Roulette Systems
  
  I found a roulette bet progression system in a magazine several years ago, and, when I started this website, my wife decided to test it out to see how well it would work. She fired up our favorite computer casino program (Binion's World Series of Poker, Deluxe Casino Pack) and went to work. At first, she was overwhelmed by remembering the progression itself. Once she came up with a method of remembering that, she realized that she was occasionally hitting the table limit I had set for her of $100 maximum bet. She lowered her bet from a $5 chip to a $1 chip and tracked several sessions at the table. She made a few "refinements" to the system to suit her need for believing that she had some control over the outcome (she's funny that way), but I must admit, she has done well. Well enough that we're headed to the local Indian casinos to test the system in a real-life environment while we add to our table money for our next Vegas trip where the system will be given the REAL test. Below, I have given both the original system and my wife's changes (including her "reasons" for changing).    
  The system is based on placing a 4-number corner bet (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 5) and adjusting the bet amount after a loss in order to ensure that a win will mean an increase in your pile of chips. The odds of hitting one of 4 numbers on the table are 4:38 (including the 0 and 00) or 1:9.5 and it pays 8:1. Theoretically, if the play follows true odds, you would never go more than 10 steps into the sequence. We know, however, that true odds are proven over the long run, and we are betting through a short run. The odds don't always show true in that instance. You can play the same corner for the entire session, or, if you're like my wife, you can move the bet after a win. Her attitude is, odds be damned, it's more likely that a different corner will come up than the same. Since the odds really are the same regardless of corner, she's not hurting the play by doing this, so let her have her fantasy. She's really quite logical in most other things, and I do love her dearly.    
  The original system had a table showing the sequence of losses from 1-40, the bet at each point in the streak and the total capital outlay at each point. My wife threw the whole thing onto a spreadsheet to check it out. The original system claimed to guarantee an increase of 5 or more at each win, but the spreadsheet showed differently. In some cases, a loss was actually incurred. So, she adjusted the bet amounts as necessary to ensure that a win would actually be a win. These adjustments don't occur until the 21st loss, and she has faithfully shown both her bet and the original system's bet. Take your pick. The table below shows the betting progression. Thanks to my wife, it also shows what the payout would be on a win at any step, and the profit from that win. Pick a corner and play it through the betting progression to a win, and then start the progression over at the top.    

Play # Chips Bet Total Outlay Win Amount Profit   Play # Chips Bet Total Outlay Win Amount Profit Original System Bet
1 1 1 8 7   21 12 91 96 5 11
2 1 2 8 6   22 14 105 112 7 12
3 1 3 8 5   23 16 121 128 7 14
4 1 4 8 4   24 18 139 144 5 16
5 2 6 16 10   25 20 159 160 1 18
6 2 8 16 8   26 23 182 184 2 20
7 2 10 16 6   27 27 209 216 7 22
8 2 12 16 4   28 30 239 240 1 25
9 3 15 24 9   29 35 274 280 6 28
10 3 18 24 6   30 40 314 320 6 32
11 3 21 24 3   31 46 360 368 8 36
12 4 25 32 7   32 52 412 416 4 40
13 4 29 32 3   33 59 471 472 1 45
14 5 34 40 6   34 68 539 544 5 51
15 5 39 40 1   35 78 617 624 7 57
16 6 45 48 3   36 89 706 712 6 64
17 7 52 56 4   37 101 807 808 1 72
18 8 60 64 4   38 116 923 928 5 81
19 9 69 72 3   39 132 1055 1056 1 91
20 10 79 80 1   40 151 1206 1208 2 103

  If you would like to print the table, click here for a copy of the table on a white background.    
  My wife said it was too much work to try to count each loss and remember how many chips were bet at that point in the sequence, so she memorized the sequence as "4 ones, 4 twos, 3 threes, 2 fours, 2 fives, etc." On the computer, as she spins the wheel, she remembers her sequence as 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-1, etc. At the tables, she lays out all of the bets in a "same size" sequence, 1 1 1 1. When she plays the last single chip bet, she lays out the four stacks of 2's, etc. In that way, she doesn't have to concentrate as hard to remember and can enjoy the camaraderie at the table more. That's why she sits at the table anyway, right?    
  With a $100 table limit, she can have 36 straight losses before she hits the table limit with a $1 chip value (31 at $2, and 25 at $5). That's a lot of bucking the odds before she wins.    
  So, how long do you play? The original system called for buying two stacks (40) of your colored chips and playing until you had won all of your color from the table. On the computer, there is no limit to the chips, so my wife has a sequence of corners she plays and stops when she has won the last in her sequence. That usually brings in about $200 for her $40 buy-in ($160 profit). Depending on when in the cycle she wins each corner, that can fluctuate (wins bringing in between 1 and 10 additional chips).    
  Playing roulette with this system will win unless the most unlucky streak hits, but it's a slow game and the wins come in slowly. At the larger bets, it's easy to get deep into the capital before a win. With $1 chips, my wife can usually buy in with $40 and not have to buy in further, but she has occasionally had to go as high as $120 before turning it around. The farthest she's gone into the sequence is 29 (35 chip bet), but we both know that the time will come when she goes through the entire sequence and is still a loser. Those are the odds, right? But, in the meantime, she's having fun, she's winning a little money, and she's not throwing quarters into the slot machines!    
 
Happy spins!