Red or black: focus on the martingale strategy

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games, offering players great strategic depth. A well-known strategy for increasing the odds of winning is to play red or black in roulette. This simple tactic, also known as 'martingale', tells the player exactly when to bet a specific amount. This article presents the theory behind the red or black roulette method and explains exactly how to apply it when playing at Carousel (online) casino.

This strategy involves a particular bet, namely a single bet on all 18 red or all 18 black roulette numbers. European and French roulette have 37 numbers: 18 red, 18 black and a single zero (0). Therefore, with the red or black roulette method, the chances of the roulette ball stopping on the numbers of the chosen color are around 50%. By making the right choice, a winning player will receive 2 times their stake!

Here's how the red or black roulette strategy works

The basis of the red or black method, also known as 'martingale', is to keep the same bet round after round. This means betting on all the red numbers or all the black numbers. Choose your favorite color. The variation in this strategy lies in the size of the bets.

In the first round, you determine your standard bet. It's a good idea to choose a small amount, such as €1. You place a €1 chip on the square corresponding to red or black.

If the chosen color wins, you'll receive your bet and the same amount in winnings. Now you're €1 richer, and you make exactly the same bet on the next turn: €1 on red or black. Continue like this for as long as you're lucky, and you'll win €1 on every turn. Getting rich with roulette's red or black method takes patience, but small streams eventually make big rivers.

If your color loses, don't panic. On the next turn, double your standard bet, in this case to €2. Lose again? Double to €4, then €8, then €16, etc. As soon as your chosen color wins again, your last bet is doubled. In this case, the martingale strategy wins you €32.

What's the net profit or loss now? €32 - €16 - €8 - €4 - €2 - €1 = €1 So you've won back all your lost bets and a profit of €1. Once you've recovered all your bets, you start again with your standard bet (€1) and the red or black strategy starts all over again.

Is the martingale tactic smoke and mirrors?

Martingale or red or black is the most popular roulette strategy in the world. Thanks to martingale, many players win net money at roulette, and this tactic can be used to determine the amount of the next stake. Yet this system is not magic. Indeed, you can end up empty pockets if you apply the red or black strategy. The following limitations are responsible for this.

Table boundaries. Roulette martingale works because it gives you the ability to recover all your lost bets, as long as you can keep doubling. But each roulette game has its table limit which determines the maximum stake. It is not allowed to be past this limit and you cannot recover (in full) your losses.

Low distribution of winnings. A stake on red or black roulette only yields 1:1 in each spin (you get your stake back and receive that amount once more as a payout). It takes a lot of winning spins to accumulate a nice amount of money. In addition, a single long losing streak can wipe out all the winnings of a night due to much higher bets in a snap.

There's no guarantee of winnings. If there was a roulette strategy that allowed all players to win continuously, all casinos would have closed their doors a long time ago. The martingale roulette tactic can be powerful, but there is never any guarantee of winning at gambling.

How to apply the red or black strategy to roulette more successfully

Does the red or black method seem interesting to you? Want to try it yourself in our (online) casino and need more advice? Follow these tips to get the most out of the martingale roulette strategy.

Watch out for the maximum stake on red or black roulette. Each roulette game has a limit on the number of times the player can double their stake if they lose a certain amount. The further away the minimum and maximum limits are, the more the player can double. So look for a roulette game where this is the case.

Make sure you have sufficient seed capital. When you play with martingale strategy, you make small winnings and you can take big losses. To be able to absorb these losses, you need to start the game with a large enough initial capital. One hundred times your standard stake, it’s not luxury. Note: protect yourself and never play casino games with money you can’t afford to lose.

Make sure you know the theory. We have explained above how martingale works in roulette as well as the bets to be made and when. Please understand these calculations. Knowledge is power!

Try related strategies. Maybe the red or black strategy is not the ideal tactic for you. Play with other strategies that rely on a repeated stake on red or black. Fibonacci’s strategy allows you not to raise your stake so much in case of defeat. The Red Bet strategy has an extra stake that can save you money. The Paroli strategy works exactly the other way around, i.e., you double your stakes if you win.

Does red or black roulette work for you?

In the end, you’ll only know if a tactic works for you when you’ve tried it. There's a reason that martingale is the most used strategy at roulette. Many players get a lot of fun from it and nice winnings. But beware: no strategy is 100% foolproof! Have fun, don’t get carried away, and never gamble with money you can’t afford to lose!

Of course, if you are curious, you can always try the red or black (online) method with a small amount. Or browse the rules of the game of our different types of roulette on Carousel to become a true roulette specialist.