Take This Roulette Quiz: How Much Do You Know?

With information readily available on the Internet, you might think most roulette players would understand the basics. But for years now, I’ve conducted a roulette quiz on one of my roulette forums. And it still surprises me how poor the average knowledge is. The average member got only 50% of the questions correct.

Below are similar questions that test your knowledge. It isn’t exactly a quiz though, because the answers and not necessarily black and white. The questions are designed to make you think.

Instructions

Without cheating, consider the questions below. The answers are at the very bottom, so don’t look at them until you’ve considered each question.

Q1. After 10 consecutive reds, is red or black more likely to win on the next spin?

Q2. True of False: If you had an unlimited bankroll, you could just keep increasing bets until you win, and be guaranteed a profit.

Q3. True of False: The longer you play, the more likely you are to lose.

Q4. True of False: For a system to win, it only needs to avoid the losing bets.

Q5. True or False: Spins from computer animations are just as unpredictable as spins from real wheels.

Q6. True or False: If there was no green zero on the European wheel, the casino would have no edge, and you’d regularly profit.

Q7. True of False: Money management increases your edge over the casino.

Q8. If one system loses $1000 after 1,000 spins, but another loses after $500 after 20,000 spins, which system is better?

Q9. True or False: A system that wins 90% of the time is better than a system that wins 50% of the time.

Quiz Answers and Explanations

Q1

Both red and black have an equal chance of spinning next, and for any future spins.

Q2

False, because you would reach the table betting limit, and wouldn’t be able to increase bets further. If you had an unlimited bankroll, AND there were no table limits, then yes you could win 100% of the time. This is at least assuming you don’t have a losing streak from hell to last a lifetime. Although the odds of this are insignificant.

Q3

If your edge is negative, then the longer you play, the more you’ll likely lose. If you have a positive edge, then the more you play, the more you’ll likely win.

But having a positive or negative edge doesn’t mean your profit or loss is assured. Casinos have a clear edge against players, but still sometimes casinos have losing nights at tables. They might even have a losing night for all games and tables combined, if perhaps a high roller got lucky.

Q4

Any system seems profitable, if you discount losing bets. The problem is you can’t discount them. If your system has no advantage at all, and doesn’t increase the accuracy of predictions, then whether you win or lose on each spin comes down to chance. So don’t bother trying to find a trigger or approach to avoid those pesky losing spins. It can’t be done, unless you’re measuring physical variables that determine when your predictions are less likely to be accurate.

Q5

If your system is completely ineffective, it wont make any difference whether you play on computer animation spins (random number generators), or real wheel spins. You can compare by testing on a large amount of RNG numbers, and a database of real wheel spins. However, the comparison wont be perfect because there is always statistical deviation.

The only way to beat RNG spins is by exploiting the RNG algorithm. But this isn’t easy or practical. You’d essentially be attempting to reverse engineer top Australian real money slots, which use pseudo random number generators. You’d realistically need the actual algorithms used to have any chance of exploiting them – eve then, you are very unlikely to succeed.

Q6

False. If the casino had no edge, then neither you or the casino would profit. The long-term result would be you break even.

Q7

Money management doesn’t at all change your edge. It only amplifies the profit or loss, depending on whatever your edge is. Also, each bet and spin is completely independent.

If you had a negative edge, then increasing bet size after losses will just amplify the amount you lose. Yes, you might get lucky and win big. Or you might get a dose of reality, and lose an even bigger amount. So betting progression and money management like the martingale only increases or decreases the rate at which you win or lose.

Progression can still maximize your profit if you have a positive edge. But this still relies a bit on luck, and ultimately all you’re still doing is increasing the amount you risk on independent spins. So money management is not the key to anything. Anyone who says they have a secret money management strategy that “works” doesn’t understand.

Q8

Both systems probably have a negative edge, although it’s still possible to lose with a winning system after just 1,000 spins. Also one of the systems may skip bets on many spins, meaning it wagers less money, and inevitably loses less. So there isn’t enough information to realistically know which system may be better.

Q9

You can have a system that wins $1000 about 90% of the time, but loses $20,000 about 10% of the time. This kind of thing happens with systems that use aggressive progression bets.

You can also have a system that wins $500 about 50% of the time, and loses $400 about 50% of the time.

Only the second system is profitable.