Square Ro-let: Positional roulette by Jack Kennedy

In 1998 Jack Kennedy wrote a book called “Square Ro-let” where he presented a system called Positional roulette. It has attracted the interest of many roulette gamblers. It was a mix between Follow the Last color bet selection and dealers signature. There was no progression used, it was a flat bet approach. There has been a lot of discussion about Positional roulette, yet none seemed to understand the system completely. The truth is that there were some gray areas on the description of the system. Even the author insisted that “it can only be learned in practice”, that only experience and familiarity with this approach will help you make the best decisions. Anyway I will try to help you understand the system. This article is divided in three sections:
1. A very simple and clear description of Square Ro-let and Positional roulette
2. An email exchange of a roulette player with the author
3. An excerpt from the original book

How to play Positional roulette

card
rolet

First you must have as a reference the following images, one for European and the other for American roulette wheels. The main difference from the common wheels is that the zeroes are colored red and black.
8 rules:

1. Bet one or two sets of 4 numbers, that is 4 or 8 numbers. Your decision according to experience and observation, preferably 8 numbers.
2. The numbers should be the same color as the last spin.
3. Each set of 4 numbers numbers should be consecutive in the same color. (ie. 27, 1, 36, 3 in the American wheel or 30,37,27,34 in the European wheel) and clockwise (C) or counterclockwise (CC) to the number of the last spin.
4. Preferably avoid the last spun number (unless you have played it in the last spin and won, in which case you leave the chip on it).
5. Avoid the numbers that have not appeared in the last 37 or 38 spins.
6. If you bet the zero, bet it as a start or an end of the set, not in the middle. For example, in European wheel, 0, 15, 4, 2 is a valid set, but 35, 26, 0, 15 is not because 0 is in the middle.
7. Everything else taken into account, the author seems to prefer the 4 numbers before and the 4 numbers after the number of the last spin (always of the same color).
8. The player takes the final decision if he will bet 4 or 8 numbers and he also decides which numbers. Nothing is set in stone except that they should be of the same color as the last spin.

That’s it. The super complicated and never really understood Positional roulette explained as simply as possible.

An email exchange with Jack Kennedy

This is between Teorulte and Jack Kennedy (Kennedy’s comments are in CAPITAL)

Dear Jack,

After reading over your system many, many times there are some things that puzzle me. First, let me establish the things I do understand. We are playing 4 numbers flat with one unit each, and bet the same color that just showed up on the previous spin. We never bet on the number that just appeared (neutral position) (TO REPEAT, EXCEPT IF YOU HAVE HIT THE LAST NUMBER AND THEN LEAVE YOUR BET ON THAT NUMBER TO REPEAT), but it is not mandatory to EVER bet (FOR) a double hit. We make bets according to positions on your positional chart. Your chart has 18 positions, 9 clockwise and 9 counterclockwise (FOR EACH COLOR). This is basically all that I understand completely. I do not understand how to come to a conclusion of what 4 numbers to bet on. All I know is that they are the same color that just hit, and we will be placing 1 unit on each of them. Do we read the table for the first 37 (I play European, easier to test with hamburg site) spins, and then start betting for the next 37 spins? (TEO: PLAYING “POSITIONAL ROULETTE” YOU START PLAYING FROM THE FIRST SPIN. ) Do the numbers we bet on have to be in sequential order, or can we say bet on CC 1, 3, 4, and 9? Can we bet on counter clockwise and clockwise for the same spin? Eg bet on C 1 and 4 and CC 5 and 7.
(TEO: YES, YOU CAN BET THOSE WAYS, BUT I NEVER HAVE, SO I CANNOT TELL YOU IF IT IS THE SAME OR BETTER OR WORSE. I BET IN SEQUENTIAL ORDER BECAUSE I BELIEVE THE FOUR NUMBERS AVERAGE OUT BETTER THAN OTHER WAYS. PLAYING THE WAYS YOU DESCRIBED, YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME LARGE RUNS OF HITS, BUT TO OFFSET THAT YOU CAN HAVE SOME LARGE RUNS OF MISSES. TEO: LOOK AT THE ATTACHMENT ENCLOSED. (ROLETJACK)

