Roulette is a game of luck – its strategies focus more on your stack of chips and how you play them. The most popular of those strategies are progression systems. These determine how and when you add to your plays, or when to taper them, to better structure your time at the table.
The Fibonacci sequence is one of the most common progression systems used by modern roulette players. It manages to be simple yet sophisticated, and can give you the opportunity to recoup losses.
Here we’ve explain what this sequence is and how you can incorporate it into your roulette sessions. Let’s get to it.
What is the Fibonacci Sequence?
The Fibonacci sequence is quite simple – it’s a string of numbers where each number is the sum of the two numbers that came before it. Starting at 1, the first ten steps of the sequence read as follows: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55
The sequence goes much further than the casino floor – it’s a widespread mathematical and geometrical phenomenon found everywhere. It’s named after the 12th-century Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, later known as Fibonacci, but the phenomenon has been identified much earlier throughout history.
Besides its use in gambling, it’s most famous for its association with the golden spiral – a naturally occurring pattern found in everything from seashells to flowers, and a lot of architecture too. If something is aesthetically pleasing, the golden ratio spiral can typically be applied to it. The golden ratio is special, and the Fibonacci ratio is closely aligned with it.
How the Fibonacci Playing System Works on a Roulette
The Fibonacci playing system is where you use the sequence to dictate how much you play at the table. As a negative progression roulette strategy, you advance along the sequence with every loss. Starting at 1, you’d move to 2 if you lose. If you lose again, you add 1+2 to get 3. If it happens again, 2+3 = 5.
The Fibonacci system assumes players are working with a 1:1 win ratio. Only outside plays like red/black, even/odd, or high/low can produce the best outcomes. It’s possible to play the Fibonacci sequence with a different win ratio but it’ll result in poorer odds and fewer chances to recover losses.
Below is a visualization of the Fibonacci playing system at work for five rounds. Remember this is theoretical – your personal luck will vary.
| Round | Play | Result | Total Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Loss | -1 |
| 2 | 2 | Loss | -3 |
| 3 | 3 | Loss | -6 |
| 4 | 5 | Win | +4 |
| 5 | 2 | Loss | +2 |
The Fibonacci can be a viable strategy for structuring your roulette game. When you spin on the roulette and win, you move back two places in the sequence. Here, the win at 5 dictates that the next play is 2. Many progression systems demand you cancel out the sequence and start from the beginning – the Fibonacci doesn’t. This results in a versatile system that can persist throughout your whole session.
The Pros & Cons of the Roulette Fibonacci System
Every playing strategy has advantages and disadvantages. It’s up to you to understand your playing style, why you like to visit the roulette table, and then choose the right strategy that complements your style.
There are some commonly accepted pros of the Fibonacci system:
- It’s easy to understand, no complex mathematics required: It doesn’t stop and start like other sequences, you just move up and down the sequence throughout your session – no added complexity on top of knowing the roulette rules and how to play roulette. This enables subsequent wins that could put you ahead more than strategies like the Martingale system.
- Possible recovery of losses: Because of the fact it’s a negative progression system, leading you to play higher amounts as you lose, it can help recover losses and even give you a small reward on top.
- Play amount grows slowly: Compared to other systems, the sequence in which you play doesn’t grow exponentially. That makes Fibonacci more manageable, as you don’t reach the end of your bankroll so fast – nor are you as exposed to a dramatic event.
There are also some cons, of course:
- This strategy does nothing to influence house edge: The house edge is 2.70% for European roulette and 5.26% for American roulette, regardless of the bankroll management system you pick. In the end, long-term playing will always fall towards the casino, which could be an argument for short sessions, provided you immediately strike luck.
- An initial lack of luck can tear this strategy apart: Since Fibonacci is a negative progression system, it assumes you’ll eventually win – and since your play gradually got bigger as you were losing, you should be able to recover. But that’s the question – what if you never do? Food for thought. That scenario could also test your commitment.
- It can still eat into your bankroll: Despiste the progression being mild, depending on your play and the bankroll available, Fibonacci could still run your tank empty and force you out of the game.
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Comparing the Fibonacci System with Other Roulette Betting Systems
Knowing other roulette bankroll management strategies can help you better understand the Fibonacci playing system. Below we’ve compared Fibonacci to other popular systems so you can see how they differ.
