There’s also the famous MIT shoe computer of the late 70s which netted students well in excess of $100,000. But that is straight-up cheating. As for the Caro system, I can’t see any mathematical reason why that would make any sense, and I’m very skeptical of the claim that “some of the top mathematicians in the world have endorsed it.”
flight wrote
And such schools of thought are absolutely wrong, just as wrong as the system proposed by the OP.
Re: Caro’s system: Nope, you’re right. It is foolproof.
**Quercus ** wrote
No. Just no.
Yes. Just yes.
After all, Caro’s system is the one I use. And I’ve never lost a penny playing roulette. 
I am not a top mathematician, but I can attest to the efficacy of the Caro system. The one time I deviated from it (with a coupon that gave the bet positive EV) I lost money. I recommend that everyone use it.
Hey, what’s that whooshing noise?
The Caro system is the one I use, and I can tell you that with three trips to Vegas and one to Reno, I have never ended up losing a single penny in Roulette.
I dunno. I’ve eschewed the Caro system a few times on my forays into casinos and have come out ahead every time.
It’s called the French wheel. When I was in Las Vegas in January 2000, the casino Paris was running a pair of roulette tables with the French wheel, and all appropriate mannerisms. Of course, the French wheel was in character for the casino.
I suspect the WOPR system would be effective in roulette. 
(WOPR: “A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?” – War Games)
Great replies from everyone.
But one thing is that my friend’s system isn’t about doubling the bet…
He proposes tripling the bet.
So if you win… you don’t just win the original bet…
but you win more.
A little nitpick about the system because it wouldn’t be worth it if you only win the original bet…
Of course, you need a huge bank roll to support this system.
Bet
10
30
90
270
810
2430
7290
21870
65610
If you lose, you lose:
10
40
120
360
1080
3240
9720
29160
87480
If you win, you win:
10
20
50
150
450
1350
4050
12150
36450
Actually, I feel a bit guilty. The system is quite clever. It doesn’t work in the real world, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a clever idea when you consider roullette in the abstract.
For that matter, maybe we were too cavalier in dismissing it: it won’t work as described, but how might it work?
-
Betting against someone with a smaller bankroll? This might actually work. I’d have to do the maths.
-
Regularly borrowing money and declaring backruptcy? Well, fraud, more than anything, but could work if you can ge away with it.
-
Tweak the odds? Bet with someone else, who’s less professional than the house. My dad once had a friend who bet on a horse, and he said “That’ll never win!” and they bet £10 on it… at evens, as it was a “friendly” bet. My dad immediately put £5 on the horse at the bookie, and won either way…
-
Cheat. Have a computer in your shoe. Wonderful idea, but expect to get beaten up later if you’re not careful.
Yes, in very rare cases, someone comes up with a legitimate way to win at the casinos. In the early 1950’s someone figured out how to “rhythm” a slot machine. (Knowing when to pull the lever at the right moment). It seems the mechanical machines of years ago weren’t truly random enough and a clever person could actually come out ahead - with knowledge and practice.
Here’s a link about this:
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,731,00.html
That’s not a great link and you’ll need to scroll almost all the way down for a small mention of it.
The way I heard it, the person who developed this system repaired slot machines and knew exactly what he was doing. Also, the way I heard it, the casinos got wise to this very quickly. Instead of banning players (as with BlackJack), the casinos modified the machines to become truly random and then rhythming no longer worked. That article says it could be done into the 1980’s. I highly doubt that. Even back in the early 1950’s, casinos were always on alert for any kind of system (legit or not) that could make the player come out ahead. I find it unbelievable that casinos would let this “slide” for a few decades. Also, this was solved LONG before video poker ever showed its face in any casino.
“The odds are always with the house. With the house !!” - Dean Martin - Ocean’s 11 (the original film)
Sorry, I made a posting error. I meant to say, “rhythming” a slot machine was no longer possible LONG before VIDEO SLOTS ever showed up in any casinos.
Wait, regarding the Cato method, I have a question. Am I looking at the wrong roulette table, or did that link fail to eliminate 29, 31-36?
Still doesn’t matter - in fact, you’re losing money even faster.
And your friend can risk $90,000 to win $36,000 44% of the time? Do the math with those numbers. Those numbers are not your friends.
rookie523, but if tripling is good, then wouldn’t it be better if you quadrupled the bet, huh? Yeah, what about that, huh?
Or quintupled it! Or sextupled it? What about that, huh? Huh? Wouldn’t that be better? I mean, like, real better? Huh?
Making the bet larger faster just means you bump up against the table limits faster. If the basic system doesn’t work, you can’t somehow improve it by making it go bust sooner. Haven’t you been paying any attention at all?
I’ll bet you a dollar there’s no Martingale question next Wednesday.
If there is, I’ll bet you two there’s no Martingale question the Wednesday after that…
<wednesday>Are you serious about the martingales? If so, I’ll take you up on that.</wednesday>
I’ll take your bet. And I’ll see you here next Wednesday.
By the way, there’s no table limit on this bet. Although at some point (like when you’re betting me $2,048 that I won’t post a Martingales thread) it becomes worth it for you to coerce the mods into breaking my account for a day. And it becomes worth it for me to ensure that a friend posts a Martingales thread in my stead…
I will gladly pay you Wednesday for a Martingale thread today.
Oh, and the Caro system really isn’t foolproof, after all, the Casinos still have Roulette wheels. If the system was foolproof they would never make a dime on them.
This is where that “whoosh” smilie would really come in handy. Read the Caro site again.