On French Roulette the table is bigger, while American Roulette is usually played on a smaller table. Furthermore, when a winning number is revealed on French Roulette, it’s displayed with the help of the Rateau. On the other hand, croupiers that host American Roulette tables use a Dolly, which is a small metal figure. Probabilities in.
Roulette is a classic table game whose origin dates back to the 17th century when this game was played in Italy. Even though roulette is commonly associated with France since the term means “wheel” in French, it was actually first played in the land of pizza and pasta. One of the reasons why roulette managed to stay so popular for so many years is its pretty low house edge. Furthermore, players have numerous betting options on the elegant roulette table as well as many odds that add a unique thrill every single game session. Roulette as a game can offer hours of entertainment and huge prizes, plus it suits players that want to take high risks just like it suits players that want to take it slow. All these features give roulette an irresistible charm that attracts a huge number of players wherever the game is offered. On our page readers will find all probabilities, strategies, systems and tips for the amazing game of roulette.
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Probability Of Winning Formula
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French Roulette Game Rules
French Roulette is a variant that is most commonly played in Europe. The reason why French Roulette is preferred by so many players is its low house edge, which is actually the lowest in comparison to other variants such as the European or the American one. Just like all other roulette games, French Roulette is played on a table which features the recognisable green roulette layout as well as a roulette wheel. French Roulette layout features numbers from 0-36 painted in red or black; the only exception is the zero field which is green. Additionally, the layout offers various betting opportunities such as black, red, odd and even fields that are next to the number area. The roulette wheel, on the other hand, consists of a rotatable disc with red and black slots on which all the numbers from the layout are written. Plus, there’s a small white ball that determines the winning number by landing in its slot once the wheel stops rotating.
Roulette has very extensive game rules and therefore we’ll only give you the general idea of how it’s played. The main objective of the game is to guess which number and/or colour will be the winning one by placing your bet on the appropriate field. For example, if you believe that 26 is going to be the winning number, you place your chips over the 26 field on the layout and wait for the outcome. The phases of the game are as it follows: placing bets, spinning the wheel, determining winning bets, removing losing bets, paying out and calling for bets for the next round. It has to be noted that when the dealer spins the wheel, he or she throws the ball in the opposite direction of the spinning of the wheel.
Chances at Winning on Roulette
Many roulette fans are worried when it comes to roulette probability, even though roulette probabilities are not even hard to calculate and follow. Roulette is a game of chance, completely unpredictable; each and every spin is unrelated to the spin before or the spin after. Therefore, even though the ratio of hitting black/red or odd/even in hundreds of days is stabilised at approximately 50:50, you can never be sure what the next outcome is going to be. For example, in one 100-session night there can be only 30 black hits and 70 red, whereas the next night the situation can be completely opposite. If you’re interested in finding out more about different roulette strategies and systems you can browse our site. When it comes to the game’s odds, they seem complicated because of the wide range of betting options. However, once you learn them, you’ll see how interesting game roulette is.
1. Simple Chance:
Simple chance bets, or better known as even paying bets, are the most popular among new players as well as among players that use progressive strategies. These bets have the highest odds of winning since they include 18 out of 37 numbers in total (zero included). By a simple calculation, you can see that the winning chance is almost 49% (48.6) and that’s the best one you can get on roulette tables. There are three different types of even paying bets and those are by colour, by type and by group. The payout for all this payout is even i.e. the players gets a prize exactly the same as the amount he or she wagered.
The first categorisation according to colour includes 18 numbers placed on black fields and 18 numbers placed on red fields. When players place their bet, they either place it on black or red; then they wait to see whether the ball lands in a black or red slot. Black and red slots are placed arbitrarily on the wheel, but the numbers printed on them are not in a correct order like 1, 2, 3 and etc. When placing a black/red bet it’s not important what the winning number is; the only thing that matters is the colour.