The Reverse Fibonacci Roulette Strategy
The Fibonacci sequence can be played in reverse. The underlying sequence is exactly the same – the difference is you advance one place for every win. Then, if you lose, you move back two spaces. That can make the prior table look like this instead:
| Round | Play | Result | Total Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Win | +1 |
| 2 | 2 | Win | +3 |
| 3 | 3 | Win | +6 |
| 4 | 5 | Loss | +1 |
| 5 | 2 | Win | +3 |
Our examples use a streak to demonstrate how the sequence works, but players shouldn’t expect the same luck at the table. With a purely luck-based game like roulette, every spin is a fresh new start with the same probability of winning or losing.
Note that the original Fibonacci system exists that way for a reason – it focuses on managing losses instead of wins. Strategies that focus on curtailing losses and other game management strategies tend to work better than those that require winning streaks. Even still, both approaches are valid and a matter of personal choice.
The Martingale Roulette Strategy
The Martingale roulette betting system is arguably the only one that’s more common than the Fibonacci playing strategy. It’s much simpler than the Fibonacci sequence, though this doesn’t necessarily translate into efficacy at the table.
This strategy demands players double their play after every loss. So, if you put 2 forward, you’d then put 4 up if you lose. If you win the next spin, you start from the beginning. You keep doubling on losses in the hopes that a win will come. Then, like the Fibonacci strategy, that win could potentially recover losses.
Note the Martingale can result in rapidly increasing plays since you double your play each time. See this sequence as an example – 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48. Assuming you made it six steps into the Fibonacci sequence, you’d only put 13 forward.
The Labouchere Roulette Strategy
The Labouchere, often known as the Split Martingale strategy, is another negative progression method that starts with three numbers. Keeping it simple, we’ll use 1, 2, and 3. To start, you add the first and last numbers – 1 + 3 – to get 4. If you lose, you add that number to your sequence. If you win, you get rid of the two outer numbers of the sequence.
Here’s a longer example:
| Sequence | Equation | Play | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1, 2, 3 | 1 + 3 = | 4 | Loss |
| 1, 2, 3, 4 | 1 + 4 = | 5 | Loss |
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | 1 + 5 = | 6 | Win |
| 2, 3, 4 | 2 + 4 = | 6 | N/A |
This way, you build your own sequence that shifts throughout the session. This makes it less predictable than the Martingale or Fibonacci, and it takes a little more mental power to do the arithmetic. Players can also get distracted and forget their sequence, and there’s no cap to how long the sequence can get.
The D’Alembert Roulette Strategy
Lastly, there’s the D’Alembert roulette system. This roulette strategy is very similar to the other sequential approaches discussed so far, but it moves one place at a time instead. While the Fibonacci moves forward one place on losses, then back two places on wins, the D’Alembert system moves one space in either direction.
To start, you choose a unit – let’s call it 5. You then increase or decrease by one depending on if the play is a win or loss. This is still a negative progression strategy, so you add to your play on losses. This can result in the table below:
| Play | Result | Total Profit |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Win | +5 |
| 4 | Loss | +1 |
| 5 | Loss | -4 |
| 4 | Win | 0 |
| 3 | Win | +3 |
Though it’s technically a sequence, you don’t have to remember a string of numbers – only when to ratchet your play up or down. There’s also the reverse D’Alembert where you swap the rules around – decrease on loss, increase on win. That lack of a set sequence means it provides less structure than the Fibonacci sequence does.
Summary of the Fibonacci Playing System in Roulette
The Fibonacci playing system is built on a dependable number sequence that you can find in the real world. While the sequence looks complex at first glance, it provides a simple structure that most players should be able to follow. If opting for this strategy, then players should memorise the first five to ten steps of the sequence depending on their table’s max limits.
Like other popular strategies, players should also combine the Fibonacci approach with other bankroll management techniques. As you can see from our comparisons, the Fibonacci is just one of many different sequences you can choose from.
Complement them with our roulette tips and different roulette strategies for the best roulette experience!
For more tips, tricks, and strategies you can use on your favorite casino games, check out the other social casino game guides on our McLuck Blog.
