Thetownend.com

OK, so I recently started playing roulette at the bookies (on those machines).

I've been applying the Martingale System. You basically place a pound on red/black and if you lose you double your bet. If you win, you return to 1 pound.

Obviously this has its flaws. Check out wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martingale_(betting_system)

HOWEVER, I've had 3 sessions at it. Around 3 hours overall I think, and I'm up 105 pounds.
Perhaps one day I'll get royally screwed over, but for the time being, it's been pretty good. A bit slow obviously, raking in only a pound at a time, but you could start with 2 pounds or something, getting 2 pound per win.

I think roughly, you expect to turn over around 60 pounds an hour - far better than average wage.

Someone slap me in the face.

When I lived in Luton, we used to do that.
We won several weeks in a row, and used to throw it all away on tips and champagne.

Then one week, it kept going wrong, and I had to bottle it when it got just over £1,000 down

As you can imagine, not too pleased, and therefore, carry on with it at your peril !!

Tried it once online using a slightly different system based around the 3 number groups thing. You lose it all in the end, because it simply comes down to something beyond your control, luck. :)

Sort of....like all gaming machines it is based on the percentage a machine will pay out,so in short if someone has just lost a shitload you may get the luck as Barry says....if it has just payed out it will spend the day recouping.

Good luck when it spirals out of control on a losing streak. If you want to dabble in that, personally I think you're better off with the Reverse Labouchere system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labouch%C3%A8re_system#Reverse_Labouchere)

But you'll still up losing because a significant margin is built into the machine's favour

I've know people blow thousands in the space of a few minutes on those machines.

Call me a cynic, but I've never been trusting of machines that are in the control of bookmakers. What's to stop them purposefully making you lose?

I too am unsure of that. But surely tampering with the machine is very very illegal? As in, if its investigated upon, and turns out the machines are tampered with, wouldn't they get properly screwed?

Did you stick to your game plan, or did you end up betting more on the initial bet, as you got more and more rich and complacent?

Roulette is purely a game of chance, and the odds are always the favour of the house.

There's all sorts of guides out there but it does nothing to change the law of probability. You have absolutely no control over whether or not you win or lose.

In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and to keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose, and in the end, we get it all.

Was I just really lucky to have come out 100 pounds on top? I know statistically, I'm meant to lose money.. But it seems like I now have money to play with.

Yes

Yes you were just really lucky. Nothing more, nothing less.

Enjoy it.......just dont give it them all back.

Casinos's actually make a very small margin, something like 1% or less.

But that small margin is how they make their money. It seems as thought you may be winning which leads people into a false sense of security. For all they pay out in winnings, the casinos actually take 1% (ish) more in takings. A small margin that adds up when there's a lot of people gambling.

On the roulette table the '0' is the catch. When it comes to numbers you are likely to win/lose as much as the house, the same with red or black. Even Stevens. But it's the '0' were they make their money because the '0' does not count in a black/red bet. (Or something like that, can't remember exactly)

Either way, you have no influence over whether you win or lose each time the wheel is spun. Absolutely no influence whatsoever.

Probably yes, but I don't necessarily mean full on tampering. All the machines run on software programmed by a human which is basically a glorified random number generator. Any developer will tell you how difficult it is to write code to create a genuinely random number, after all algorithms are a defined (i.e. not random) set of instructions.

A couple of very trustworthy friends (by that I mean they tell me what they lose and win on bets, and not just the wins) are into bookies roulette. They have some system (neighbourhood bets or something) and to be fair they are well up, one of them in particular seems to win £20 plus every time he plays (on average). My other mate used to do it just to pay for his football bets.

I love a punt and gamble hard when I fancy it. Have had some terrible losses but got myself in order these days.

Bottom line is your system will work but only if you have unlimited pot to keep doubling up. They'll get you eventually.

You've already fallen in to trap 1 of thinking you've got a system sussed and you're untouchable. Has it not occurred to you that people have thought of and implemented your tactics before... If it was that easy the bookies would all be out of business.

It's an addiction and it draws you in. Sorry to sound abrupt but as I say, they've already got you cos your attitude suggests you think it's easy.

I have battled some demons with gambling: I probably still have some but I've dragged it back a bit. So I'm not just preaching. Good luck to you but it's never easy to stop.

I enjoy playing roulette but believe me you lose in the end.

Enjoy winning - because your luck WILL change. Set a win target and a max stake to lose BEFORE you play and stick to it!

The "system" of doubling your stake on either RED or BLACK WILL get you in the long run. When you win, the returns are relatively low (double money on that spin) against the increase in incremental stake you need to put on when you lose and, to kill this system the house has a single spin limit - if they didnt then yes, even the most cautious bank would lend you to guarantee the return as it would indeed be a guaranteed earner if a table limit was not in place.

Oddly, I seem to do better at the Casino when I start badly so I do believe that your luck changes, its just getting the feel of when to get off !  I also think you are better if you have a couple or more spins than the probabilities of your bet coming in,  eg  a neighbours bet is 5/37 or 1/7.something so I would have 8 or 9 goes and the law of averages says you should repeat should win at least once.
 
Whilst the wheel has no memory there are , with exceptions, a relatively stable rate of hits on most numbers over time, so stick at your method but only until you get a fair return or your money runs out !

OK I decided to play online yesterday. Received 2, 10 pound bets for free. Lost them both. Then put in 15. Lost that. Then put in another 10. Lost that.  ::)

Try matched betting or learn to play poker instead.

What is that?

Here: http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,23046.0.html

I assume you know what poker is.