The second categorisation is according to number type i.e. odd or even. Similarly, the player places the bet on one of these two fields and waits to see whether the winning number is odd or even. There are 18 odd and 18 even numbers on the layout, thus the chances to hit either are equal. Again, it’s not important what number wins, but what type of a number it is. Therefore, if you bet on even you win regardless whether the winning number is 2, 12, 26 or 30.
The final types of even paying bets with 48.6% odds of winning are low and high. Low numbers are all numbers from 1-18, while high numbers are those from 19 to 36. On French Roulette the low numbers are also called Manque, whereas the high are called Passe. It’s interesting that unlike black/red and even/odd, low/high are not such popular bets among players even though they have exactly the same odds.
2. Dozen and Column Bets:
Betting on one third of the numbers featured on the layout, instead of betting on half the numbers, is known as placing a dozen bet. These bets have lower chances of making you a winner, but, on the other hand, offer better payouts. You can bet that the winning number will belong in the first, second or third dozen i.e. 1-12 (Premier), 13-24 (Milieu) or 25-36 (Dernier). The payout rate for these bets is 2:1; that means that a winning £10 bet earns you a £20 prize.
Very similar to dozen bets are column bets. They also include 12 numbers each; these numbers are featured in column 34, column 35 or column 36. The payout and the winning odds are the same as the one offered on dozen bets. Both types are very popular among players because they include many winning combinations accompanied with a good payout rate.
3. Six Line
Six line bets include a total of six numbers that are featured in two consecutive horizontal lines. These bets are also called transversal bets and when a player wants to place such a bet he or she should point out the first and the last number of the bet. For example, betting on the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 should be announced like “Transversal 1-6.” Naturally, European layout features 37 numbers in total and since only six can earn the player a prize when a six line bet is placed, the chance of winning is pretty low 16.2%. Therefore, the payout is generous 5:1; this means that a £20 winning bet results with a £100 profit.
4. Corner
Besides betting on six consecutive numbers, you can bet on four numbers as well and this bet in roulette is known as corner bet. Because of the low chance of winning that equals 10.8%, corner bets have a lucrative payout of 8:1; bet £10, get £80. Sounds like a pretty good deal right? When placing this bet, players can’t simply choose any four numbers, but numbers that are neighbours on the layout. For example, such numbers are 8, 9, 11 and 12 or 19, 20, 22 and 23. Similarly like announcing six line bets, when corner bet is announced the lowest and the highest numbers are always mentioned.
5. Street and Basket
Obviously, the less numbers are included in a combination, the higher the payout is. Therefore, we came to the third best-paying bets on roulette and those are street and basket. Both of the bets include only three numbers. However, what makes basket special is the fact it has to include at least one of the zero fields. Therefore, if you’re playing on European layout, placing a basket bet means betting on 0, 1 and 2 or 0, 2 and 3. When playing on American layout you can choose between several combinations such as 0, 00 and 2 or 00, 2 and 3. Street bet, on the other hand, includes any three horizontal numbers like 1, 2 and 3 or 13, 14 and 15. The payout for these two bets is high 11:1, while the odds of winning are 8.1%.
6. Split Bet
Just like the name suggests, this bet is split on two neighbouring numbers, It doesn’t really matter whether the numbers are next to each other or one above the other; thus, you can bet on 16 and 17 as well as on 16 and 19. The payout offered to those that place split bets is 17:1 and it’s the second best paying bet offered on the game. Naturally, the chances of winning a split bet are pretty low 5.4%. However, it’s amazing to win £170 with a £10 bet, isn’t it?
7. Straight Up
Well, the last betting option on the inside area of the layout (area with the numbers) is wagering on a single number. This type of bet is commonly known as straight, straight up and plein. The risk of trying to guess the exact number is very high and therefore the odds of winning are low 2.7%; the player tries to guess a single number out of 37 in total (on European layout). Nevertheless, the reward is high and thus if a player places a winning straight bet he or she will profit 35 times the initial bet amount. In other words, a £10 bet can bring you a £350 profit.
