How Does the Piquemouche Strategy Work for Roulette?
The Piquemouche method is more conscious of the bankroll and the table limits than the Martingale. You start by setting a base bet. For simplicity, we will use a base bet of CAD 1. The strategy only involves betting on even-money bets like High/Lows, Black/Red, and Odds/Evens, so we suggest choosing a roulette variant with a single zero (like European roulette).
- You start by placing a 1 unit wager on any even money bet. Let’s say that we bet on Red.
- Whatever happens, our next wager will be CAD 1 again. We continue with the same bet size unless we lose 3 times in a row.
- If we lose three times in a row, we need to double the wager size. So, our wager size will be CAD 2.
- If we lose three times in a row again, we double the wager amount again to CAD 4, and so on. If we keep losing, this is what our bets would look like: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 8, 8, 8, and so on.
- If we win three times in a row, we revert back to the initial bet size of CAD 1, regardless of what our last bet size was.
After three consecutive wins, the progression starts from the beginning. Although the bets in the Piquemouche system are increased similar to the Martingale (doubling the wager size), the progression is much slower because you only increase the wager size after losing three times in a row. However, the downside to this is that to recover your losses, you also need to win three times in a row.
This makes the Piquemouche system a slower one, and much better suited for those with smaller bankrolls. The progression continues until you win three times in a row, which means that you’ve made a profit.
Putting the Piquemouche Strategy to the Test
We tested the Piquemouche strategy the same way we test other roulette betting systems: by creating a simulation using a complex RNG (Random Number Generator) and using hypothetical players to see how the strategy performs in both the short term and the long term. For this system, we used 4 players and set a bankroll of CAD 1,000 for each, with a base bet of CAD 1. We set the simulation to run for 1,000 spins, and you can see the performance chart below.

All four players had different results.
- The luckiest one was Player 3, who finished the simulation with a profit of CAD 358 and a total bankroll of CAD 1,358. They experienced some losses in the beginning but managed to bounce back and win. The lowest their bankroll dropped was CAD 790. They never dropped below the CAD 1,000 threshold after the 200th spin.
- Player 1 also completed the simulation with a profit. They made a profit of CAD 356, but they experienced several longer sessions where they were at risk of losing large chunks of their bankroll.
- Player 4 had no such luck. Although they were in net positive around the 500th spin, they experienced several consecutive losses. By spin 487, their bankroll would have dropped to -CAD 888, which means that they zeroed out. Since this is a simulation, we decided to continue. They managed to bounce back and completed the simulation with CAD 860 in their bankroll and a net loss of CAD 140.
- Player 2 also had some bad luck, and their bankroll dropped to CAD 572 by spin 420. However, they managed to bounce back and even finish the 1,000 spin simulation in profit — although the profit was just CAD 2.
Pitfalls of the Piquemouche Strategy
Three out of our four players completed the 1000-spin simulation, which means that the strategy has the potential to be profitable in the long run. However, one of the players lost all their bankroll around the 400th spin, which means that there’s still a risk that you can zero out. This is a less risky strategy than the Martingale, but the risk still exists. Also, recovering after several losing streaks can be hard.
The table limits can still be a problem, just like in Martingale. If you reach the maximum table limits, you may be stuck and you won’t be able to recover your losses.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a simple strategy like the Martingale, but you find it to be too aggressive, the Piquemouche roulette strategy can be a good alternative. It’s slower and safer than the Martingale, yet still delivers good results. The biggest problem is that the main pitfalls of the Martingale are present here too, like reaching the table limits, and draining out your bankroll if you encounter a long losing session.