Donna Kamal | December 29, 2023 | Updated on: September 9th, 2024
Roulette is one of the most popular table games you can play. Due to its depiction in popular media, the game has been glamourised as a gambling game you can beat with tricks to get instantly rich. (Watch any James Bond film, and you will see what we mean.)
As such, many roulette myths have spawned that give some players the incorrect idea of the game. To help players from making dangerous mistakes while playing roulette online or in a land-based casino, we have decided to have a look at five of the most popular roulette misconceptions and why you shouldn’t believe it.
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Myth #1: Following the Martingale System is a Good Strategy
The Martingale System is a negative progression betting system where you increase your bet with each wager you lose. The idea is that you bet more to cover your losses so that a win can get you back to the amount of money you started with.
The idea seems sound if you’re not on a losing streak. However, when you start losing a few bets in a row, it becomes increasingly apparent how detrimental staying true to this betting system can be to your bankroll.
Overall, we never recommend using a negative progression betting system. Betting more on a loss is a stupid idea because statistically, you are more likely to lose bets when you play casino games. Losing streaks should be expected; winning streaks should not.
If you really want to use a betting system, we recommend using a positive progression system. Here you try to take advantage of a winning streak by betting more on each successive win. As such, if you hit that losing streak, you aren’t betting more to try to get out of it.
Myth #2: You are Likely to Win Sometime
This myth is often combined with the Martingale myth to create absolutely terrible gaming situations where people lose tons of money.
One thing it is important to remember when you gamble is that nothing is ever guaranteed. This means that you could win at any second, or you could lose at any second. In addition, no bet is ever related to the one that came before or after it.
Believing that a bet is related to that which came before it is a popular practice in the gambling world. So much so that there is even a psychological term for this phenomenon – Gambler’s Fallacy.
You should never fall into this train of thought. All results are independent. It doesn’t matter if you lost the last five bets in a row; you will not win the next one magically. Similarly, you won’t win in factors of five just because you will it be so.
If you find yourself thinking in such a way, you need to reconsider your decision to gamble. Any such behaviour could lead to some very bad gambling decisions.
Myth #3: All Roulette Games are the Same
We will not lie; most roulette games follow the same rules and have very few differences – but this doesn’t mean that they all offer you the same odds of winning.
The most popular example of this can be seen with American and European roulette. On the surface, both these games are the same, except that American roulette wheels have an extra pocket.
However, the addition of this single pocket means that the house edge is increased. For instance, the standard house edge on an even money bet in European roulette is 2.7%. However, the bet has a 5.26% house edge on an American roulette wheel.
Simply stated, there are differences between these games which could impact how much you win or lose during a gaming session. So, you need to do your research to ensure you are playing a game that correctly fits your expectations in terms of odds.
Also, note that while some variations of roulette provide you with more opportunities to win, they also do not payout as well as others. For example, if you play multi-ball roulette, you could get yourself in a situation where traditional even-money bets payout poorly.
Myth #4: You Can Hedge the Table
Many new roulette players go through this stage where they think it is possible to beat the odds by placing bets on all the options on the table. That way, you will win some cash no matter the outcome of the spin.
We will stop you right there and say that this is an absolutely terrible way to play roulette. Firstly, many casinos have a minimum bet required to play roulette. If you are in a land-based casino, this can be very high. Naturally, this means that betting on every single bet on the table is impossible for some players.
With online casinos where minimum bets can be as low as $1, table maximums are often set. This means you will never be in a situation where betting on every option on the table earns you more than a dollar or two.
It is a waste of time to try and trick the system. Unless you have come up with a completely new hack, chances are it has already been tried before, and casinos have got an in-built system that destroys it. Remember that roulette has been around for centuries at this point, so you really need to be innovative.
Myth #5: Online Roulette is Rigged
Many players who unfamiliar with the realm of online gambling think that online roulette is rigged. Some players who lose during a game session also think it is rigged. However, we are here to say that this is not true. Well, at least not entirely.
Let us explain; if you join a safe and trusted online casino, you will play fair games which use random number generator algorithms to determine results. RNG algorithms ensure that each result is independent. This means that the machine has no recollection of what happened in the last round. Whether you lost or won is unknown to the machine.
You can check whether you are playing at a safe online casino by determining if it is licensed and regulated by trusted governing authorities and has its games tested by independent regulating authorities.
That said, there is a chance you could play rigged online roulette games if you sign up to a rogue casino. It is for this reason we recommend you only play at our recommended casinos because they have been thoroughly vetted. If you do not trust our word, use our review methodology to ensure you join safe casinos.
Our final comment on this particular matter is that a losing session is not a sign that a casino is rigged. Remember that gambling games all have an in-built house edge to ensure that casinos are statistically more likely to win. They don’t need to cheat to ensure a better chance of winning – they need you to keep playing.
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