Testing & Analysing Fibonacci in Roulette as Real Players
The name Fibonacci means something to conspiracy theorists, fatalists, and not least, roulette player. Yet, behind the moniker is one man, a 13th century Italian mathematician whose real name of Leonardo Pisano is less remembered than his contributions to the world of science through the introduction of a pattern called the Fibonacci sequence. And, as it turns out Fibonacci in roulette is just as viable as it is in the universe around us.
It’s true, the Fibonacci sequence is all around us, and it basically dictates that a number is the size of its previous two numbers. So, the sequence starts with a (0) and progressed to 1, 1, 2, 3, and so on.
The Fibonacci strategy in roulette is celebrated as one of the cornerstone stratagems that allows you to balance between risk and reward, and – surprisingly – to win some money. The Fibonacci roulette strategy is by no measure a bulletproof strategy. It won’t work 100% of the time, and you cannot expect it to. In the following lines, we will be analysing the strategy and point out to some of its strengths and inevitably, its weaknesses.
How Does the Fibonacci Roulette System Work Then?
As mentioned, Fibonacci is not a super hard sequence in the first place. You just add up the previous two numbers to get the new one. Essentially, it would look like this for the first 10 numbers of the sequence:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34
Because we will be using Fibonacci roulette strategy to bet with, we cannot really place a 0, so let’s disregard it, and have this instead for the first 10 numbers:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55
Now, another important thing to note here is that Fibonacci does work, but it only works when you apply it to Even Money bets. These are the types of bets that are Red/Black, Odd/Even, and High/Low. Players will appreciate this because betting on these Outside Bets is usually very easy and intuitive.
The sequence works in a very easy way, too. Basically, after every loss, you will go up one number of the sequence. Once you score a win, however, you will go down two numbers, which makes it very easy to play through and understand. In the following example, you can see what nine rounds of Fibonacci look like.
- Spin 1
We bet 1 unit and win.
- Spin 2
We bet 1 unit and lose, so we increase our wager to 2 units.
- Spin 3
We lose our bet and increase our bet to 3 units.
- Spin 4
We lose this bet as well and increase our bet to 5 units.
- Spin 5
If we lose this bet, too, we will then increase our bet to 8 units.
- Spin 6
We win, and go back two numbers, so we now bet 3 units.
- Spin 7
We lose once more, and we are back to 5 units.
- Spin 8
Thankfully, we win this one and go back to 2 units.
- Spin 9
After another win, we are back at betting 1 unit.
As this example shows, Fibonacci is a system that does not put too much pressure on players when they lose several times in a row. The system is one of moderate progression, which is better suited for players who are risk averse and do not mind spending time accumulating winnings in increments.
Yet, the system does not seem to immediately produce significant gains for its players. We touch on this in the follow section where we have observed how the strategy works across three separate but essentially similar attempts.
Taking Fibonacci System for a Spin
All things are well in theory, but to truly understand how efficient the strategy is, we have taken it for a Google Sheets test over 500 rounds of play and a budget of 1,000 units. We wrote a simple JavaScript program to allow us to simulate a European roulette gameplay using the Fibonacci system. Using the data we have obtained we have arrived at the results shown in the graph below:
As the graph shows, the player dipped several times and reached the 89 number in the sequence on several occasions. At the end of the sequence, the player did win, increasing their starting bankroll by 74 units, for a total of 1,074 units. We took the test to another player to see how it would work out.
The second player managed to hit 1,124 units as their final bankroll, which was a 124-unit gain on balance, but still came after 1,000 rounds and risking 1,000 units on average. Then, we did a test for a third player as well.
The third test also revealed a similar result, and the player walked away with 1,139 units in total. All three players followed the Fibonacci sequence, and they did generate a similar win. However, the risk they carried to generate this win is substantial and must be considered.
One thing to consider, though, is how soon you may run out of bankroll. If you generate 14 losses in a row, you will need to bet 377 units to make up for that, but only have 14 units left to do so with. The chance of this happening is 0.524^14. Look at the table below.
Bet | Status | Bankroll Status |
---|---|---|
1 | loss | 999 |
1 | loss | 998 |
2 | loss | 996 |
3 | loss | 993 |
5 | loss | 988 |
8 | loss | 980 |
13 | loss | 967 |
21 | loss | 946 |
34 | loss | 912 |
55 | loss | 857 |
89 | loss | 768 |
144 | loss | 624 |
233 | loss | 391 |
377 | loss | 14 |
What To Look Out for When Playing Fibonacci Strategy?
Of course, much like other strategies in roulette you may want to try your hand at, the Fibonacci strategy has some drawbacks that must be shared with players. The main issue here is that because of betting limits and bankroll limitations, a player can run into an end of their sequence without the opportunity to recover.
If you have a 1,000-unit budget, this could happen in 14 consecutive losses. However small the possibility, when risking so much to win so little can make some players ill at ease, and understandably so. The Fibonacci sequence tends to be generally safer than Martingale, for example, where it would usually take 10 consecutive losses to lose completely and not be able to recover a loss.
Fibonacci is a much milder progressive system in a sense, and it allows for more leeway when the losses begin to stack against you. However, you need to also ask yourself if you are willing to bring 1,000 units to the table to potentially win back 100 units. Another bugbear about this strategy is the fact that you may have only 100 units of budget to begin with.
The chances of quickly running out of money increase significantly. On balance, Fibonacci does offer certain strengths, and if you are patient enough, you could see yourself earn a small amount, or about 10% of your bankroll. However, you cannot scale infinitely because the roulette table has betting limits.
Final Words on Fibonacci Roulette Strategy
To understand whether Fibonacci is a good strategy, it’s enough to look at the outcome of the tests. In all three cases, players did win, and Fibonacci makes sense for anyone who doesn’t want to break the bank in the first place. The maximum progression we hit was 89, or a loss of 768 units. This means that to recover, you would need a budget of close to 900 units, which is a significant investment. If you can afford to put down 1,000 units in chips, you will feel a lot safer when playing a game of roulette with Fibonacci.
Overall, we enjoy and appreciate Fibonacci as a worthwhile and valid strategy. The main risk lies in running out of budget. The strategy is still one of the safest options you have when playing roulette. Essentially, it comes down to your personal preference whether you want to stick with this one or Martingale.
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