Reverse Labouchère
Historical success stories need a complete record and a fair comparison.
What it describes
Reverse Labouchère is associated with accounts of coordinated roulette play and with Norman Leigh’s book Thirteen Against the Bank. Those accounts are a historical claim, not proof that the progression changes independent probabilities.
Formula & principle
Stake = first + last; loss → remove both ends
Start with $2, $4, $6, $8. Append the stake after a win; cancel both ends after a loss. This demo restarts an empty list. On consecutive losses the amount stays $10.
B(n) is one stake. On the left, the counter sums all losing stakes with a minus sign and freezes after round 25. On the right, all 25 results are watched without a stake. One $10 stake is then placed for round 26. Its payout follows the selected target: for an even-money bet, $20 returned means $10 stake plus $10 profit. Other targets use their own payout rules.
Same pattern. Different starting points.
A deliberately constructed series: 25 × No Red, then a matching result at 26. The end is known in this demo only.
Two different snapshots: the left freezes accumulated losses after 25 stakes, before the break. The right skips all 25 rounds, places one $10 stake before round 26, and shows its winning payout, including the returned stake. Net profit is shown separately. This is a selected winning example with a predetermined break, not an equal-length profit comparison.
Without Winnary
Starts at round 1
Waiting for this track
With Winnary
Starts at round 26
Waiting for this track
Model: List $2–$4–$6–$8: stake the two ends; remove them after a loss. Restart the list when empty. The left follows the strategy throughout the losing series. “With Winnary” shows only one initial $10 stake after 25 observed results; there is no earlier loss or stake progression in that column. It is not a measured product result. The Legendary label is illustrative, not a calculated rarity.
Fewer stakes mean less accumulated exposure in this selected sequence. A stake placed after round 25 has no better next-spin odds, and the pattern could continue beyond 26. This model assumes unlimited funds and no table limits. The break is observed after settlement; it cannot cancel a stake already placed. Winnary cannot enforce a loss limit at an external table. Every losing stake is added to the running loss. In the single-stake example, payout includes the returned stake; net profit subtracts that stake. Coverage payouts also account for losing parts of a split allocation. If the round-1 track continued through the same break at round 26, its net would be -$240; that final stake would be $10. The later start does not improve next-spin odds.
Demo ready. Both examples use the same predetermined results.
What the mathematics says
Graham Kendall’s published examination uses simulation to investigate the story. It illustrates why a memorable result should be tested against chance variation and explicit assumptions instead of being accepted as a universal rule.
How to read the evidence
A retrospective account can leave many unknowns: omitted attempts, selected participants, changing limits and incomplete records. A reproducible analysis should publish those assumptions and preserve all outcomes, including failures.
Reverse Labouchère: without and with Winnary
This compares the information available, not measured winnings or losses.
| Without Winnary | With Winnary |
|---|---|
| A celebrated success story can overshadow the attempts that were never reported. | Compare a claim with an identified table, timestamp and current observation rather than treating an anecdote as data. |
What does not change. One current observation cannot validate a historical success story or establish a profitable system.
Roulette predictor claims: what evidence matters? ↗Where Winnary fits
Winnary is a roulette analyser that organises observations. Rarity labels and rankings are descriptive. They are not a prediction of the next spin, evidence of a profitable system or a recommendation to act.
Read about the analyser ↗