The Zero on Roulette
Even though the zero field on roulette seems not as important as the other numbers, it actually has a very special role. Often unnoticed by players, the zero is what makes roulette house edge so high because it adds one extra number and colour that affect all betting options. Because of the zero the winning odds of the even bets, for example, are not 50-50 and the single bet’s odds are not 36:1, but 37:1. The zero decreases players’ chances of hitting a winning combination and makes roulette less favourable towards players.
However, the zero is not present only to build up the house edge of the game. Players can actually bet on this number and win a good prize with payout 37:1. Also, sometimes the zero means a second chance for players if the game is played with the La Partage rule. Namely, all bets are lost when the ball lands on zero. The only exception is French Roulette played with La Partage or En Prison rules that allow players to either keep 50% of their bet or leave it on the table for another round.
Betting in Accordance with the Roulette Wheel
Roulette Probability Statistics
Basic roulette bets and betting opportunities are formed in accordance with the layout. However, experts know that another way of placing bets is by taking into account the numbers’ setting on the roulette wheel. Noticing this, some game developers have even made separate fields on the layout to make it easier for players to place such bets. As we have already mentioned, the numbers on the wheel are not arranged in the correct order and that opens various opportunities to players such as bet on wheel neighbouring numbers, large series, small series, orphans and etc. Find out more about each of these options that many times proved profitable for players.
1. Wheel Neighbours (Voisins)
Just like there are neighbours on the layout, there are neighbours on the wheel as well. When announcing such bets players have to state the central number and then the number of neighbours on either side of the wheel. For example, if you place a bet on 28 with two neighbours, you’re actually betting on 29, 7, 28, 12 and 35. The winning odds as well as the payout rate always depend on the exact number of fields included in the bet. In the situation explained above the player bets on five numbers in total and thus the chance of winning is 13.5%.
2. Zero Game (Jeu 0)
Another popular way of betting on the roulette wheel is placing four bets on zero and six numbers around it. Such game is known as zero game and includes four different types of bets, seven numbers in total and 18.92% chances to win. Split bets are placed on three pairs of the numbers, while one number gets a single bet. The winning amount, in case the ball lands in one of your slots, depends on the type of bet placed over that number.
3. Large Series (Voisins du Zero)
Even though rarely played, large scale made of 17 numbers in total is another betting option to roulette players. Large scale takes nine chips at least; two chips on two corners and one chip on five splits. However, the payout for guessing one of the mentioned combinations is not that big compared to the invested amount; hence the low popularity of the bet.
4. Small Series(Tiers du Cylindre)
Small series is the second part of the large series and therefore includes 12 numbers. A total of six chips are used for completing the small series. This bet is also called the Tiers and includes six split bets; the splits are 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30 and 33/36.
5. Orphans (Les Orphelins)
There are eight numbers on the wheel that are not included in any of the combinations and those numbers are called orphans. Les orphellines, as the French call them, make two slices of the wheel between the Tiers du Cylindre and the Voisins du Zero. Those numbers are 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 17, 34 and 6. Playing the orphans can be made with either eight or five chips, depending on the combinations you want to use.
Other Popular Roulette Bets
We mentioned that one of the top reasons why roulette is such a popular game, which can rarely become boring, is the fact it has numerous betting options. We already explained a good deal of bets that players can place on roulette tables, but don’t be fooled that those were the only one. Finals and Chevaux-finals are two other types of bets preferred by experienced gamblers.
1. Finals
Did you know that many people pick a number from one to nine as their favourite number? Usually, when someone has a favourite number, not only he or she gambles on it, but also on two-digit numbers that end on it. For example, if your lucky number is four, the chances that you’ll want to bet on 14, 24 and 34 are very high. Such bets are called finals because they’re determined by their final number. The number of chips needed for completing a final is either four or three, depending on the number. The chances to win are determined by the number of bets placed, whereas the payout is calculated as it follows: straight up bet payout minus the losing bets.
