I'm at a roulette table. I only bet on red. When I lose I triple my bet, when I win I restart. Is this a roulette strategy?
Ok so here's the rules
I just bet on red every time
I start with 1 dollar
every time I lose, I triple my previous bet
every time I win I restart
I'm going to simulate 10 games
Game 1 - Bet $1 Lose
Game 2 - Bet $3 Lose
Game 3 - Bet $9 Win $18
Game 4 - Bet $1 Lose
Game 5 - Bet $3 Lose
Game 6 - Bet $9 Win $18
Game 7 - Bet $1 Lose
Game 8 - Bet $3 Lose
Game 9 - Bet $9 Lose
Game 10 - Bet $18 Win $36
In this simulation I'm losing at a rate of 70%. In reality the lose rate is closer to 52%. I put in $54 but I'm walking away with $72, basically leaving the building with $18.
Another example. Let's pretend I walk in with $100,000 to bet with. I lose my first 10 games and win the 11th.
1 lose
3 lose
9 lose
27 lose
81 lose
243 lose
729 lose
2187 lose
6561 lose
19683 lose
59049 win $118098
$88573 spent out of pocket, $118098 won
Walk out with roughly $29525.
I get most casinos won't let you be that high but it's a pretty extreme example anyway, the likelyhood of losing 10/11 games on 48% odds is really unlikely.
It won’t work on any table that has a 0 and/or 00. The reason those green numbers exist is to give the house an edge over high rollers who can sustain a martingale strategy.
It works even with 0 and 00 - but only if you have infinite money and there is no limit to bets. So long as there is finite money, or limited bets you will - statistically - hit a run of losses that exceeds your money.
Maximum bets and the fact that money is limited is what breaks this, once you hit the maximum bet odds are slightly against you winning on that next turn because of the 0 and 00; and so eventually you will lose as you hit running up to the max bet and then lose on that turn.