant bankroll to begin with, as the fundamental principle behind it is to increase your bet every time you lose. This guarantees that when you do eventually win, you’ll have the same amount of money as when you started, so it’s a backstop against a lengthy losing streak. Reverse Martingale, as you might expect, advises you to double your bet after each win, restarting and betting low as soon as you lose. With this strategy, the risk of losing a lot of bankroll is high, but so is the potential gain. Finally, there’s D’Alembert, named after a famous French roulette theorist, which suggests that trends on the table will even out; a long streak of red will balance out with black, so this is how you bet, with a similar model to the Martingale strategy. Reading about these and understanding the difference is key to winning, because it’ll help you to pinpoint where you want to be as a roulette player. There’s a lot more to these strategies than we’ve mentioned, so check them out in depth to understand them better.
- Start small and get bigger
Don’t be afraid to just place outside bets when you’re starting out; outside bets have much greater odds of return, simply because they take into account far more possibilities. Betting on red or black, or odds or evens, doesn’t quite return a 50-50 chance, but it’s as close as you can get on a roulette wheel. After a while, you can start altering your bets to get a little more specific with inside bets, especially if you’re watching the dealer (if it’s live dealer roulette) and following where they toss the ball each time. There’s no escaping the fact that inside bets offer greater reward, but also carry with them a greater risk; don’t take this risk unless you’re confident that your bankroll can handle it.
It’s very difficult to categorically state a series of ways in which one can “game” roulette, because it is in the end a game of chance, so there’s always a possibility that it won’t go your way. However, using these tips you can play around the game, mitigate your losses and maximise your wins.