2. Chevaux-finals
Chevaux-finals are combinations of two standard finals and require a three chip investment. Unlike the standard finals where the bets are straight ups, here the bets are splits. Therefore, a player can complete the 2 finals and 5 finals by placing split bets on 2/5, 22/25 and 32/35. This type of bet covers six numbers out of 37 and thus has odds of winning of 16.2%. The payout is 17:1, but from the winning amount you have to take out the losing chips in order to calculate the exact profit.
American Roulette
American Roulette is a game similar to French Roulette. It’s played on a roulette table and it features a layout and wheel too. However, the crucial difference is in the additional green double zero field that drastically increases its house edge and thus makes it unfavourable towards players. Some other minor differences between American and French Roulette are the table size and the way of pronouncing the winning number. On French Roulette the table is bigger, while American Roulette is usually played on a smaller table. Furthermore, when a winning number is revealed on French Roulette, it’s displayed with the help of the Rateau. On the other hand, croupiers that host American Roulette tables use a Dolly, which is a small metal figure.
Probabilities in American Roulette
The house edge of French Roulette is 1.35% if the game is played with the La Partage rule. European Roulette, which is traditionally played without that rule, has a doubled house edge of 2.70%. American Roulette has even higher house edge of 5.26% because of the additional field. Therefore, it’s usually said that this variant is the worst; even though that’s not true since Mini Roulette has even worse house edge. Nevertheless, players must have this in mind when deciding what game to try. Naturally, the thrill might be bigger when playing a game that is less favourable towards you; however, the risk is bigger as well.
1. Even Paying Bets
Even paying bets such on American Roulette as red/black, odd/even and high/low include exactly the same numbers as French Roulette. The only difference here is that instead of betting on 18 numbers/fields out of 37, you’re betting on 18 out of 38. Therefore, the chances to win are lower and the house edge is higher.
2. Dozens and Columns
Just like there are dozen and column bets on French and European Roulette, players of American Roulette can place dozen and column bets too. Once again, the numbers featured in the dozens and columns are the same; for example, the first dozen is 1-12, while the first column includes all numbers in line with 34. Not surprisingly, the house edge of this bet on American Roulette is higher than the one found on French Roulette and the chances to win are 31.58%. The payout rate is the same nonetheless. Thus, a £10 bet earns players a £20 profit.
3. Straight Up
Obviously, straight up is another betting option offered on all roulette games, American included. There are 38 numbers in total and the players try to guess only one. This means that this bet has even worse odds than straight up bets on French Roulette. Plus, the lower chances to win don’t affect the payout, which is exactly the same as the one on the French variant i.e. 35:1.
The Zeros on American Roulette
Well, we mentioned more than once that there are not one, but two zero fields on American Roulette. They are located on opposite sides of the wheel to each other. Both fields are green, but one of them features two zeros instead of one. This field almost doubles the house edge and increases players’ chances of losing. If the ball lands on either of these two zero fields, they lose their bet if it’s placed on any other field. The American version of the game still has 18 red numbers and 18 black numbers. It is simply the inclusion of an extra zero on the wheel which makes American Roulette less favourable to players in the long run.
Memory of the Roulette Ball
It’s crucial to remember that roulette, any variant, is a completely random and unpredictable game. Many players make the mistake of believing that if the ball landed in black slots several times in a row, it will certainly land in a red one very soon. This belief is known among players as the “Memory of the ball” and it’s completely untrue. Nobody can guarantee that the ball will land on red, odd, high and etc. There can be 10 or 20 sessions when it lands on same colour or even number, just like there can be 10 or 20 sessions when it lands on a different colour each spin. Therefore, you should avoid the Roulette Coups strategy since it can cost you lots of money.
Roulette Compared to Other Table Games
Depending on the selected roulette variant, this game’s house edge can vary from 1.35% to 5.26%. Knowing this, we can easily compare the classic game to other commonly played table games and see whether there are better options than roulette. Baccarat is a game with pretty low house edge of 1.06% on the banker bet, whereas the player bet comes with a 1.25% house edge. Thus, regardless what bet you place, you’re still in a better position than playing roulette. Craps has bets whose house edge is extremely high, but also bets with zero house edge. Therefore, it can be both a better and a worse option than roulette. Finally, another game with low house edge is blackjack played under liberal rules. This variant has a low favourability towards the house of 0.28%.
