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The James Bond roulette strategy, costed
The James Bond strategy is the only roulette system with a literary source, and like most things in the books it is more style than substance. Three bets, the same every spin, covering 25 numbers. It wins two spins in three. The third spin is the expensive one. Here is the full spread, what each result pays, and what a session costs when the numbers are allowed to finish.
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The spread
| Bet | Stake | Numbers | Pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| High (19–36) | £140 | 18 | 1:1 |
| Six line 13–18 | £50 | 6 | 5:1 |
| Zero | £10 | 1 | 35:1 |
£200 total. Uncovered: 1 to 12, twelve numbers.
What each outcome returns
| Ball lands on | Chance | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 19–36 | 48.65% | +£140 − £50 − £10 = +£80 |
| 13–18 | 16.22% | +£250 − £140 − £10 = +£100 |
| 0 | 2.70% | +£350 − £140 − £50 = +£160 |
| 1–12 | 32.43% | −£200 |
Wins 67.57% of spins. The average per spin: 0.4865 × 80 + 0.1622 × 100 + 0.027 × 160 − 0.3243 × 200 = −£5.41, which is 2.70% of £200.
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A session
100 spins at the full £200 is £20,000 through the table and about £541 expected loss. Almost nobody plays it at that size. Divide by twenty: £7 on high, £2.50 on the six line, 50p on zero, £10 a spin. 100 spins is £1,000 staked, £27 expected loss, and the losing spin costs £10. Two losses in a row happen one time in ten; four in a row about one time in a hundred, which over an evening is not unusual.
Why the coverage does not help
25 numbers out of 37 is a lot of the wheel. It is also three separate standard bets, each at the standard payout, each costing 2.70%. Combining them changes how often you win and how much, not what you pay. Every coverage layout works this way; this one just has a better name.
The Martingale bolt-on
The usual advice is to double the whole spread after a losing spin. That turns a flat system with a known worst case into a progression: £200, £400, £800, £1,600 after three losses, which is a 3.4% event, and most table limits stop it there. The flat version loses £200 one spin in three and is survivable. The doubled version loses £3,000 one spin in thirty and is not.
The one good thing about it
It is simple and it never changes. Three chips, same places, every spin. For a player who wants a structured session with a two-thirds hit rate and a known loss, it is a perfectly reasonable way to spend 2.70% of a bankroll. Just leave the doubling in the novel.
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Before you ask
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What is the James Bond roulette bet?
£140 on high (19–36), £50 on the six line 13–18, £10 on zero. £200 a spin covering 25 of 37 numbers. It is usually scaled down by dividing everything by ten or twenty.
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Does the James Bond strategy work?
It wins about two spins in three and loses £200 on the third. Over time it costs 2.70% of turnover, like every other roulette bet. It is a fixed spread, not an edge.