The Oscar’s Grind is an archetypal positive progression strategy. It is also called Hoyle’s Press. In German and French it is often referred to as the Pluscoup progression. Like most famous roulette systems, it has originally been created for the Even Chances (Red, Black, High, Low, Odd, Even). But like most good ideas, it can be modified and used for many other bets, like Dozens or Streets. Our aim is to win just one precious unit. As with any system the value of the unit can be anything from $0.1 to $1K depending on you bankroll and the table limits.

Casino 1888

The ideas behind the system

The main concept is that there are periods of many roulette wins and periods of many losses. Losses and wins often come in streaks. In a way, we follow the trend. We try to keep our bets low on the losing streaks and increase them on the winning streaks that hopefully will follow

Furthermore, it is better to increase your bets when winning, than when losing, because it keeps your bankroll (even when your are losing overall) in some sort of balance.
Finally, we prefer to increase our bets slowly, by only one unit, to avoid the fast escalation of our bets.

Oscar’s Grind (Pluscoup) rules:
– If you win the first bet, you won 1 unit and the session is over.
– When you lose a bet, in the next spin you bet the same amount.
– When you win a bet, in the next spin you bet one unit more than the won bet. The only exception to this rule is when you need less units in order to be in overall profit, in which case you only bet the needed units, that would get you overall profit of only one unit if won.
– The session ends when you reach 1 unit profit .

BET AMOUNT OUTCOME TOTAL PROFIT
1 LOSS -1
1 LOSS -2
1 LOSS -3
1 LOSS -4
1 WIN -3
2 WIN -1
2 WIN 1

In the last spin, according to the rules, we only bet 2 units instead of 3 units. Because 2 units are enough to bring us to profit.

Advantages and disadvantages

Now let’s examine two different scenarios in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Oscar’s Grind.

FAVORABLE SEQUENCE

 

BET AMOUNT OUTCOME TOTAL PROFIT
1 LOSS -1
1 LOSS -2
1 LOSS -3
1 LOSS -4
1 LOSS -5
1 LOSS -6
1 LOSS -7
1 WIN -6
2 LOSS -8
2 LOSS -10
2 LOSS -12
2 LOSS -14
2 LOSS -16
2 WIN -14
3 LOSS -17
3 WIN -14
4 WIN -10
5 WIN -5
6 WIN 1

 

In 19 spins we faced 13 Losses and only 6 wins. Still we managed to achieve profit. This kind of spin sequences are ideal for Oscar’s Grind. It can withstand many consecutive losses. Actually it shines against long losing streaks. It is a very resilient method, with rare defensive qualities and it can take great advantage of a favorable run of luck.

UNFAVORABLE SEQUENCE

 

BET AMOUNT OUTCOME TOTAL PROFIT
1 LOSS -1
1 LOSS -2
1 LOSS -3
1 WIN -2
2 LOSS -4
2 WIN -2
3 LOSS -5
3 WIN -3
4 LOSS -7
4 WIN -3
5 LOSS -8
5 WIN -3
6 LOSS -9
6 LOSS -15
6 LOSS -21
6 WIN -15
7 WIN -8
8 LOSS -16
8 WIN -8

 

In 19 spins, with 8 wins and 11 losses, we are still losing 8 units. With many other systems, like Labouchere, or Tier et Tout we would have been in profit. Oscar’s Grind, however, cannot capitalize on single wins and “choppy” sequences; it needs consecutive wins to show its strength. In fact single wins at roulette are harmful for this system, because they increase the betting amount.

Oscar’s Grind for dozens

We can easily apply the Pluscoup to the dozens. We can choose to bet one dozen or bet on two dozens. In case we bet on two dozens I suggest to bet the two dozens that have come lately and avoid the “sleeping” dozen. Obviously, the pros and cons we saw in even chances hold true for the dozens too. Oscar’s Grind loves long series and hates chopping streaks with alternating wins and losses. Here is a good scenario, in which we are betting on one dozen.

Betting ONE DOZEN (good scenario)

 

BET AMOUNT OUTCOME TOTAL PROFIT
1 LOSS -1
1 LOSS -2
1 LOSS -3
1 LOSS -4
1 LOSS -5
1 LOSS -6
1 LOSS -7
1 LOSS -8
1 LOSS -9
1 LOSS -10
1 LOSS -11
1 LOSS -12
1 WIN -10
2 LOSS -12
2 LOSS -14
2 LOSS -16
2 LOSS -18
2 LOSS -20
2 LOSS -22
2 WIN -18
3 WIN -12
4 WIN -4
3 WIN 2

 

In 23 spins, instead of the “expected” 7 wins, we only get 5 wins, yet we manage to win 2 units (flat betting 1 unit without any strategy, would lead us to 8 units loss). But the beauty of this progression is not the profit, it is the fact that we managed that with a maximum bet of only 4 units. Not many systems can do this. Also note, that in the last spin, if we want to be very conservative we could bet only 2 units instead of 3, which would give us a “total profit” of 0. Which is still great for such a sequence. And then start a new session with 1 unit.

Conclusion
Oscar’s Grind (or Pluscoup) is an excellent, conservative, fundamental positive progression. It can stand many losses and can endure many types of bad sequences. However it does have an Achilles’ heel: short streaks. Alternating wins and losses is the worst enemy for this otherwise amazing strategy.

 

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