To sum up, there are some games with a better house edge than roulette. Nevertheless, roulette offers many betting opportunities, good payouts and thrill that can’t be found on any other casino game. Therefore, it’s far from a surprise to see it survive for so many years and staying one of the top picks in land based as well as at online casinos.
Roulette is one of oldest casino games and its origins could easily be traced to more than a millennium ago when various simplified versions of it existed as a form of entertainment. Today, gamblers have access to dozens of betting systems, strategies, and even cheating devices that promise long-term success to those who dare use them. Still, there are only two simple concepts they need to grasp in order to improve their play and their chances of winning and that is the odds and the casino advantage that is built-in in every roulette game.
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Knowing the odds is essential in playing roulette or any other game of chance where players’ decisions have no impact on the outcome of the round. Games of skill, in contrast, typically require at least basic knowledge of the rules and give skilled players the opportunity to improve their chances of winning. Unlike classic casino games such as blackjack or poker where individual actions can significantly change the outcome, roulette is a game of pure chance where the outcome is completely random.
Once players recognize this fact, they can truly understand the nature of roulette and learn how to optimize their play to avoid significant losses on the roulette table. Those who want to be successful in the long term need to learn the basic probabilities in this game and determine how likely to win or lose any given bet is. Moreover, all roulette fans should bear in mind that every bet they place is more likely to lose than to win – this is how casinos manage to always make a profit even with the occasional big wins they have to pay out.
So, what is probability and is there a difference between the true odds in roulette and the casino odds offered to players? These are fundamental questions that need to be answered honestly before gamblers sit around the roulette table.
Probability and True Odds
Often, the terms “probability” and “odds” can be confused by even professional casino players. Although they are, indeed, very similar in terms of their usefulness and relevance to evaluating different roulette bets, the two are quite different – at least theoretically.
First of all, players should know that if fair and unbiased, roulette wheels produce random results with every spin. Each of the numbers is equally likely to win or, rather, equally likely to lose. At the same time, for each number from 0 to 36, there are only two possible outcomes – a win or a loss.
Probability
The probability is the likelihood of any given outcome compared to all outcomes that are possible. Expressed as a number, the probability always exists between 0 and 1 – 0 would indicate that something is impossible to occur, while 1 would mean absolute certainty for the outcome. Even chances, for example, would be expressed as a 0.50 probability. In roulette, we have either 37 or 38 numbers in total, so these are all the possible outcomes.
Let us take the single-zero roulette wheel where for each number, there is only 1 way to win and 36 ways to lose. So what is the probability that the ball will fall on 17 in the next spin, for example? We can calculate it by dividing the number of ways to win by all possible ways – 1/37, which is 0.027. For most people, the probability is easier to understand as a percentage, so we simply multiply the decimal by 100 and we get 2.70%.
True Odds in Roulette
Now that we have established what probability is and how it is determined in roulette, we can compare it to the notion of “odds”. Odds are also used to describe the chance of an event occurring but they compare the number of ways it can occur to the number of ways it cannot occur. The odds of any particular number winning in roulette could be simply displayed as 1:36 or 1/36 where 36 is, once again, the number of ways to lose.
Sometimes, when it comes to expressing the odds of a particular bet in roulette, they would be in reverse, indicating the odds against winning. Using the same example, the odds of the number 17 against winning would be 36:1, or 36 to 1. These are known as “true odds” as compared to what some players refer to as “casino odds”. There is a huge difference between the two terms, but it will be explained in detail in the following section.
To make this even clearer, let us see the odds for probably the most commonly placed bet in roulette – red/black. If we place our chips on red, the probability would be 18 out of 37, while the odds would be 19:18 against us because there would be 19 ways to lose against 18 ways to win. In percentages, the probability would be 18/37 = 0.48648648648, 48.65%.
