Roulette: Doubling bets on a colour until it hits.

[FreeZey]

I was always a little dubious of this system but did believe it was valid.
I thought its only weakness was simply its need for a large bankroll and the poor return on investment.

Then I found a nice article that highlights the fact that it is no more profitable than just betting a fixed amount on black or red.
http://wizardofodds.com/gambling/scam.html

Also, this article is a good illustrates of the Gambler's Fallacy that past random events influence future random events. I.e. If a roulette wheel has come up red the last 8 times there’s a better chance that next time it will be black rather than red.
http://vegasreference.com/gambling/fallacy.html

[LennyLotto]

Very interesting articles there.

I've always been highly dubious of the Martingale system myself. Either the house limit or your bankroll will get you every time in the end.

Unless of course you are Kerry Packer and have an unlimited bank roll (and are playing in a place with unlimited house limits). But, then what would be the fun of playing that system in the first place?..

In my youth I even tried the system myself a few times, playing £1 on black (back then you were allowed smaller than today's £5 minimum bets on black/red, or odd/even), then £2, then £4.. Very quickly I found myself placing £32 / £64 bets just to break even. Once I even recall the ball landing 9 times in a row on Red with me betting each time on Black.

The most I ever lost attempting this method was £250+ - my own bankroll limit getting to me before a black number came in. And, of course, yes, the next spin of the reel (that I couldn't afford to take part in) came in the black I needed to break even! Typical!

"Always bet on Black" Wesley Snipes says in Passenger 57.

"Never bet on Roulette" is what I say now...

[FreeZey]

After being knocked out of poker tournaments my friend Paul would often play roulette while waiting for the rest of us.
Once I sat down next to him and was told the wheel had come up black the last 16 times, so he was betting on red and trying to double through. I don’t know what his first bet was but I know his last was £2000.

I’m going to explain the contents of these articles to him the next time we play.

[monkeymagic]

My god!..

I get annoyed with myself when I lose £50 or so playing poker online..

I can't imagine how I'd feel losing £4,000ish (which I assume is how much your mate lost in total?). Though, he must be absolutely loaded to be able to play with a bank roll like that in the first place, so perhaps losing that much was not a big issue for him?

Maybe he won that last bet though?.. In which case I'd seriously recommend he quit using the Martingale whilst he's broken even using it, and had some fun playing it.

Either way, I suppose it shows how mad that system is to play.

I've also heard of the Anti-Martingale system, where you double your bets each time you win. That sounds even more stupid!

On the same subject, it got me wondering what the world record number of times a colour has come up in a row on roulette, but I was unable to find that info using google.

However, I found the record for the number of times the same number was spinned in though - seems the world record is 6 times in a row - a 3 billion to 1 chance!

Roulette World Record

[FreeZey]

Originally Posted by monkeymagic

I can't imagine how I'd feel losing £4,000ish (which I assume is how much your mate lost in total?).

Yep, £4,000 – (however much his initial bet was). I mentioned this before,
here.

Originally Posted by monkeymagic

Though, he must be absolutely loaded to be able to play with a bank roll like that in the first place, so perhaps losing that much was not a big issue for him?

Well its kind of complicated. As far as the tax man is concerned he earns about the same as me. But he’s had a couple of successful businesses he ran then sold, plus a few side lines :/ and a stock market portfolio worth about £60K.

Originally Posted by monkeymagic

On the same subject, it got me wondering what the world record number of times a colour has come up in a row on roulette, but I was unable to find that info using google.

Well the only people who would know/notice would be the casinos and it’s not in their interest to publish the information since it would highlight dangers of things like the Martingale system. The same number coming up repeatedly isn’t so bad.

[RouletteRaider]

Stay away from the Martingale, it is suicide.

But still people are foolish enough to play it!

There are far better money management methods out there.

[lbnet]

Originally Posted by RouletteRaider

Stay away from the Martingale, it is suicide.

But still people are foolish enough to play it!

There are far better money management methods out there.

What other, better money management methods do you know?

I'm trying to maximise my casino turnover with roulette you see.

Thanks.

[h2ogib]

Read this...

http://wizardofodds.com/gambling/betting-systems.html

No betting system works in the long run.
The only way your going to make money with a betting system is selling it to idiots on ebay.

Adam

[junglepocket]

Totally agree with h2ogib

[GEnXEvE]

I am dead serious ~~ I once saw roulette landing on the same color for 16 times in a row

assume the minimum bet is 5 pounds, you will need to have 5 X 2^17 = 655,360 pounds....
let's set aside the possibilities that the casino will allow you to make such a big bet. what if it hits the same color again ??