[new cruelty]

Just like spins on a roullette wheel.

Just a thought... humor me.

Regarding roullette, there is a strategy I am interested in trying out. There are many tables that display the results last several spins- such as the number of times the ball has landed on red, black, or green; odd or even numbers; first 12, second 12, third 12, zero, or double zero; first column, second column, or third column; and so on.

Based on these results, for example, if the ball has landed on red 5 out of the last 6 spins, the odds are the next number it lands on will be black. The odds of the ball landing on green exist, but it seems the odds for black are greater.

Anyway. Using the above example, the player bets $10 on black. The ball lands on red. The player loses. Now the ball has landed on red 6 out of the last 7 times. Odds are the ball will land on black. The player then doubles the last bet and bets $20 on black. Again, red. Now 7 out of 8 times. The player then doubles the last bet and bets $40 on black. Finally the ball lands on black. The player has won a total of $10.

I suppose this could be expanded to include looking at color, columns, odd or even numbers, etc. I don't imagine one could get rich on one spin, but over the course of several spins and very deep pockets, I think the end result would be that the player would come out winning.

[SB00]

The number of times it's already landed on a particular color is irrelevant.

Each spin is a completely independent event. The odds of the ball landing on a particular color in a spin is exactly the same as it was in the last spin. (~47.2% each for red and black)

[sharkhawk]

Martingdale system. Two problems with this. The casinos have a stopper with the table maximum, for example the maximum bet on a $10 bet table might be $5,000. Second problem you would need a nearly unlimited bankroll to win that $10.
Spin 1--$10
Spin 2--$20
Spin 3--$40
Spin 4--$80
Spin 5--$160
Spin 6--$320
Spin 7--$640
Spin 8--$1,280
Spin 9--$2,560
Spin 10--$5,120 etc.
If you ever watch a roulette wheel, there are many times when you will have a 10 spin match.

[Stat-boy]

At first I thought you were joking. Two points: one, each spin is an independent variable, not related to past performance; two, for a “double down” strategy to mathematically zero out, you need a capacity to place bets at least as great as the capacity of the casino.

I have a theory that these mathematical “slight of hand” betting schemes are really promulgated by casinos (many through ghost authors) to encourage participation by the non-mathematically trained.

Here is a simple rule: you can’t change the odds by a betting scheme. Counting cards may work because the counting of the cards (not the betting scheme) may change the odds.

The “stat” in “stat-boy” stands for statistician. I dated my wife while I was in graduate school, and one nickname she had for me was “Stat-boy”.