Another thing, I was wondering if we could do a mini session together, just to make sure the basics are covered. I know that you can not “teach experience”, but I just want to make sure I am charting and reading the table properly. Perhaps I could send you a series of consecutive spins from Hamburg, say 74 and you could show me how you would chart and bet. I think this method would make this system a lot clearer from my standpoint.
(TEO: SORRY BUT NO. THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN IS TO PRACTICE. ROLETJACK)

I took the liberty of sending 40 spins and my charting to make sure I am doing everything right. I apologize if I seem to bold or forward, but I am very anxious to peace this puzzle together properly. So without further adue:
(TEO: I REARRANGED THE 40 SPINS SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN PREVIOUS SPINS. YOU CAN USE THE POSITION COUNT ONE TO NINE CC AND ONE TO NINE C AND PUT AN X SHOWING THAT YOU DID NOT HAVE A CHANCE OF HITTING IT OR JUST USE CC AND C AND PUT A “H’ FOR HIGH POSITIONS AND “L” FOR LOW POSITIONS TO SHOW THAT YOU DID NOT HIT IT. IF YOU PRACTICE ENOUGH, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST TO DECIDE WHAT POSITIONS YOU SHOULD PLAY NEXT. (ROLETJACK).

10
13……..3CC
35……..8CC
30……..10-10X or CC&CH
4……….6CCX or CCH
26……..3CC
8……….9C
21……..6CCX or CCH
28……..6CCX or CCH
29……..1CC
31……..2CC
32……..7CX or CH
27……..5C
20……..7CX
31……..1C
1………2CCX or CCL
18…….3C
35…….3CX or CL
18…….3CCX or CCL
30…….7CC
22…….7CX or CL
9………1CCX or CCL
2………9CX or CH
8………5C
33…….3C
8………3CC
19…….7CCX or CCH
31…….8CCX or CCH
6………8CC
19…….4CCX or CCL
31…….8CCX or CCH
6………8CC
31…….8C
14…….1CCX or CCL
5………3CC
26…….9CX or CH
29…….3CC
34…….9CX or CH
34…….”S” for same
19…….3CC
27…….4C
29…….10-10X or CC&CH
3……..3CX or CL
21…….4CC

Reply by Jack:

TEO: NOW IF YOU HAD PLAYED POSITIONS CC 1, 2, 3, AND 4 FOR 42 SPINS, YOU WOULD HAVE HAD 9 HITS. YOU PLAYED 168 UNITS IN 42 SPINS AND WON 9 X 32 = 288 UNITS IN 42 SPINS FOR A PROFIT OF 120 UNITS (71.42%). NOW IF YOU HAD PLAYED C 1, 2, 3, AND 4 FOR 42 SPINS, YOU WOULD HAVE ONLY HIT 4 TIMES FOR A WIN OF 128 UNITS. YOU PLAYED 168 UNITS IN 42 SPINS AND ONLY WON 128 UNITS FOR A LOSS OF 40 UNITS (23%). NOW THIS IS AN IMPORTANT LESSON: YOU MUST ALWAYS PLAY BOTH C AND CC LOW POSITIONS 1, 2, 3, AND 4 BECAUSE THE NEXT TIME IN MIGHT HAVE 9 HITS PLAYING C AND ONLY 4 HITS PLAYING CC. AND THE SAME THING GOES FOR C AND CC HIGH POSITIONS 6, 7, 8, AND 9. BOTH OF THESE MIGHT HAVE 9 OR 4 HITS IN 42 SPINS. SO AT ALL TIMES YOU MUST BE ALWAYS CHOOSING FROM ALL HIGH AND LOW C AND CC POSITIONS, BUT YOU DO NOT TREAT THEM ALL EQUAL. NOW POSITIONS CC 1, 2, 3, AND 4, STARTS OUT WITH AN OBVIOUS CC BIAS SO YOU PLAY IT ABOUT 65% OF THE TIME. WHEN IN DOUBT ABOUT YOUR NEXT PLAY YOU ALWAYS PLAY ANY BIAS C OR CC POSITION. THIS CAN ONLY BE LEARNED IN PRACTICE. In 42 spins, six hits in position CC3 is very, very unusual!! Two and three and some times four is the most you will have in a single position in 37 spins. Your numbers had 21 possible hits and 21 outright losers. To learn it is a good idea to chart in multiples of 37 or 74 spins. If you average 18 hits in 37 spins, then all 18 positions should have one hit; and for each position that hits more than one time there will be a blank position for every extra hit in other positions. Charting 74 spins with an average hit of 36 spins, each blank position will have two hits, but for the extra hits you will have some blank positions and some with only one hit.
Now there is an important lesson in the chart below: you must always play both C and CC low positions 1, 2, 3, and 4 because the next time in might have 9 hits playing C and only 4 hits playing CC. And the same thing goes for C and CC high positions 6, 7, 8, and 9. Both of these might have 9 or 4 hits in 42 spins. So at all times you must be always choosing from all high and low C and CC positions, but you do not treat them all equal. Now positions CC 1, 2, 3, and 4, starts out with an obvious CC bias so you play it about 65% of the time. When in doubt about your next play you always play any bias C or CC position. This can only be learned in practice. The chart below has six empty positions but has 9 extra hit; this is because you had charted 21 possible hits in 42 spins instead of only 18 possible hits in 37 spins. Studying many charts you will see why you should play C and CC high and low positions. (ROLETJACK).

