Welcome to Excel Highway – Where Spreadsheets Get Smart

Let me tell you a story.
A while ago, I had a question that wouldn’t let go:

“Can I simulate a roulette wheel in Excel—and see if those betting strategies everyone talks about actually work?”

What started as a fun side project became a fascinating deep dive into probability, strategy, and the magic of Excel + VBA. If you’ve ever wondered whether doubling your bet after every loss (a.k.a. the Martingale strategy) really pays off, then buckle up. You’re about to discover how to simulate it with nothing but formulas, buttons, and a bit of code.

🎯 The Goal: Build a Roulette Simulator in Excel

I wanted to build an Excel roulette simulator that could:

• Let users select red, black, or green
• Spin the wheel one time or multiple times
• Apply strategies like doubling the wager on loss
• Track wins, losses, and profit/loss over time
• Visualize what’s happening behind the scenes with real data

In short: an interactive model that mimics real-life roulette gameplay—powered by Excel VBA.

🧩 Breaking It Down: What’s Inside the Excel Roulette Model

My model includes two sheets:

• 🧠 Model Sheet – where you play, tweak settings, and see results
• 🎡 Roulette Sheet – the back-end list of numbers and colors (red/black/green)

Features:

• Dropdown menus to select color
• Initial wager input
• Option to double wager on loss
• Max number of spins
• Max wager limit to avoid runaway losses
• Buttons to spin once or simulate a full cycle

And yes—it tracks every spin.

🔄 Behind the Scenes: How the Roulette Spins Are Simulated

I used a combination of Excel formulas and VBA.

📌 Drop-Down Lists

First things first: data validation is used to create drop-downs for color and strategy choices.

🎲 Random Number Generator

For the spin result, I use:

excelCopyEdit=RANDBETWEEN(0, 36)

A simple but effective way to simulate the ball landing on a number between 0 and 36.

Then, using VLOOKUP, I match that number to its color and determine if the player won or lost.

📈 The Spin Tracker

Every spin gets logged: number, color, result, wager, and running profit/loss. If you toggle the “double on loss” option, the model automatically increases the wager—up to your max.

You can click:

• ✅ Spin Once
• 🔁 Spin Until Max
• 🔄 Clear Spins

Each gives a different flavor of analysis.

💻 VBA Behind the Magic: The Core Macros

1. ClearSpins

Resets your table without removing formatting or formulas.

vbaCopyEditRange("A10:F" & lastRow).ClearContents

2. MassSpin

Loops through spins using the number of times you chose, triggering the SpinWheel function.

3. SpinWheel

The heart of the simulation. It calculates the result, updates the table, and checks if the wager needs to be doubled or capped.

Example logic:

vbaCopyEditIf result = "Loss" And doubleOnLoss = "Yes" Then
    wager = Min(wager * 2, maxWager)
End If

All data gets logged neatly, row by row.

💡 Lessons Learned from the Roulette Simulation

After dozens—okay, hundreds—of simulations, here’s what I learned:

• The Martingale system works… until it doesn’t.
  If you hit a long losing streak, your bets balloon fast.
• The house always has an edge.
  Even in simulations, the odds catch up to you.
• Excel is a playground for probability and risk modeling.
  You can analyze any strategy, tweak assumptions, and see how your bankroll fares over time.

🎥 Watch It in Action

Want to see the whole process in action?

I go step-by-step through the Excel file, from building drop-down lists to coding the VBA modules.

📥 Download the File

If you’d like to try it yourself, you can grab the template here

💬 Final Thoughts

This Excel VBA roulette simulator isn’t just a fun project—it’s a great way to explore concepts like randomness, risk management, and probability theory. Whether you’re learning Excel VBA or just curious about betting strategies, this tool gives you a hands-on way to test your hunches.