Casino Odds
When determining whether a roulette bet has good or bad odds, experienced players take into account not only their probability of winning and the true odds but also the potential reward they could bring. Each bet pays out differently, depending on its likelihood of winning – the less likely a given outcome is to occur, the more its potential payout would be. There is a sound logic behind this and in a perfect world where casinos would not have to make a profit, the payout of every bet would be equal to the odds against winning.
Let us take a look at the straight bet in European roulette – the odds against the player here are 36 to 1 (36:1) because as we have already shown above, there are 36 ways for this bet to lose and only 1 way to win. In order to offer a reward that would match the risk, the casino would be expected to pay players 36 to 1. In other words, it would be expected to return the original stake and to pay out winnings that are worth 36 times the amount of the bet.
Casino Odds Additional TipsIn reality, this does not happen, however, and the house gives a slightly lower payout of 35:1 on winning straight-up bets. The idea is that on every winning wager, players pay a small fee to the casino and in this case, it is one unit. The difference does not seem significant but it is how casinos gain their advantage over players – by paying every winner just slightly less than they should have. Over time, this tiny difference makes a large profit for the house and provides a guaranteed income in any possible scenario.
These payouts offered by casinos are sometimes referred to as “casino odds” due to their visible similarity. And while both are expressed as ratios of two numbers, they are never equal – the odds against winning are always slightly higher than the casino odds. The closer the casino odds get to the true odds of any given bet, the lower the advantage of the casino.
Roulette House Edge Explained
Clearly, the payout does not correspond to the true odds of roulette bets. This advantage of the casino over its patrons is called house advantage and can be easily demonstrated with the following example – we bet $1 on the number 17 and win. If given the true odds for this bet (36:1), we would receive our initial $1 stake back plus $36 as a payout. Instead, casinos pay us $35 and the original $1 bet but they keep the $1 difference.
The same concept applies to all bets in the game, which results in an average house edge of 2.70% for single-zero roulette and 5.26% for double-zero roulette. There are several formulas for calculating the house edge but probably the simplest one is the following – we need to subtract the casino odds from the true odds against success and then, to multiply that by the probability of success. So, the formula will look like this:
House Edge = (True Odds – Casino Odds) x Probability
When we substitute with the numbers we have already used for the straight bet, we get – (36/1 – 35/1) x 1/37 = 1×1/37 = 0.02702702702, or 0.027. To express it as a percentage, we multiply by 100 and get 2.70%. Several other formulas exist, but they all eventually come to the same conclusion and percentage for the house edge.
Roulette House Edge Additional TipsWhat this means for the players is that they can expect to lose 2.70% of their wager when playing a single-zero roulette. For every $100 they bet, they would lose on $2.70 on average. Of course, this is a theoretical ratio between the stake and the expected loss but things could be very different in real life. If we place a $100 chip on red, we can either win or lose its entire value. But we cannot win the bet and lose $2.70 at the same time.
So, the house edge can only get closer to reality with hundreds or even hundreds of thousands spins of the roulette wheel. It is a theoretical concept and while this may sound too vague to players, it is a good indicator of how much money they can expect to lose over time. Of course, they might win hundreds of dollars by the end of one gaming session or lose hundreds more in the next one. Still, they are less likely to lose their bankroll if they stick to specific games and bets where the casino has the lowest advantage.
Beating the Odds in Roulette
The idea that by using a complex strategy one could beat the odds in roulette is very popular but equally misleading. There are countless guides, books, and websites dedicated to convincing people that there is a guaranteed method of winning in this game. In fact, various betting systems, often inaccurately called “strategies”, have been developed over the years, as well as ways that would supposedly help players exploit the imperfections of physical roulette wheels and overcome the house edge.
Unfortunately, these methodologies have been repeatedly proven to be inefficient in securing winnings over the long term. Moreover, their short-term usefulness is doubtful and the reason is obvious to most expert-level players – roulette is a game with fixed odds that cannot be changed even with the best strategy. As explained above, the outcome of every spin of the roulette is random and based on probability. The house edge, therefore, also remains the same almost as a proof for the popular saying that the house always wins.