Excerpts from the book Square Ro-let and Jack’s notes on winning roulette

OBSERVED PATTERN

From charting actual roulette spins, we know that a single number which comes up one time in 38 spins might not show up for four or five hundred or more times. Now a two-spin repeat also comes up one time in 38 spins; but it is very seldom that another double will not come up again within 150 spins. What are we to make of this? It is obvious that we are dealing with different patterns from the identical probability of coming up one time in 38 spins. In mathematics when we have the answer, we can sometimes determine the obvious question. The answer is that after a two-spin repeat about 66% of the time another one will come up within 38 spins; and 23% of the time it takes 76 spins; and 10% of the time it takes 77 or more spins. This means that when a two-spin repeat hits and you start playing a series for another one to hit for exactly 38 spins, you will win two series and lose one series. However, do not use your time and energy to use this information to try to beat the wheel, as there is a hidden factor that is not obvious at first glance that makes the gain (if any) so small and the investment so large that it is a waste of time.

INTEGRATING TWO PATTERNS

The question is why do two-spin repeats and single numbers that both have a probability of coming up one time in 38 spins vary so much in their pattern of hitting and not hitting? The explanation: on an average, 14 numbers do not show up in 38 spins. That means that 14 numbers are showing up more than they should. The more times a number appears in 38 spins, then the more likely it will repeat in two spins. Another thing, in repeats in two spins, all 38 numbers have a probability of coming up; whereas when we are dealing with a particular number it might not show up in four or five hundred spins. By charting both of them, we can see that the two are entwined and affect the pattern that results in 66% of two-spin repeats occurring again within 38 spins, thus creating clusters of two-spin repeats. (This long explanation of two-spin repeats is not a waste of time to those who wish to understand the fact that in roulette hitting a number one time in 38 spins can produce different patterns than hitting two-spin repeats one time in 38 spins. But this information can be entirely ignored by those who wish to learn Jack’s Positional Roulette.)

LOOKING BACKWARDS

I cannot go back and retrieve the convoluted thinking I used to develop my “positional roulette” program, but I can say that all conclusions were entirely based on analyzing charted empirical evidence. Early in my empirical studies of roulette, I had produced my double-zero roulette card with the single-zero incorporated as red, low and odd and the double-zero wheel as a black, high and even number. Using reasoning, I came to the conclusion that the roulette ball had or has no idea that the two particular slots (the two zeros) of a 38 slots roulette wheel should be treated differently; and empirical mathematical charting confirmed this.

WHAT IS A POSITION?

