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Law of the Third

One of the many systems you’ll find among people who play roulette is something called the Law of the Third. While it sounds like some sort of high fantasy novel, it’s actually based in solid mathematics. Solid mathematics, however, does not mean it eliminates the effects of chance, and it takes a strong set of nerves to play this roulette system.

Let’s take a closer look at the Law of the Third. The roulette wheel itself has 38 number pockets (if it’s American roulette), or 37 (if it’s European or French roulette). Therefore, the chance that the ball will fall into any particular pocket during one spin is, obviously, 1 in 38 (we’re going to use the American system here). If you map out a complete cycle of 38 spins, there are going to be only, on average, 24 numbers drawn. Some numbers will be drawn 1, 2, 3 or more times, while the other 13 numbers won’t be come up at all.

Don’t get excited. Yes, this means that, for instance, after 12 spins, your probability of hitting one of the same number again becomes 12 out of 38; next spin, it becomes 13 out of 38. However, there is no way to predict which one of those repeated numbers the ball is going to land on. That is determined by pure, random chance. The roulette wheel has no memory, and statistics are plotted on averages, not absolutes.

Law of Third Strategy

Look at the beginning of that last sentence again: The roulette wheel has no memory. Any system based on the Law of the Third assumes that, somehow, the previous spin has some sort of effect on the current spin – and we can see for a fact that it does not.

The system has a little more merit if you’re using it to predict groups of spins, but that’s not how most games of roulette work. You bet on each spin, as it occurs, and there is no way to influence that spin. Use this set of statistics to make your play more methodical, if you wish, but be aware that the Law of the Third does not equal increased winnings.

That’s the real point with many of these systems or strategies for roulette, if they are followed they make your betting more methodical.   The odds in roulette are some of the best you’ll find in gambling and a smart system which is followed properly can lead to some decent winnings.  But none of them actually affect the underlying probabilities, so they can’t guarantee that you win.

They may well equal increased heartburn, however.