Nowadays you’re bombarded with strategies from people in the know claiming to hold the key to gambling success. On Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels you will be hit with a plethora of articles and guides aiming to hold the secret to a successful approach to these games of luck and chance.
While no strategy is guaranteed to line your pockets with a life-changing jackpot, some approaches can provide some pretty epic returns. If you need any proof that betting is unpredictable, ask the Leicester City fan who won £250,000 from a speculative pre-season bet on his team to win the Premier League in 2016.
Let’s look at some other crazy gambling strategies that actually worked – to give you some inspiration next time you play your favourite casino games.
Bet with abandon: Pedro Grendene Bartelle’s roulette strategy
Roulette is one of the most exciting casinos out there, with a huge jackpot resting on the spin of a wheel. It’s guaranteed to get your pulse racing as you see the ball rolling over the colour or number you’ve taken a punt on. While roulette is essentially a game of chance, there are several strategies to minimising the house edge and growing your winnings incrementally.
However, just losing all abandon and going for it sometimes works – as Pedro Grendene Bartelle can attest. In a casino in Uruguay, the Brazilian businessman went for broke when he bet $35,000 on a single number and moments later walked away with $3.5 million.
The Brazilian buccaneer may have had the cojones and funds to lob 35 grand on a single number, but don’t let that put you off. If you don’t fancy going for a single number, where the odds are ridiculously slim, you may as well wager a big amount on red or black as the odds are 50-50 – much higher than in most other casino games.
There’s no real way of preparing for this once-in-a-lifetime type of bet. However, a good way to test the success of a gambling strategy is to try it online first, so you can bet with small amounts and see if it actually works.
Online roulette is powered by a random number generator, giving you a good feel for the unpredictable nature of this classic casino game – and how Bartelle himself would have felt when landing this audacious victory at the wheel. Virtual gambling is more convenient than gambling in land-based casinos, so who knows, you might even prefer to play online roulette more than the real thing.
Go hard or go home: Chris Moneymaker’s poker strategy
In 2003 accountant Chris Moneymaker qualified for the World Series of Poker championship by winning a 39 dollar online tournament. The placid number cruncher would go on to redefine the game of poker and introduce a new generation of card players to the game when he bested Sammy Farha.
As Moneymaker faced off against card-shark Farha he had nothing but a high card with his 7 and King, whereas Farha had a pair with his 9 and Queen. With one card yet to show on the flop, Farha had a 61% chance of victory but chose to fold after aggressive betting from Moneymaker, who effectively had nothing.
Poker is a game of skill and probability, but despite how good your maths skills are, there’s still an element of luck involved. If you can keep a straight face and not buckle to pressure, then you have every chance of taking a good haul of money despite not having a strong hand.
Keep on truckin! Cynthia Jay’s slots strategy
Cynthia Jay was a cocktail waitress at the Monte Carlo casino in Las Vegas, and every night after her shift she would have a small punt on the slot machines. On January 26th, 2000 she had her customary flutter and walked away with a life changing amount of money.
On her ninth spin she hit the state-wide lottery jackpot of $34,959,458.56 which changed her life forever. Cynthia was never a big time gambler and only ever wagered small amounts of money before her mega jackpot win.
Unfortunately for Cynthia she was involved in a car crash seven weeks later which condemned her never to walk again. Her story is the perfect embodiment of the foibles of life as she hit a once in a lifetime jackpot before being hit with a cruel twist of fate months later.
Beginners luck: Patricia Demauro’s craps strategy
If you have ever gambled in your life, you’ll be familiar with the phrase ‘beginners luck’ and that was the case with Grandmother Patricia Demauro as she walked away from the Borgata in Atlantic City with an enormous windfall.
Her visit to the casino was only the second time she had visited such an establishment in her life, but it would turn out to be the most memorable. After watching her friend throw the dice at the craps table, Patricia decided to chance her arm.
After buying in for $10 she went on to win 154 consecutive throws but never disclosed the amount of money she won. The most conservative of guesses would estimate that she won at least 50 times her buy in amount, highlighting that beginner’s luck can be just as powerful as any betting strategy.
Summary
The next time you turn on your computer or go online on your mobile phone, remember the ways these gamblers made their millions.
True, the house always has the edge – apart from perhaps in poker, where you’re playing on the weaknesses of other players – but these stories prove that you have the most to gain by going all out when your luck’s in.
Instead of using some of the more ‘tried and tested’ approaches, you may have better luck by employing some of the crazy strategies mentioned in this article. And then you might one day join this elite club of gamblers who’ve won life-changing sums of cash by being in the right place at the right time.
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