If you examine a double-zero roulette wheel, you can observe that it has 38 numbered slots and each number in each slot remained in a fixed position. So we have 38 positions in a fixed pattern to work with. Assigning the double-zero slot as black and the single-zero slot as red you have 19 black and 19 red slots (positions) around the wheel. To learn to play “positional roulette” you will be playing red and black using “same as last” spin. When red comes up you will be using the 19 red positions and when black comes you will be using the 19 black positions. Now when you land on a red or black number, you do not play that position (it is neutral), so you only have 18 positions to start your count from. To make it easier to track and extract the information when playing, by design I assigned nine positions clockwise and nine positions counter-clockwise for each color. My final refinement was to break down each of the red and black nine clockwise and nine counter-clockwise positions into high and low. Both clockwise and counter-clockwise, positions 1, 2, 3, 4 are low positions and positions 6, 7, 8, and 9 are high position numbers; position 5 is sometime high and sometime low. Understand: these designations were not an arbitrary decision by me but were needed when playing in a casino to keep accurate track of past positions to allow the player to use positional information to play the next spin.

ADVOCATE

Playing four numbers is not set in stone because you can play and win playing one, two, three, four, five or more numbers straight up and still use my system. Although you are being taught to play the red and black numbers to learn my system, you also can use the categories odd and even and high and low numbers. (Attention: high and low numbers are not the same as high and low positions.) However, until you master the system using four numbers straight up using the red and black category, I suggest you refrain from all experimenting.

ADVANTAGE OF PLAYING THE SAME COLOR

In playing “Jack’s Positional Roulette,” the advantage of playing the same color that just hit will be emphasized over and over again. It is the optimal and correct play to exploit the natural probability of each color hitting 50% of the time, and most importantly, it catches every short and long run in each color. CAUTION: when learning to play “Jack’s Positional Roulette,” please, do not try to guess when the color will change from red to black or from black to red. (August 2002) This statement is still true for those who are trying to learn to play.

PLAYERS WHO HAVE ALREADY LEARNED

All of those players who have emailed me that they are winning playing “Jack’s Positional Roulette” and those who are winning and did not notify me, go to my web site and learn about “Kennedy’s Even Money Bets.” It shows that you can enhance your chances of winning by playing “Positional Roulette” correctly. Playing red and black numbers on single and double-zero roulette wheel, you learned to play using “Same As Last” spin. (This is still the best way to learn.) Now however, you will find that there are four ways to play each of the three categories. They are: “Same As Last” spin; “Different Than Last” spin; “Previous Than Last-Same”; and “Previous Than Last-Different.” Because of the placement of the numbers in each of the three categories (they are all different), the best way to play each category is different. And of course the placement of the single roulette wheel is different than the double-zero wheel, so each of their three category placements is different.

THE ESSENCE OF POSITIONAL ROULETTE

To correctly place your bets use the correct roulette card. To start you do not play the last number you hit, but you do use the color. You always place bets according to what color came up on the last spin; if a red number hit, bet a unit straight up on four different red numbers. On each spin bet four different red numbers until it changes to black. Then put four bets straight up on four different black numbers until red hits again. This is the essence of “Jack’s Positional Roulette” when playing the red and black category. This is all the information you need to learn to blindly play it.

USING INFORMATION

However, if you want information to help pick your four numbers, you need to chart positions. First there are 38 positions (the 38 slots) on a double-zero roulette wheel. Those 38 positions only receive positional status when the previous spin land on one of the 38 numbers. After every spin the number it hits becomes a neutral position that has no positional number attached to it. You always start your position count both clockwise and counter-clockwise from your neutral position. When a red number hits, starting from neutral you have positions one to nine clockwise and positions one to nine counter-clockwise; you only count the 18 red positions. When a black number hits, starting from neutral you have positions one to nine clockwise and positions one to nine counter-clockwise; you only count the 18 black positions. Charting information obtained from breaking the nine red and black clockwise and nine red and black counter-clockwise positions into high and low positions can further enhance your ability to pick your four numbers.

CHARTING

If you are charting your play, you will find that (on the average) in 38 spins, you lose outright 19 spins (50%) and have a chance to hit the other 19 spins (50%). Since you are playing four different numbers per spin, then in 38 spins probability gives you a hit every nine and a half (9.5) spins. On average, in 38 spins you will lose 19 spins at a cost of four units each time, for a total of 76 units. On the other 19 spins you have a probability to hit one of your four numbers at a payoff of 32 to 1 (although you will be paid 35 to 1, just remember playing four numbers straight up has a true 32 to 1 payoff). It is very important to understand: we are not trying to pick four numbers out of 38 numbers, which give you a probability of a hit every nine and a half (9.5) spins. But four numbers out of 19 numbers, which gives you a probability of hitting every four and three quarter (4.75) spins. Betting this way does not change the house odds of 5.26% against you (13.2% if playing four units) So, in 50% of the spins you have four chances to pick one of 19 black numbers or one of 19 red numbers. Four numbers straight up times 19 spins gives you 76 chances to hit one of 19 red or black numbers that wins 32 to 1.

