What is roulette strategy? Martingale and beyond
Roulette betting strategies are systems that dictate how you change your bet size from spin to spin. None of them change the house edge or alter the odds of any given spin. What they do is change the distribution of wins and losses across a session.
The Martingale system
The Martingale is the most widely known strategy. After every loss on an even-money bet, you double your stake. After a win you return to the base bet. The idea is that eventually you’ll win and recover all previous losses plus profit one unit. The problem is that losing streaks happen, and the bet sizes escalate rapidly. A starting bet of £5 needs to reach £640 after just 7 consecutive losses — and the casino table maximum blocks you from doubling indefinitely.
Other popular systems
The Fibonacci system raises bets following the Fibonacci sequence after losses and steps back two positions after a win. D’Alembert raises the bet by one unit after a loss and reduces by one after a win — slower escalation than Martingale. The Labouchere uses a number sequence to determine bet sizes. All systems share the same mathematical reality: no system can overcome the house edge. They change the risk profile but not the expected value over time.