No strategy is guaranteed to help you win in the casino. There is always an element of chance involved and probability at play. Yet robust strategies can help your gaming session in several ways. Many are defensive, helping you to reclaim losses. Others involve spreading your bets and improving the probability but resulting in smaller winning amounts.
Some strategies get used regularly while others are not so common. Below, we give three of the most popular gambling strategies.
Martingale
The Martingale strategy originated in 18th-century France and remains extremely popular to this day. Most popular in roulette and blackjack, it has also become a form of investment strategy. You can even use it when you play online slots in certain circumstances, depending on the volatility of the game. It involves raising your stake after a loss and will work best with 50/50 bets in table games or low-volatility slot titles. If you combine this with free spin games and use welcome bonuses, you can get quite far without using much of your bankroll.
The player starts with a minimum stake in gambling, or investment amount when trading. When they suffer a loss, on the next wager the stake is then doubled. This carries on until a win occurs, by which time they will have reclaimed their losses and a small profit. Of course, this relies on the concept that in a 50/50 bet at some point a win will always turn up. This is why it is best used with even money bets on games like roulette.
Oscars Grind
Oscars Grind is similar to the martingale strategy. It first appeared in the book by Allan N Wilson, known as the Casino Gamblers Guide. However, it has a fundamental difference from the Martingale, in that you are supposed to quit once you win a small amount and return another day. Over time, you build up a profit, but this takes patience and is a grind.
The target amount the player is aiming to win is the value of the initial stake. So, if your stake is $20 each turn, then you are aiming to make $20 of bankroll profit before you leave.
You start with a minimum stake. This stays the same until you have a win after a loss. For example, imagine you stake $10 and lose two times in a row. You are then $20 down. This is followed by a win which takes you to $10 down. You then double the stake so it takes you into profit, at which point astute users of Oscars Grind would leave the game.
666
The 666 strategy is aimed explicitly at roulette. It involves betting $66 each time, covering as much of the wheel as possible. This money is broken down into three bets. One goes on red, to cover half the wheel. Seven split bets are then placed on black numbers, to cover the other half of the wheel. This leaves you with seven numbers uncovered, so you place bets on three of them.
Many people like this because of the probability. However, profits are small, and the chance of losing is still quite high, particularly when you compare it to the probable returns of other games in the casino. It also involves sticking to the designated stake. Once it starts to get doubled or tripled, the strategy quickly falls to pieces.
Choosing the right strategy will depend upon the type of player you are. Some people like more risk than others, while some people will work longer and harder to protect their bankroll. Fundamentally, however, table games, slots, and bingo should always be looked at as a form of entertainment.
