A NEW SYSTEM FOR ROULETTE I have devised a system for playing roulette which gives a pretty chance of leaving from the table richer than you arrived. No doubt it has already been thought of and some fatal flaw discovered which my poor brain could not detect. If so, please accept my apologies for wasting your time. If not, please read through what follows and give it a try. If it works, please post here and let everyone know - that will be payment enough. If it fails, , please post here and let everyone know ! Background The game of roulette relies on the spin of a wheel bearing 37 numbers (in the French version) or 38 (American). My system does not care which version you play, so please substitute the correct details for your location. I am in France, so I use the French notation. When the wheel is spun, a ball is introduced and eventually comes to rest on one of the numbers. In this way can the winners be determined. There are many ways to bet on the result, but my systems assumes you will bet on a single number unswervingly until you win. After winning, the system is reset and you may choose another number. Mathematical basis In this scenario, you have a 1/37 chance of matching the winning number. If you do so, your stake is returned to you, along with winnings of 35 times your stake. Thus in total you receive back 36 times your stake. Over time, you have a return of 36/37, that is YOU LOSE ! The trick is to win in the meantime... The approach I have taken is to calculate at each spin of the wheel the sum of cash flows in the 2 cases - case 1, you fail to match the winning number and your money is taken; case 2, you win. In this way can we see the necessary level of stake for the next bet to ensure that when your number is eventually correct so you have made a profit during your stay at the table. If these calculations are correctly performed, you will be certain that once you have eventually won on a certain spin, then the total you have lost will at worst be equivalent in value to the pile of chips the croupier pushes towards you. Limitations Of course, the chances of winning on average are 1/37 - that is, if you stay at the table for more than 37 spins, you should see your number come up. However, that’s life: sometimes your number won’t come up for a very long time. I have assumed that you are able to play in chips of 1 currency unit and that you have a stack of 1000 currency units in front of you. With this method, you can survive at the table 139 unsuccesful spins in succession and still make an overall profit of 19 units on the 140th play. A return on capital of <2%, but tax-free and you had a very good time. If you only have 100 currency units, you can survive 62 unsuccesful spins in succession and still make an overall profit of 9 units on the 63rd play. If your number doesn’t come up by the 140th spin, the gods hate you and you should go home ! How it works Let us work through the example of the first 10 spins: A--- B---- C----- | D------ E--------- F------------ Spin Stake Spent | Paid Stake back Profit if won so far | on win on win (= D + E - C) ---- ----- ------ | ------- ---------- ------------- 1 1 1 | 35 1 35 2 1 2 | 35 1 34 3 1 3 | 35 1 33 4 1 4 | 35 1 32 5 1 5 | 35 1 31 6 1 6 | 35 1 30 7 1 7 | 35 1 29 8 1 8 | 35 1 28 9 1 9 | 35 1 27 10 1 10 | 35 1 26 It can be seen that the profit diminishes by 1 each spin and then let us move ahead to the 36th spin: A--- B---- C----- | D------ E--------- F------------ Spin Stake Spent | Paid Stake back Profit if won so far | on win on win (= D + E - C) ---- ----- ------ | ------- ---------- ------------- 36 1 36 | 35 1 0 This is break even - the stake must be increased 37 2 38 | 70 2 34 38 2 40 | 70 2 32 and then move ahead again to the 54th spin: A--- B---- C----- | D------ E--------- F------------ Spin Stake Spent | Paid Stake back Profit if won so far | on win on win (= D + E - C) ---- ----- ------ | ------- ---------- ------------- 54 2 72 | 70 2 0 This is break even - the stake must be increased 55 3 75 | 105 3 33 56 3 78 | 105 3 30 ...and so on. Clearly, the effect of increasing the stake at periodic intervals allows the player to always have a profitable result when his number eventually comes up. The frequency table is as follows: A-------- B------ C--------- D------ From spin To spin Spin count Stake --------- ------- ---------- ------- 1 36 36 1 37 54 18 2 55 66 12 3 67 75 9 4 76 82 7 5 83 88 6 6 89 93 5 7 94 97 4 8 98 101 4 9 102 105 4 10 106 108 3 11 109 111 3 12 112 114 3 13 115 116 2 14 117 119 3 15 120 121 2 16 122 123 2 17 124 125 2 18 126 127 2 19 128 130 3 21 131 132 2 22 133 133 1 23 134 135 2 24 136 136 1 25 137 138 2 26 139 139 1 27 140 140 1 28 141 141 1 29 142 143 2 30 144 144 1 31 145 145 1 32 146 146 1 33 147 147 1 34 148 148 1 35 149 149 1 36 150 150 1 37 151 151 1 38 152 152 1 39 153 153 1 40 154 154 1 41 155 155 1 43 156 156 1 44 157 157 1 45 158 158 1 46 159 159 1 48 160 160 1 49 161 161 1 50 162 162 1 52 163 163 1 53 164 164 1 55 165 165 1 56 166 166 1 58 167 167 1 60 168 168 1 61 169 169 1 63 170 170 1 65 171 171 1 67 172 172 1 69 173 173 1 71 174 174 1 73 175 175 1 75 176 176 1 77 177 177 1 79 178 178 1 81 179 179 1 84 180 180 1 86 181 181 1 89 182 182 1 91 183 183 1 94 184 184 1 96 185 185 1 99 186 186 1 102 187 187 1 105 188 188 1 108 189 189 1 111 190 190 1 114 191 191 1 117 192 192 1 121 193 193 1 124 194 194 1 128 195 195 1 131 196 196 1 135 197 197 1 139 198 198 1 143 199 199 1 147 200 200 1 151 That’s all there is to it - play well and have fun !