TWO SPIN REPEATS

On a double-zero wheel, once a number hits, it has the same chance to immediately repeat itself as any other number, once every 38 spins (The word “repeat” used here means a number that hits twice within two spins.). And just like a number, two-spin repeats can come up one or two or three or four times in 38 spins or not repeat in over 200 or more spins. With an exception (later noted), in my system, when a number hits, you do not play it to repeat. The reason: it gives you the advantage of eliminating a situation that is not coming up on an average of 37 out of 38 spins; and that situation (a chance to repeat) is not a static or selected number, but a number that changes with every spin. SUGGESTION: you take your four units loss when it hits repeats, because I already account for that loss in my program and it just distracts you from learning “Jack’s Positional Roulette” (“JPR”).

THE EXCEPTION

I am not dogmatic about this when the situation is as follows: if you hit a number and there has been a previous two spin repeat within the last 15 spins, then you leave your bet on the number you hit, because this type of two-spin repeats will usually come in clusters of three or four at a time. (Now, when actually playing my system, when a two-spin repeat hits (probability: one time in 38 spins), you lose four units (not one unit) because you are playing four units on four different numbers straight up. But if you are using one of those four units to play for two-spin repeats, then you can have over a 100 units tied up if two-spin repeats do not show up for 150 or more spins. In my system there is so little you can gain or lose in trying to catch two-spin repeats that you can entirely ignore playing to hit them. When you hit a number just remove your unit from the number you hit. As for me, I just like to play to hit repeats because it’s fun when you guess correctly; however I only play them after I had a hit; I then just leave it on the table for the next spin.

WHY THE SAME COLOR

When, playing four units straight up on four numbers, every time you play the same color and it hits the other color, you lose. From either black to red or red to black, you lose outright each time. But every time it hits the same color twice, you have a chance to win 32 units. Every time it hits the same color three times, you have two chances to win 32 units; four times, three chances; five times, four chances to win 32 units; and on and on until it changes colors. The “Grand Pattern” shows that in 38 spins, you will lose 19 spins outright, but have 19 chances to hit a payoff of 32 to 1. You play the same color because it is the optimal and correct play to exploit the natural probability of each color hitting 50% of the time, and most importantly it catches every short and long run in each color.

TO RECAPITULATE

(Extraneous) Playing “Jack’s Positional Roulette” we have a chance to win 50% of our bets, because 19 spins out of 38 have a chance to hit the same color more than once. On each of those 19 spins, we have four chances to hit 19 numbers (because we counted the single zero as red and the double zero as black, we have 19 red and 19 black numbers). Mechanically putting four units on four different numbers for 19 spins gives an average probability of hitting one of your four hits every 4.75 spins. At a 32 to 1 payoff the four hits give a true payoff of 128 units. We subtract a unit for each hit from our total 152 units lost in 38 spins. Then we get a total loss of 148 units and a win of 128 units for an average loss of 20 units in 38 spins; which gives a loss of 13.2%; which is the correct losing probability when betting four numbers straight up for 38 spins. (For simplicity, at this time, I am completely ignoring that because you are only picking from and playing 18 numbers instead of 19 numbers (you do not play the last number hit), that you actually have a chance of hitting from your 18 possible hits one of your four selections every 4.5 spins.)

AVERAGE WIN

(Extraneous) When playing four chips on four different numbers, to make this a winning system, we need at least five hits instead of four hits in 38 spins. Then at 32 to 1 payoff times five hits (32×5) gives us 160 units and subtract five from 152 gives us minus 147 units; which gives us a 13-unit win or about a 8.5% win. My estimate is that in the long run, I probably average about 5 1/2 hits per 38 spins; which is about a 19% advantage.