Roulette Bankroll Management
The first thing to keep in mind when it comes to bankroll management is to only put a percentage of your bankroll at risk on any given session of roulette. Start by figuring out what your total bankroll is. Once you know exactly how much capital you have to operate with, you should divide it up into amounts you can comfortably play with and yet not run the risk of losing so much that you can no longer play the style you are used to. A good rule of thumb is to only put 10% of your total bankroll into play in any given session. Note, though, that a session of roulette begins from the time you buy in to the table and the time you cash out.
The next thing to do is to set both loss and win limits. These are exactly what they sound like — thresholds you reach that determine when you leave the table depending on how much you’ve lost or won. Loss limits are particularly important as they provide a safeguard against the psychological effects that come from the swings of gambling. One of these effects is that losing tends to cause us to chase our losses — something that has lead to the ruin of many gamblers. By setting a hard loss limit and not increasing the size of your bets in an attempt to get even for the session is crucial to protecting the health of your bankroll.
Believe it or not, that’s the easier limit to set simply because you can tell yourself that there is always another day once you hit your loss limit. Setting a win limit is much harder because the idea of riding a winning streak and potentially doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling your profits is a temptation that most of us find nearly impossible to resist. Consider this though: how many times have you seen a gambler go on a hot streak and continue playing in an attempt to ride the streak for all it’s worth only to lose it all back to the house?
When you’re on a winning streak what you’re really doing is defying incredible odds — something that isn’t meant to happen for a very long time. By setting a win limit, you will be able to enjoy the spoils of this mathematical anomaly by walking away with your profits. A good amount to use as a win limit is anywhere from 25% to 50% of your bankroll. If you are lucky enough to win this amount in a session, it’s probably time to walk away and lock it in.
Once you’ve figured out how much to manage your bankroll, the next step is to decide on an optimal betting strategy. As I had mentioned earlier, the bad news is there is no fool-proof solution to consistently beat roulette. The good news is you really won’t find yourself at too much of a disadvantage no matter how you bet as long as you keep your bet sizes within your bankroll management system. As long as you keep that in mind, the rest is a matter of personal preference. For instance, some roulette players like to make contrasting bets where one bet wins as long as another loses. This is called hedging and you can almost think of it as insurance.
Gamblers who like to hedge might place single unit bets on 5 different odd numbers while placing a 2 unit bet on even just in case. While this reduces the volatility of the game, it also limits your potential wins (since you’ll always have money on the table on losing bets) so hedging is really a tradeoff between limiting risk and maximum gain.
Some people like to make outside bets exclusively while others cover the entire inside of the table. There are players who swear by betting every other number while more color-conscious players pick one color and bet on all the numbers that come with it. If you play long enough, you might even see players forming shapes with their bets on the table. In the end, they are all facing the same house edge and have the same chance of winning no matter what they do. Ultimately, the best betting strategy for roulette betting is the one that you are the most comfortable with.