Straight Up Roulette Bet

A Look at Straight-Up Bets

We will start our examination of straight-up bets by seeing how effective they are over the long run. As far as making any recommendations goes, we will leave you to interpret the results and make your own decision.

We will put the straight-up bet to the test using Google Sheets and a random number generator to simulate a 500-round session. Let's set the probability of winning at 2.7% and, accordingly, losing - at 97.3%. The test will feature 4 fictitious players, with the first two players placing $1 bets. The third player will use $3 units, and the fourth player will wager $5 units. Each player begins the simulation with a $1,000 starting bankroll. Take a gander at the graph below to find out how each player’s bankroll was affected.

So, what do we see? Well, one thing that stands out clearly is that the bankrolls of players 1 and 2 remained relatively stable. This can be largely attributed to those players having small base betting units. You can see that Player 3’s bankroll had more pronounced fluctuations while Player 4’s bankroll experienced the highest peaks and lowest valleys. Again, this is mainly due to the bigger bet amounts that Player 2 and Player 3 were going with.

We thought it was quite remarkable that none of the players zeroed out their bankrolls. They didn’t even come close. Instead, their balances remained stable, and they all finished the session hovering around the even mark. This is in stark contrast to the results we see when we test so many other roulette betting systems like Martingale and Fibonacci. We can safely conclude that blindly wagering on a single number can be actually more effective than implementing one of those clever systems.

Tips and Strategies for Straight-Up Bets

As mentioned, a lot of roulette players like to place straight-up roulette bets in conjunction with other wagers. Let’s examine some of the possibilities.

Combining Straight-Up Bets with Outside Bets

Combining straight-up bets with outside bets is a common approach. In most cases, players wager larger amounts on the outside bets and then supplement that bet with a smaller straight-up bet. For example, they may place a 1-unit wager on 0 and then add a 5 or 10-unit bet on black.

The 24+8 System

In an earlier tutorial, we took a detailed look at the 24+8 system. This is essentially wagering $10 on two of the three Dozens and then adding $1 straight-up wagers on ten of 12 numbers in the remaining Dozens section. As we discovered, the chances of losing numbers falling are just 8.11%.In other words, those who implement the system will win 91.89% of the time.

Like any other system, the 24+8 system isn’t a foolproof recipe for success. In fact, it can have a significant negative impact on your bankroll if used as a long-term plan of attack. However, 24+8 does offer positive results if used as a short-term solution.

It’s important that you understand that winning a round of roulette using 24+8 does not always equate to making a profit. The best possible outcome for those who use the 24+8 would be having one of the straight-up bets win. Hitting one of your Dozens bets might be considered a win, but it would also result in a net loss. Also, we would not recommend doubling down on a loss for this system.

11-Number System

Another roulette strategy that incorporates straight-up bets is called the 11-number system. With this, you place 11 straight-up bets based on the last winning number. You start by placing a bet on the last number and then cover ten surrounding numbers with the same stake. We set the same pattern on each round relative to the number obtained as a result of the previous round. This system assumes that the last number spun is the “hot” number. Being in proximity to the hot number makes the surrounding numbers warm. Of course, we know that the roulette wheel has no memory and the result of each new spin is completely independent of the previous one.

Conclusion

With just a 2.7% chance of winning, the straight-up bet is the riskiest roulette bet available. However, a 35:1 payout makes it the most rewarding. As we demonstrated in our simulation, betting only straight bets does not guarantee success, but it leaves our bankroll in much better shape than most other systems will.

The other thing that the simulation revealed was that bigger bets can result in more noticeable and pronounced highs and lows. Sticking to straight-up wagers through the entirety of a session may often result in a net loss, but that loss is usually far less significant than the losses you can expect to incur using many other systems and strategies. On the flip side, placing well-timed straight-up bets in shorter spurts can be a profitable approach.

We also illustrated three of the many strategies that use straight-up bets with other roulette bets. We suggest that you conduct your own experiments and develop your own strategies.