Mr J, you are 100% correct in nominating positive progression betting as the way to lose least or even win at roulette. Contrary to general belief it is not the zero which gives the casino the edge (2.7%), but THE TABLE LIMIT. Why else is it there?? Even Mr A. Einstein (the only reference to Roulette I can recall from him) made THIS point.
If you are chasing losses by playing a negative progression (ie increasing after losses) you can do it very gradually by, maybe increasing your bets by a small percentage OR aggressively by doubling or even tripling etc. Either way you are going to end up with many small wins followed by a massive wipeout. With doubling, if you are playing ,say,Black (ie 1 then 2 then 4 then 8 etc if Red keeps coming instead) you will win 1 unit each time it arrives (you lose 1 then win 2 = +1; you lose 1 then lose 2 then win 4 =+1 and so on ) until, after numerous successes you get a long run against you and it's -1,-2,-4,-8,-16,-32,-64,-128,=-255 but you CAN'T BET 256 because the table limit is 250!!! So what next? The limit? If successful you are only -5 but WHAT IF YOU LOSE AGAIN? Now -511 and still at the limit!!
This unfortunate occurence wipes them all out. But if you are doing the opposite: increasing after a win you will EXPERIENCE the opposite as well. Numerous small losses followed by a monster win as you hit the limit but KEEP the casino's money because they won't let you risk your winnings any further!! This is quite contrary to the hopes of the casino; THEY want you to lose BIG and then stop, busted.
Also, of course if you hit the "winning streak" early you can walk away an immediate winner, whereas with the negative progression you win so slowly that you have to stay and stay and stay and stay to get well enough ahead to "call it a day", all the while with the negative run just around the corner. The moral? Be POSITIVE. That's all folks!!!!