If you start at a quid and have the pockets of a premiership footballer you will never lose. But understand your bankroll. 5 wrong in a row and your stake is £32. Another 5 wrong and your stake is £1024, just to make £1 profit. Another 5 wrong and your stake is £32k. I like you have, have made money at first because I never got more than 3 or 4 wrong in a row. But I have seen some awful streaks where you will lose big and run out. It will happen eventually. Those machines are meant to be random unlike fruit machines which have a % payout. But I don't trust them, casinos seem to be the safer option. But either way, quit while you are ahead.

Had an amazing streak on these things, at one point was a few thousand up, started a vile loosing 6-700 and just stopped. Have not looked back at them since. Play them until your luck runs out, and be prepared to just call it a day there and then.

Went to Vegas with work about 15 years ago - said to myself I am going to spend $500 on the blackjack tables and no more (didn't know what poker was and didn't like Roulette)

It took less than 10 minutes to spend $500 - and another 15 to lose another $500

Walked away $1000 down without winning 1 hand in less than 30 minutes !

Played the wheel of fortune after that all week - lost about $10 a night but it made the drinks free so was up overall !!!

Hard lesson to learn !

I like a bit of blackjack, however, last time i went to Vegas i had no luck whatsoever. First time round i would habitually walk away from the table $200-300 up every evening - it was wonderful. The second year, i think i only landed a profit one day out of 6. That was annoying, as i played the same tactics every hand... casinos always win.

I have a few systems for different machines. All "seem" to work but then like mentioned before I got from £200 up to £200 down in a day and have to start again.

I lost a lot on these machines so go careful, ended up being evicted and burning bridges with friends.

Now I stick to the odd accumulator and cross my fingers!

My university Statistics lecturer was contracted by a casino in Leeds to verify the data they were gathering to ensure things were as much in their favour as they expected.  Half an hour talking to him convinced me that any time I gambled it should be for a bit of fun and not to make money.

Scary to read how many people have experiences of big wins and losses on here.  The chance of making quick money is like a massive magnet!!!!

See, I love gambling on sports and events, but I've never been particularly attracted to games of chance- the odd game of Poker with friends, but no Roulette or anything like that.

Gambling when under control is fun,and as people have said you can make some big bucks if you have your head screwed on.
Sadly for me it got to the stage where gambling was ruining my life,which meant ten years ago i attended Gamblers Anonomous. :(
I attended for five years....from gambling everyday it has meant in the last ten years i have gambled(slipped up)about six times.
These days i look back in horror at my gambling demons but am acutely aware of the devil on my shoulder ready to send me to oblivion again.

Lots of my friends are responsible gamblers and sadly i was one of a minority so i am not being a doom monger just saying that for a few gambling becomes an addiction....i miss it sometimes usually on match days or if i am with friends who are having a punt.
But the day i first attended GA was the day my life started again for lots of reasons :D

Thats very honest of you Leefer - massive respect.

Being honest was the first step,and the hardest :D

Is there any danger is signing up with debit card details to multiple different casino sites?
Like any chance of them taking commission from my card etc etc, any unwanted automated cash transfer?

never trust any online on Tv poker or roulette sites,they can control who wins and who loses

SuperCasino on C5 are sharp cunts, avoid.

I got into betting on the horses years ago, until I decided to back a horse (Star Appeal) in the Arc de Triomphe. Went in to place the bet on the Saturday, & learnt the race wasn't on that actaul day so thought I'd go down the pub instead & go & place the bet Monday. Of course I didn't realise that the race was on a sunday (back then very few places opened / events happened on sundays). It came in at 125 to 1 & I never went near a bookies again.
Have enjoyed stud poker in casino's, but always put a limit on what I will lose, when it's gone I quit, or if I double it I quit.
Recently, put a bet on the Wigan game. Went to a cash back site, got £20 cashback for staking £20 so i couldn't lose. Also got £20 free bet which I also put on us to win, so all in all had a good return.

No, stuck to the game plan - £20 on red double the stake if you lose. If you win, go back to £20 stake etc.

It turned up black 7 times in a row (£1,280), and I didn't have the bottle to risk £2,560.
So I took the loss. My body reacted in a very similar way to the guy who lost the card game in Lock Stock.

Trouble is, allthough the odds before hand on 7 blacks in a row is very low, it is still 50-50 everytime you spin

At the end of the day, if you can afford to lose (i.e either a millionare betting hundreds, or you and I betting pence) then you can win with these systems, because you can just keep doubling.
However, you won't win enough to get excited about.
If you gamble money that you can't afford to lose, then you can win worthwhile amounts, but you can also get fucked.

1/128. Not that low.

Somthing a lot of people don't seem to understand

I've seen people at the roulette in casinos with scorecards. Keeping track of what has come up already as though it will have any influence on what will come up next. Idiots.

No its not because you have the zero.

Free credit online.. These all have wager requirements I figured.
Surely this makes the whole thing completely pointless?

Ladbrokes give 25 pound free credit no deposit. Yet their wager requirement is 25x.
I would have to bet 625 pounds towards the wager in order to deposit money.

And 100% towards wager is only on slot machines and scratchcards etc.
For roulette/blackjack, it's a mere 10%, meaning I have to bet 6250 pounds overall in order to fulfill the requirement... Completely pointless?

Did you really expect them to let you sign up, bet once with the free £25 on say Man Utd to win at 1/10 and then withdraw the money straight away?

Yes, yes I did.

I still think you're just trolling. I mean, can anyone really be this thick?

It's hard to believe that pericarp is old enough to gamble.

I assume you are referring to matched betting which I gave a link to.

I'm rusty, so somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

You should be using 2 accounts. Ladbrokes (for example) and betfair. If you 'lose' the bet on Ladbrokes, that then also means you 'win' on your betfair account. Your betfair account is credited which you can withdraw immediately.

If you need to ask why two accounts are needed, then you need to read it all again. Properly this time.