How to win at Roulette

This is another casino classic that is extremely popular and fun. Although it has considerably more betting combinations and possibilities as other games, it does not necessarily make it more complex to play. Read on for the best way to play roulette, and how to win at roulette.

Ease of play:

Profitability:

Enjoyability:

Rules and how to play Casino Roulette

(skip ahead if you already know how to play)

A big wheel with the numbers 0 to 36 is spun and a small ball is rolled onto the wheel. As the ball spins, it eventually stops and lands on a single number. Betting takes place around which number it will land on.

The first kind of betting is fairly similar: betting on the number that the ball lands on.

The second most basic kind of betting revolves around the color of the number. Each number on the wheel is a color. From 1 to 10 and 19 to 28, odd numbers are red and even are black. In ranges from 11 to 18 and 29 to 36, odd numbers are black and even are red. The number 0 is green

In American style roulette, there is a 00, as well as a 0, making 38 numbers in total. 

Establishing this, let’s look at all the different roulette betting options you can take.

Inside Bets

These kinds are bets are essentially bets on the numbers ‘inside’ the box of numbers.

Picture of Roulette table with lines

Straight Up Bet

  • What it is: A bet on a single number.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:35
  • True probability payout: 1:37 / 1:38 (american)
Picture of Roulette table with straight up bet showcase

Split Bet

  • What it is: A bet on a 2 side by side numbers.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:17
  • True probability payout: 1:18 / 1:19 (american)
Picture of Roulette table with split bet showcase

Street Bet

  • What it is: A bet on a row of 3 numbers
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:11
  • True probability payout: 1:11.67/1:12.67 (american)
Picture of Roulette table with street bet showcase

Corner bet

  • What it is: A bet on a block of 4 numbers.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:8
  • True probability payout: 1:8.25/1:8.5 (american)
Picture of Roulette table with corner bet showcase

Line Bet/6-line bet

  • What it is: A bet on a block of 6 numbers
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:5
  • True probability payout: 1:5.3/1:5.67 (american)
Picture of Roulette table with 6-line bet showcase

Outside Bets

These kinds are bets are essentially bets on the numbers ‘outside’ the box of numbers.

Picture of Roulette table with inside and outside bets showcase

Column Bet

  • What it is: A bet on one of the 3 columns of numbers.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:2
  • True probability payout: 1:2.08/1:2.17 (american)
Picture of Roulette table with the column's bets showcase
Picture of Roulette table with the column's bets showcase
Picture of Roulette table with the column's bets showcase

Dozen Bet

  • What it is: A bet on a block of a dozen numbers.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:2
  • True probability payout: 1:2.08/1:2.17 (american)
Picture of Roulette table with 1 dozen bets showcase
Picture of Roulette table with 1 dozen bets showcase
Picture of Roulette table with 1 dozen bets showcase

Red or Black

  • What it is: A bet on the color of the number.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:1
  • True probability payout: 1:1.054/1:111 (american)
Picture of a red bet
Picture showing a black bet

Odd or Even

  • What it is: A bet on all even or all odd numbers.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:1
  • True probability payout: 1:1.054/1:111 (american)
Picture showing an Even bet
Picture showing an odd bet

High or Low

  • What it is: A bet on all numbers between 1-18 or 19-36.
  • Winning payout/odds: 1:1
  • True probability payout: 1:1.054/1:111 (american)
Picture showing 1 - 18 Bet
Picture showing 19 - 36 Bet

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Roulette House Edge

Is casino roulette rigged? As we discussed before, online casinos don’t need to rig their games.
 
In roulette, the number 0 (and 00 in American roulette) lets the casino skew the difference between house payout odds and true probability-based payout odds.
 
This ensures that the casino also wins in the long run.
 
In terms of numbers, the European roulette house edge is 2.7%, whilst American roulette house edge comes in at 5.26%.

This is considerably higher that other games like blackjack, which does make roulette less profitable to play. However, the range of different betting options might make it more fun for some.
 
By applying the right strategy, players can get the best of both worlds and have lots of fun whilst learning how to win money at roulette.

Best Roulette Strategy – How to win money at roulette

When it comes to the best strategy for roulette, we’ll be applying a lot of the same principles already discussed – that’s because most casino games are also applying the same principles to attain their house edge.

Fun versus profit

Before we going into strategy, we need to look at whether you’re trying to win money at roulette or just fun. Roulette may not be as profitable as other casino games, but it also may be much more fun.
 
So before playing roulette, decide which, because the best way to play roulette differs depending on your purpose. We advise not trying to do both, as it is going to be a very thin line to thread and will not allow you the best of either.
 
If you’re in it for a good time, set a budget and throw some fun bets. If you want to discover how to win at roulette, read on for our strategy.

European versus American

Our first pieces of strategy on how to win money at roulette is going to be very obvious: pick European Roulette over American Roulette.
 
The extra 00 on American Roulette increases the house edge significantly to 5.26% instead of 2.7%

Banner for best casino rec with european roulette 
Banner for most popular casino rec with european roulette

Simplifying Betting Options

Like we mentioned, there are many betting options that may over-complicate things. Before looking at the best bets in roulette, we’re going to start by simplifying those bets. 