Roulette Strategies
The so-called roulette strategies are, in their essence, betting systems based on a progression where the amount of the stake changes after a certain outcome. Famous methods such as the Martingale or the D’Alembert suggest that you increase your bet after every loss, hoping that, in the end, one winning bet will compensate for all the losses. There are also systems where the bet is decreased, while in others, it remains the same throughout the entire game session. Overall, the idea is to help players minimize their losses or even generate some decent winnings over the long term.
While none of these betting progressions provides a fool-proof way to win, another type of strategies comes with exactly this claim. These strategies are based on the notion that you can increase your chances of winning by covering a large part of the table. Indeed, this sounds logical at first and certain methods even suggest that you should cover much more than 50% of the table. This strategy, however, will be too costly for most players, especially after a few losing spins.
If not used carefully, both betting systems and roulette strategies may “eat up” players’ entire bankroll within a short period of time. Placing neighbor bets or any other type of announced bets could be detrimental to those who are not well prepared to suffer serious losses. In conclusion, even the best methods and combinations of bets cannot aid you in beating the odds and overcoming the built-in casino advantage.
Advantage Play
Some roulette players rely on quite different methods for securing winnings. Known as advantage play methods, these include any strategies that give players either a statistical or a mathematical advantage over the casino. If employed successfully, they can beat the standard roulette odds and even if it is just by a little, it should be enough to provide players with long-term winnings. Unlike the betting strategies and systems described above, advantage play does not revolve around the betting layout but rather, around the wheel.
It can be used in both online and land-based casinos and online, advantage players would try to use special software that records and analyzes the results of hundreds of spins. The aim is to find a pattern in the winning numbers (such as repeating sequences of winning numbers) and then, to use it to make predictions. However, most online casinos nowadays offer roulette games based on RNG (random number generator) so finding patterns would be impossible as the outcome of every spin is random.
When it comes to playing a roulette game with a physical roulette wheel, however, advantage play is much more different. Players who try to use this technique would typically stand by the roulette table for at least 40-50 spins and write down all the winning numbers in the hope that they would be able to spot numbers that come out more frequently than others. In fact, sometimes they observe the wheel for hundreds of spins before they can notice repeating numbers, patterns or some irregularities.
Advantage Play Additional TipsThis method was mostly used in the past when casinos did not have such strict maintenance rules and protocols, while the wheels and other gaming equipment were manufactured in a manner that today would be deemed unacceptable. Players who wish to turn the odds in their favor these days need to be extremely discreet if they plan to observe the wheels before the casino security become aware of them. Exploiting roulette wheels’ bias and imperfections for one’s profit is not usually met with understanding from casinos.
How to Increase Player’s Chances of Winning
There are no reliable ways to actually beat the odds when playing roulette and even if such methods exist, they are neither simple nor acceptable by casino standards. Yet, players can increase their chances of winning by following several basic principles that can be applied to both online and brick-and-mortar casinos.
Roulette Probability Calculator
First of all, choosing a good roulette table is essential and obviously, single-zero roulette games are a much better option than double-zero games, which are mostly offered in casinos across the United States. The house edge in the American-style roulette is twice as high due to the additional sector on the wheel, the green 00. But picking French or European-style roulette variations is just the first step in learning how to maximize players’ expected value.
Second, players should always base their play around wagers with the lowest possible house edge. Of course, the best bets in roulette are the outside bets, which cover large portions of the wheel and require a single chip to be wagered. These include black/red, even/odd, and low/high, where the advantage of the casino is 2.70% while the player’s odds of winning are the highest. It is true that the payouts are not particularly attractive but these bets are less risky options in the game.
When choosing a bet, players need to compare the casino odds to the true odds and find the type of bet where these two as close to each other as possible. Often, the most attractive payouts are offered for bets which the casino pays much less than their actual worth. As a general rule of thumb, players should remember that the less risk they take, the less they can expect to win. All the good payouts, however, come with exceptionally bad odds and require a great tolerance for risk.