How to Choose the Optimal Roulette Strategy for Bigger Wins

A progressive strategy changes as the game develops—what you wager in your first game might not be the amount you wager in your second game. These strategies will keep you on your toes as you must learn to adapt and stick to the plan. The variance makes things more interesting, but it also means that the wager can grow very big very quickly, and that can be scary for inexperienced players.

A non-progressive strategy stays the same for every wager. These roulette strategies are geared toward covering as many options as possible.

The Best Roulette Strategy for Your Budget

While most strategies can be adapted, some are rather limiting if you have a small bankroll and not a lot of gambling experience.

Take the Martingale strategy as an example (discussed below). It entails doubling your bet after every loss. If you start too high and hit a losing streak, you could find yourself on a dangerously high wager, one that clears out your bankroll in a single game. The nature of the strategy means that you should get your money back eventually, but that only applies if you have the money to bet in the first place, and if your bankroll has gone and you need to find the same amount again, that might not be possible.

This can also be problematic for non-progressive strategies like the $150 method, although in this case, you can simply adjust it to scale until it is suitable. Read our guide on what is the $150 roulette strategy? to learn more.

The Roulette Variant

There are some minor differences between different roulette variants, including games with smaller wheels and faster gameplay, live vs virtual games, and ones with side bets and jackpots. The main difference, though, concerns American vs European roulette.

The green “0” space creates the house edge on outside bets. It is not black, red, high, low, odd, or even, so all wagers on these options lose if the ball lands on this space. In European Roulette, there is a single green “0’’; in American Roulette, there is an additional “00” space, increasing the house edge.

So, if you’re using a strategy that calls for outside wagers, such as Martingale, you’re better off with variants of European Roulette.

The Best Mathematical Roulette Strategy

For many players, the best roulette strategy is a progressive one, and three progressive strategies get the most attention in this game. All roulette strategies require you to set a bankroll and a unit stake, with the latter accounting for your bet’s need to allow room for multiple increases.

You must limit yourself to even money wagers or as close as this game can get to them. You restrict your bet to outside bets like High/Low, Black/Red, and Odd/Even.

Martingale

Most players consider Martingale the most optimal roulette strategy, as it’s used most often. It is also employed across other games and is even used in sports betting.

After setting your unit stake, place your bet on an outside wager. If you lose, double it; if you lose again, double it again. Keep going this way until you win, at which point you should return to your original stake and stay there if you keep winning.

By doubling your stake after a loss, you will get your money back when you eventually win. As the strategy calls for even money bets, it is assumed that the win will come eventually, and you’ll recover any losses accrued to that point. Doubling your bets in this manner can send your wagers sky-high, running the risk of hitting a table limit or clearing out your bankroll.

Paroli

The Paroli strategy works like the Martingale system but has more budget-friendly inclusions.

Rather than doubling after a loss, you only double after a win and should do this at most three times in a row before dropping back to your original stake. There is a much lower chance of hitting a table limit or clearing your bankroll.

D’Alembert

Rather than starting with a single unit wager, the D’Alembert requires you to start with five units and then adjust according to your success at the table. Reduce your wager by one unit following a win and increase it by one following a loss. If you win several times in a row and find yourself staking your minimum wager, keep going until you lose, at which point you can increase.

Roulette Strategy to Win Every Time

There is no such thing as the perfect roulette wheel-winning strategy. It’s a game of chance with a house edge, so there’s no way to guarantee success in every spin or session. However, by adopting the optimal roulette strategy for your budget, you should have more control over the table and your budget than with randomly placed wagers.

Remember always to create a bankroll and stick to it while carefully planning your initial wager and session limit. You can use deposit/loss limits to help you with this or simply place your bankroll in an e-wallet or casino account you don’t touch until the next bankroll period.

Summary: Optimal Roulette Strategy

There is no perfect optimal roulette strategy, but progressive strategies like Martingale, Paroli, and D’Alembert are the preferred options for most players. Try these systems out for yourself the next time you play, and if you’re looking for something a little different, check out some non-progressive options.