If you start with $1,000, double to $2,000, and so on, then you will win $1,000. If $1 seems like a measly haul, you can magnify it by either repeating the strategy afresh multiple times or beginning with a higher initial stake.

This pattern continues and always nets you a dollar when you win. And if you first win on your fourth bet, then you lose a total of $7 ($1 + $2 + $4) but make out with a $1 profit by winning $8. For example, if you lose the first two bets of $1 and $2 but win your third bet of $4, that means you lose a total of $3 but recoup it on your win-plus an additional $1 profit. Continue doubling ($1, $2, $4, $8, $16, and so on) until you win. Here's the strategy: Bet $1 on either color, and if you lose, double your bet and play again.

(Real roulette tables have some additional green pockets on which you lose, giving the house a slight edge.) We'll also suppose that the table has no maximum bet. But if you lose, you lose your $1.) And, for simplicity, assume that you really have a 50–50 shot of calling the correct color. (That means if you bet $1 and win, you win $1. For years mathematically inclined minds have tried to turn the tables by harnessing their knowledge of probability and game theory to exploit weaknesses in a rigged system.Īn amusing example played out when the American Physical Society held a conference in Las Vegas in 1986, and a local newspaper reportedly ran the headline “Physicists in Town, Lowest Casino Take Ever.” The story goes that the physicists knew the optimal strategy to outwit any casino game: don't play.ĭespite the warranted pessimism about beating casinos at their own games, a simple betting system based in probability will, in theory, make you money in the long run-with a huge caveat.Ĭonsider betting on red or black at the roulette table. Beneath the varnish of flashing lights and free cocktails, casinos stand on a bedrock of mathematics, engineered to slowly bleed their patrons of cash.

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