How the John Wayne strategy works
This strategy is easy to use and understand. It doesn’t require huge bankrolls and you can get some great payouts while using it. Its main goal is like in any other betting strategy. You aim to get good results, without risking a lot of money. Here’s how it works.
- Choose two numbers in the middle column.
- Bet one chip on them.
- Place one chip on each corner of those numbers.
Here’s how the bets should be distributed across the table:
With this bet, you use 10 chips in total and you are covering a total of 18 numbers. So you are betting almost half of the table, but you are not doing it progressively. Once you set your bets simply re-bet on each following spin. Each spin can come with 4 outcomes.
- If the ball lands on one of the outside corners, like 1, 3, 7, 9, 28, 30, 34, and 36 the result is a loss of a single chip.
- If you land a number from between the corners, like 2, 4, 6, 8, 29, 31, 33, and 35, you profit 8 chips.
- If you win the straight-up bet you win a total of 62 chips.
- Each loss takes away 10 chips from your bankroll.
Putting the John Wayne system to the test
To simulate the real play use of the John Wayne system we created 4 players, awarding a starting bankroll of 1,000 chips each. Every one of them used the strategy until each completed 400 spins in total. Below you witness how their session went and what happened once the roulette simulation reached the end.
The first 50 spins were going quite well actually, which was surprising, to say the least. But as the game continued the losing streaks started coming. The risk of using this strategy isn’t very high as you are betting only 10 units at a time. But as you keep going there’s a risk to go bust even before you play 100 hands. Every player went bust before they played 100 spins, even those who initially made a profit. They didn’t manage to recover and make a profit, since the payouts they did win were simply not enough to cover the previous losses.
Issues with the John Wayne System
When you start using the system it may seem that you are getting good results from the start. But as you play on, you can see your bankroll going down on each spin. After playing for a longer time you will notice that the payouts are simply not big enough to cover your losses. So you can easily go bust with this strategy.
The main downside of the John Wayne system is there is no way to recover your losses. Even by covering half of the table, there are no rules about the unit size or any progression to cover your loss. If you see that you have a roughly 50% chance to win, you also have a 50% chance to lose. In the long run, these are the same odds as playing even money bets and the house edge will catch up to you. It always works in favour of the casino. This is why:
- It’s highly unlikely that the strategy will make you a profit in the long run. Other strategies which cover even more bets don’t seem to work. This is simply a betting pattern where you increase your chances of landing a win. But in the long run, this is pointless because of the house edge.
- There is no clear way to recover your losses. Once you hit a losing streak there is no way to bet the table and recover that loss. The only way to really make a profit is to land the 2 straight-up bets consistently. As you already know this is pretty much impossible to do unless you have tremendous luck.
Conclusion
If you want to try the John Wayne system at the roulette table you can do so for up to 10 minutes or up to 20 spins. Here you have a chance to make a profit for short-term play. But the house edge will catch up to you in the long run and you will have no way to avoid going bust. This is why if you want to play online roulette for a longer time you should avoid this strategy altogether.