  • Inside bets (direct bets on numbers) have higher payouts but lower chances of winning.
  • Outside bets (bets with larger groups of numbers or outcomes) have lower payouts but higher winning odds.

If you’re in for a good fun time, inside bets are your go-to.
 
However, the best way to play roulette to win money is to only play outside bets.

In particular, a lot of outside bets offer 1:1 or 1:2 payout odds. For the best way to win money at roulette, we’ll focus on those.
 
Similarly to blackjack, when it comes to these bets, it’s about bet sizing

Bet sizing systems

The Martingale Betting Strategy is a betting strategy that is built on the premise that you can’t lose forever, and so if you always just double down on your bet every time you lose, you will recover everything you’ve lost when you eventually win, and hence, you will theoretically never lose IF there are no bet caps and you have infinite bankroll.

To win at roulette, it’s best applied to the bets with 1:1 payout odds:

A quick example:

Keep betting 5 Euros on black. When you lose, double your bet to 10. If you lose again, bet 20. 

Basically, just double your bet when you lose.

Once you win again, go back to 5 euros.

Similarly, you would apply this to 1:1 payout bet. So here is an example on how to win money at roulette with this system.

Fibonacci Betting System Roulette example:

Bet 1 euro. 
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34

If you lose, bet 1 euro again. 
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34

If you lose, bet 2 euros. 
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34

If you lose again, bet 3 euros. 
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34

If you lose again, bet 5 euros. 
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34

If and when you win, go back 2 numbers to a 2 euro bet.
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34

If you’re betting at a base of more than 1 euro, simply apply the Fibonacci numbers as multipliers rather than actual bet amounts.

Essentially, this system has a slower progression than Martingale System, but with a more controlled range, meaning less chances of large losses. 

As flawless as these systems sounds, they only work well in short bursts and does still require a little luck and discipline for you to win money at roulette. 

Hence, it may not be the best way to play roulette: there are still several flaws which almost ensure that if you play long enough, you will lose your whole bankroll.

To give you the best way to win at roulette, you’ll realize that we simplified the betting options to look exclusively at not just outside bets, but 1:1 payout betting option. 

The other bets are much more unpredictable and also, have even worse payout odds, and is therefore not how to win money at roulette.

So simply put, we’d advise applying either the martingale or Fibonacci system when betting, depending on your bankroll and your casino’s table betting caps. 

One last additional tip in terms of betting is to put the occasional bet on 0/00. Keep an eye on the numbers board (that tracks what numbers have come up before) and if you do not see the 0/00, consider putting a small bet on the 0/00

Although statistically unsupported, we have, in our own gambling experience, seen that the 0/00 seems to come up more often than it should in terms of its probability. 

But maybe it’s a case of seeing more of what we’re looking out for.

Bankroll management

Our final piece of advice to the best roulette strategy for profit is one that we’ve harping on for a long time: bankroll management

Set a budget, and stick to it. To win money at roulette, you’ll need to limit losing first.

As we mentioned in previously, we recommend allocating 5-10% of your overall bankroll per session. 

Which means if your full bankroll (the total amount you are willing to play for in the long term) is 5000 euros, we recommend keeping it to a maximum of 500 euros per session.

If you decide on 5% (250 euros), and you lose 250 euros, DO NOT think: ‘ahh but luckgurus recommended up to 10% (500 euros), so i could probably just play for another 250 euros. I would be doing the same tomorrow anyway’.

While that is technically true, the key ingredient here is your state of mind. You are ‘in the hole’, and very prone to emotional spikes and getting desperate. That means you will most likely play worse than usual and are more likely to lose the money.

Winning Limit

If you only set a losing limit, guess what? You’ll only lose. 

Set a winning limit for when to walk away. We recommend the 2.5:1 rule. So, if my session limit is 500 euros, my winning limit is 500 x 2.5 = 1250 euros

If you play by these limits and you only win 2 out of 5 days in a week (very possible if you follow all of our guides here), you’ll still come out on top pretty nicely (+1250 x 2 = +2500. -500 x 3 = -1500. You’ll come up +1000 in a week).

Time Limit

Like we mentioned in our other guide, all of this won’t work without a time limit. If you decide that you’re either going to win 2.5x your session limit or lose it all, you may be playing for way longer and probably not come out in the positive. 

So set a time limit and walk away regardless of how much you are up or down when it hits.

We recommend 3 hours max.

Conclusion

The best way to play roulette depends on whether you want to have a good time or try and make money.
 
If it’s the latter, choose and apply best roulette strategy for you from above, but be warned that any profitable roulette strategy limits you to only a few types of bets.

But if you’re not trying to make money with roulette and you just want to have a good time, then set limits, and go crazy (within your limits).

Picture of the author says

Author

Says Quah

Boasting over 10 years of experience in the creative industry, Says’ true passion has always been seeking the balance between the thrill and danger of gambling…
Read more about Says here!