No – there’s no such thing as a good or bad roulette player. Roulette is a game of chance and luck.
As a player can’t influence the outcome of the ball, there’s no skill involved in winning.
The house edge means the casino will always profit in the long term.
Let’s explain a bit more.
The Role Of Variance
For any game involving gambling (and yes that includes poker), variance is vital to understand. As we know, roulette is a game that relies on luck.
Variance can mean though that we see what may look like lucky or unlucky ‘streaks’ over time.
Imaging you’re flipping a coin. There’s two possible outcomes – heads or tails. 50/50 chance of each – literally a coin flip!
But that doesn’t mean that every flip of the coin gives a different outcome to the one before. Why? Because the coin doesn’t have a ‘memory’ of that last flip.
So you might flip the coin and have heads, then tails, then heads again. Or maybe it’s heads, heads, heads, heads, heads then tails.
In roulette we might see the ball land on red ten times in a row. Does that mean the player who keeps betting on red is ‘good at roulette’? No, it’s just variance. On the flip side, someone who kept betting on black isn’t ‘bad at roulette’.
Do Good Players Follow A Strategy?
There is no such thing as a winning roulette strategy. On this site you’ll see guides to each of the strategies.
I always caveat these by saying treat them as fun. If there was really a winning strategy then casinos would just go bust!
You’ll see tons of people on social media (and YouTube especially) that tell you they know the winning strategy and can make you rich. This simply isn’t true.
And, if they did know it, why would they want to publicise it and tell others?
Let’s Talk About Bankroll Management
If we’re talking about whether someone is good or bad at roulette, we need to talk about how good they are with managing their money.
We can’t influence the outcome of a bet.
But we can make our bankroll last longer by being sensible. And we can get more enjoyment from the roulette session by sticking to the limits we set ourselves.
If I say to myself, I’m allocating $100 for roulette this evening, I know I won’t feel too bad if I lose.
If I allocate $100, but then take out another $100 in frustration, then another $100 to chase my losses, I’m going to feel really annoyed.
So I think a good roulette player sticks to their bankroll.
A bad roulette player chases their losses and spends more than they promised.
The House Always Wins
If there was a way to win long term at roulette, no casino would be in business.
That’s because of the house edge, the advantage that the casino has over you.
For roulette it’s 5.26% for American double zero, and 2.70% for European single-zero.
Because of this advantage, no roulette player will be profitable long term (sorry to be the bearer of bad news!)
The Drunken Player
Don’t gamble when you’re drunk. You’ll bet more than you intended, you’ll get emotional when you lose, and you’ll have bad judgement.
Whilst I enjoy a couple of drinks when I play roulette, I never gamble when I’m drunk – it’s not worth the risk.
A drunken roulette player is a bad roulette player!
Remember This Guy?
Way back in 2004, Ashley Revell sold everything he owned and bet it all on one roulette spin. Luckily, he won.
People might look at him and say “he’s a great roulette player”. He isn’t. He just got lucky (it’s still a great story and video though!)
So What Is A Good Or Bad Roulette Player?
I think someone is good at roulette:
- Enjoys the game
- Plays within a sensible bankroll
- Gets a buzz when they win
- Doesn’t take it too seriously when they lose
- Knows when to stop.
Good luck at the tables!