Vegas: Roulette

I'm pretty sure roulette bad beat stories are even worse than poker bad beat stories. That won't stop me.

Vegas was like a ghost town when I arrived on the Strip at about 9:30 this morning. The Mirage had only two 3/6 limit HE tables, and there were no cash poker tables running at Caesars. I got on the list, knowing that I probably wouldn't wait around to take a seat.

Bored, I figured I would try to make some coin using the Martingale system at a roulette table at Caesar's. After all, I had never lost before using the Martingale system. They say an idle mind is the Devil's workshop, and the man spinning the roulette wheel may have been the Grim Reaper himself.

I kept betting black. The ball kept landing on red. I kept doubling my $10 minimum bet, and I kept losing.

"With the way you're betting, you should spend your money at the high limit roulette table," the Grim Reaper said. Ug. I wish he would shut up.

"You'll never win big that way. You should double your bets when you win, not when you lose," he said.

I didn't listen. I know the Martingale betting system is flawed, but it usually results in many small wins or one big loss. This was my loss. I recovered about $1,000 from my low point to get away with a $1,700 loss, and I got the hell out of there.

It didn't feel as bad as a suckout on the river. I didn't feel wronged, or that I was somehow karmicly responsible for starting my trip so poorly. I just wasn't lucky.

Later, I couldn't stop myself from trying again to mitigate some of my losses in another roulette session. I didn't win a single one of my six spins, and I was out another $500. I didn't have the stomach to double my bets any more. I need to save some money for the rest of the weekend!

Perhaps I learned my lesson.

Or maybe I want to win back some of my losses before I put a big bet on black to try to get even. I don't know though ... maybe I'll put it on red.