Does this roulette system really work?
Today's Adventure in the Biz Opp Jungle:
'In which Charlie watches Derren Brown, gets a threatening email, and asks if any roulette system can really make you £200 every day?'
Hi,
Did you check out Derren Brown's How to Beat a Casino on Friday night?
I won't get into whether the whole thing was faked... whether he really was in a studio... whether he really intended to give £175,000 of cash to that bloke or not.... and how much of it was sheer TV drama.
However, whether he really failed, or failed on purpose, he made one thing pretty clear...
The ONLY way you can possibly beat the roulette wheel is be through some kind of mastery of physics and mental arithmetic... or with a hidden computer that analyses ball speed, wheel speed and so on.
As he and the guy from The Real Hustle emphasised, there's no magical numerical betting strategy that will do it.
Welcome to another round of Roulette Luncheon Meat
In the day after I watched this programme, I got a lovely threatening piece of junk email from a total stranger .
It began with the salutation: "Yo Mate". (Classy.)
The emailer then went on to say: "Ok I`ll give you my trick but if you give it someone else I`ll kill you". (Nice touch).
The system goes like this...
"Bet $1 on black if it goes black you win $1 now again bet $1 on black, if it goes red bet $3 on black, if it goes red again bet $8 on black, if red again bet $20 on black, red again bet $52 on black (always multiple your previous lost bet around 2.5) if now is black you win $52 so you have $104 and you bet: $1 + $3 + $8 + $20 + $52 = $84 So you just won $20.
Now when you won you start with $1 on blacks again etc etc. Its always bound to go black eventually (it`s 50 / 50) so that way you eventually always win."
Ok. Righty-oh. But it's hardly a revelation is it?
I'd ignore this mathematically challenged assumption and bin this email and anything like it. The above is known as the 'Martingale' system. It's where you bet by sticking to just one colour all night.
You could have a decent winning streak by always picking, say, red all night. But don't come crying to me when the god of statistics decides to smite you.
This happened in a Monte Carlo casino in 1913. Black came up 28 consecutive times. So if you'd bet on red using the above system, you'd have been right royally shafted.
Another roulette strategy you may hear about is to start the evening with a base of 5 units. If you win, decrease your next stake by one unit. If you lose, increase your next stake by one unit.
Given a reasonable run of wins and losses, this system is said to make a steady profit... over time.
Even if you have a losing run, this staking plan is supposed to reduce your losses.
Please note the words 'should', 'over time' and 'losses'.
For more info on how people try to con you with roulette systems, take a look at this video clip below.
It's a bit annoying trying to read the text as it scrolls up like the beginning of Star Wars... and you'll have to tolerate Elvis Presley for 5 minutes... but otherwise it makes some excellent points:
Watch it here
Or see if you can watch Derren Brown's programme online on 4 On Demand.com.
You can also go to the website for the programme and see him debunk the idea of mathematical roulette systems here
Have you seen these?
Despite all this, the Internet is full of folk selling you the promise that you can beat the casino at games of pure chance.
But it's like someone trying to sell you a secret strategy for winning on Deal or No Deal. Not even Mr Edmunds with his cosmic ordering mumbo-jumbo would go for that kind of idea.
I'd looked at a few of the products on the market in past issues of The Biz Opp Jungle.
There's one from Mayfair Racing, which I cover here
One from Jager, which I cover here
And also a system doing the rounds called Roulette Profits from Prime Source Products. It promises to make you around £25 a day from playing online roulette. You get a manual, a cd rom, and a 30 day money back guarantee.
My view is that if you like roulette and would like a system to give you some discipline, that's fine.
But don't fall for the idea you can win consistently enough to turn this into a proper second income. And if you don't already play roulette for fun, definitely don't go down that route.
How to win at roulette
The only other way I've heard of to guarantee winning at roulette is to use "past-posting". This is where you use sleight of hand to place the bet after the ball has landed in the slot.
However, it's not a system, it's a cheat where you win on bets you don't even place.
To see how it works, take a look at this classic clip from The Real Hustle here
However tempting, I'd advise against trying this... unless you want to be ejected from a casino via a 12th floor window.
Later alligator
Charlie Wright
The Biz Opp Jungle