A guaranteed way to win at roulette, from Eugene Northrop’s Riddles in Mathematics (1945):
- Bet $1 on red.
- If you win, go to step 6. If you lose, bet $2 on red.
- If you win, go to step 6. If you lose, bet $4 on red.
- If you win, go to step 6. If you lose, bet $8 on red.
- (And so on.)
- When you win, you’ll be $1 ahead. Go back to step 1.
“Theoretically, of course, it is possible for the bank to wipe you out financially. Actually, however, runs of more than 10 or 12 successive blacks or reds are extremely rare, and your stake at the twelfth play would be only $2048. When you do win you will, as before, be $1 ahead of the bank. You can then begin all over again. Simple, isn’t it?”