How to play - ROULETTE

The Basics of Roulette
Players, usually up to eight, play against the house represented by the croupier also called the dealer, who spins the roulette wheel and handles the wagers and payouts. The wheel has 37 slots representing 36 numbers and one zero. In the USA most wheels have two zeros and therefore 38 slots.

Each player buys-in a different colored chips so their bets don't get mixed up. At the end of play, if you won, you exchange back the colored chips with cash chips. These are special chips with the vale amount imprinted on them. There are several denominations in various colors. You then take these chips to the cash desk where they will give you actual cash money in exchange.

To play you place your bet or bets on numbers (any number including the zero) in the table layout or on the outside, and when everybody at the table had a chance to place their bets, the croupier starts the spin and launches the ball. Just a few moments before the ball is about to drop over the slots, the croupier says 'no more bets'. From that moment no one is allowed to place - or change - their bets until the ball drops on a slot. Only after the croupier places the 'dolly' on the winning number on the table and clears all the losing bets you can then start placing your new bets while the croupier pays the winners. The winners are those bets that are on or around the number that comes up. Also the bets on the outside of the layout win if the winning number is represented.

The house advantage

On a single zero roulette tables the house advantage is 2.7%. On a double zero roulette table it is 5.26% (7.9% on the five-number bet, 0-00-1-2-3). The house advantage is gained by paying the winners a chip or two (or a proportion of it) less than what it should have been if there was no advantage.

The payouts
A bet on one number only, called a straight-up bet, pays 35 to 1. (You collect 36. With no house advantage it should be 36 to1).
A two-number bet, called split bet, pays 17 to 1.
A three-number bet, called street bet, pays 11 to 1.
A four-number bet, called corner bet, pays 8 to 1.
A six-number bet, pays 5 to 1.
A bet on the outside dozen or column, pays 2 to 1.
A bet on the outside even money bets, pays 1 to 1.

Playing the game
To win the player needs to predict where the ball will land after each spin. This is by no means easy. In fact, luck plays an important part in this game. Some players go with the winning numbers calling them 'hot' numbers and therefore likely to come up more times. Others see which numbers did not come up for some time and bet on them believing that their turn is now due. Some players bet on many numbers to increase their chances of winning at every spin, but this way the payout is considerably reduced. Other methodical players use systems or methods.

Strategies The Martingale

This one of the most basic and more widely spread money management system. Unfortunately it can rarely be used in Black Jack anymore, however it is still worth exploring since it best illustrates the idea behind money management.

It works like this:
You double your stake, when you lose, and start all over again, when you win. Quite simple actually. This means that you will be ensured a profit, when you win.
Let's make an example: (odds 3) (betting on sports)

You bet 100$ on a home victory at odds 3, but you lose. Next time, you bet 200$ on another game at odds 3. Here you win, meaning a profit of 200$ x 3 - 200$ - 100$ = 300$. If you had lost, you should have increased the stake to 400$, then 800$ etc. No matter when you win, you will win back what you have lost plus a lot more in profit.

As can be seen from the graph below, having strong monetary backup is crucial. Most sources agree that in Black Jack, when using basic strategy, the odds stacked against you are of 50.25% This means that 11 consecutive losses will happen once every 2047 hands you play. If this is an acceptable risk to you, it means that you will need 2047 times your standard bet as funds ready to back up a loosing streak.

Losing Streak Progression Each Turn
Starting Bet
1*
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
1$
2
4
8
16
32
64
128
256
512
1024
2047
5$
10
20
40
80
160
320
640
1280
2560
5120
10 235
Odds Of Losing Streak Happening
For 50% against you
25%
12.5%
6.25%
3.125%
1.5625%
0.78125%
0.39063%
0.19531%
0.09766%
0.04883%
For 60% against you
43.56%
28.7496%
18.97474%
12.52333%
8.26540%
5.45516%
3.60041%
2.37627%
1.56834%
1.03510%

*Column 1 being the first hand after a loss (or a second consecutive loss)

The main problem is that the stakes grow very big very fast, when losing several times in a row, i.e. you need a very large betting fund or "bankroll". Another problem is the fact that the bookies and casinos operate with maximum bet limits.

To put a stop on the use of this very simple system, casinos instated minimums and limits on black jack and roulette tables and therefor, unless you can find a black jack table with a very wide limit range, you will not be able to apply this system.

Originally Martingale was used on Red/Black when playing Roulette (odds 2.00). This means that the risk is minimized, but also that the profit at each progression end will be only the starting-stake.

A Martingale II Variation

It is easy to see how the Martingale grows faster and faster as you keep loosing and why you require so much money to support yourself through loosing streaks.

The main problem with the Martingale is that it seeks to earn you money even when you are loosing. Though not a bad idea, this is unnecessary and greatly affects the amount you need as back up.

The MII only seeks to make you make money on the second hand after a loss.

The MII simply seeks to have you regain the money lost without attempting to gain money even when you loose. You only double after the first loss, and after that you simply bet the amount that you have lost so far.

This means that the first win after a loosing streak of more then 2 losses will not earn you anything but only cover what you have lost so far. This is based on the fact that long loosing streaks are statistically less probable and therefor on the second hand you bet 10 rather then only 5. All subsequent hands, you will bet the total that you have lost so far, which comes down to doubling.

Making money when you loose is the catch phrase that draws people to the Martingale, but the essential here is not to make money when you loose, but to be able to afford a loosing streak.

Compare the progression between the 2 systems from the graph below, on a 50% risk. The total amount needed for the Martingale is 10,235 while the MII is only 6680.

Losing Streak Progression each turn

Starting Bet
1*
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
Martingale at 5$
10
20
40
80
160
320
640
1280
2560
5120
10 235
MII at 5$
10
15
30
60
120
240
480
960
1920
3840
6680
For 50% against you
25%
12.5%
6.25%
3.125%
1.5625%
0.78125%
0.39063%
0.19531%
0.09766%
0.04883%

A Slower Martingale aimed at only recuperating lost money, with 0 Gain on losing streaks

Starting Bet
1*
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
MSlow at 5$
5
10
20
40
80
160
320
640
1280
2560
5120
For 50% against you
25%
12.5%
6.25%
3.125%
1.5625%
0.78125%
0.39063%
0.19531%
0.09766%
0.04883%

Losing Streak Progression beyond the 11th subsequent loss for 66% odds against you

11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Total
5120
10,240
20,480
40,960
81,920
163,840
327,680
655,360
1,310,720
2,621,440
5,242,880
0.68317%
0.45089%
0.29759%
0.19641%
0.12963%
0.08556%
0.05647%
0.03727%
0.02460%
0.01623%

The second Graph above shows you a slowed down version of the Martingale. This one has absolutely no doubling. The total amount of money needed to support this is 5115 or 5120 if counting the very first loss.

The last graph shows you, for 66% odds against you, what amount of money will be needed to cover the arbitrarily set safety of a once in 2000 hands loosing steaks.

Only at the 17 turn (18th loss) do you approach this barrier. The amount of money necessary to cover this loosing streak would be in the sum of 655,360$. The Martingale systems is often boasted as capable of beating any odds however a Black Jack player can easily play 500 hands in a night, so the importance of enduring the trest of time and therefor making sure that you have enough money to support big losses is crucial.

This sums up the Martingale. And though not applicable to Black Jack unless you are playing on a limitless table, the Martingale is very much the Money Management 101 system to learn, in order to understand the principle behind Money Management.