Modern Betting Systems:

The Red System

The Red System is believed to have originated in the 1960's. The basis for the system is that the third column contains eight reds (see diagram below) and only four blacks. The player bets one unit on the third column and two units on black. When a red number is hit, the column bet pays 2 units, but the black bet is lost, so the player breaks even. If a black hits, but is not one of the four blacks in the third column, the black bet pays two units, but the one unit column bet is lost, so the player wins a net of one unit. If a green or a red not in the third column hits, both bets are lost. Finally, if a black that is in the third column hits, both bets are won (4 units).

Peter Svoboda in his book, Beating the Casinos at Their Own Game, does the math for this system and concludes the casino advantage is 5.26%, just as with most bets in American Roulette.



One unit here
Two units here

My thoughts on this interesting system are that you are covering a lot of numbers. You cover 18 blacks plus 8 reds, or 26 of 38 numbers. The 8 reds are neutralized, and four of the blacks pay twice. You cover 68.4% of the numbers, so theoretically you will hit one of your numbers 2 out of three times. What you might try to do is use a positive progression such as the following:

First bet, 2 on Black, 1 on the third column.
If lose, repeat this bet. If win, increase your bet by 50%, or 3 units on black and 1 1/2 units on the third column.
If you win a second round, you have a choice to make. You may continue to press upward to 4 units on black and 2 units on the third column. You could drop back to your beginning bet and repeat the slow progression. Keep in mind that when you lose, you lose both bets.

I don't think I would use a negative progression here because simply doubling the bet and winning does not recover the amount lost. To recover a 3 unit loss would require you to increase your bet on black to six units. Lose this and you are in a Martingale downward spiral. It will take two wins in a row to recover one loss. Therefore, when a loss occurs, drop back to the original starting bet. It is always safer to use a positive progression than a negative progression.

The Black System: This system is the opposite of the red system. You bet the center column with one unit, and bet two units on red. The outcome is the same as the red system. There is only one possible advantage to the black system and it is that there is a nine number section covered in the black system. This covers from 5 around counterclockwise to 9. Six of these are in the center column, two of which pay double. You would play it the same as the red system above.

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