Notice that the American wheel has two zeroes. This is important as it doubles the advantage for the casino. On a European wheel you would expect to lose, in the long run, 2.7% of any money you bet with. On an American wheel you can expect to lose 5.26% (if you are interested in the mathematics of roulette.
Casino games appeal to a percentage of the population that sees any game involving prizes as a challenge. People who think they can win at roulette using a secret system are the same sort of people who buy lottery systems. Winning at roulette requires nothing more than luck. There’s no sure way of winning at roulette.
Roulette Winning Strategies
Roulette is a negative expectation game. That means that over time, if you play long enough, you will lose money. All casino games, roulette included, stack the odds against the players. They do this by making sure they pay out at odds that don’t equal your odds of winning. For example, a bet on a single number at the roulette table pays out at 35 to 1. That sounds like a large win, but since the odds of winning are 37 to 1, the player is getting the worst of it.
This is why roulette winning strategies, the kind advertised in eBooks and on sham roulette advice websites, always fail in the long run. The casino makes its money back thanks to the built-in advantage of the rules of roulette.
An Easy Way to Double Your Roulette Bankroll
The best way to double your money in a negative expectation game like roulette is to bet your entire bankroll once, on an even-money bet. In roulette, this means betting on red or black, even or odd, or high or low. You have a 47.36% chance of doubling your money on that one bet. The casino has a 52.64% chance of winning your money.
This is still a negative expectation bet, but you’re more likely to double your bankroll this way than if you made ten separate bets. When the odds are in the house’s favor, the more bets you make, the more likely it is that the house edge will chip away at your bankroll and leaving you a loser.
To keep things simple, let’s suppose you have a $500 bankroll, and you make one bet on black. Let’s also assume that your buddy makes two bets of $250 each. Which one of you is more likely to leave the casino with $1000 in his pocket?
For your buddy to double his money, he has to beat the odds twice. You only have to beat the odds once.
Roulette Winning Numbers
Why Roulette Systems Fail
Endless online books and systems exist promising to teach you roulette gambling systems that give you an advantage. No betting system can affect the game’s odds. Roulette wheels are set up to return cash to the casino, and no system of betting or manipulating your wagers changes that.
Most roulette systems assume that a big losing streak is unlikely. The reality is that the odds of losing your bet seven or eight times in a row are only about 1 in 100. Play 100 roulette session, and you’ll probably lose eight bets in a row.
Roulette systems that teach you to hedge your bets by making them smaller and smaller when you lose are flawed mathematically as well. Roulette’s rules are set up in such a way that this style of betting puts you at a disadvantage. That’s because the math that gives the casino an edge is applied consistently no matter how many times you play. Every single wager on roulette faces the same odds of losing your money, so making smaller bets in response to a loss is counter-productive.
You can’t change your mathematical advantage over the casino. Roulette is entertainment, so concentrate on making the game more entertaining. Pace yourself, don’t bet outside your comfort zone, and avail yourself of free drink and food offers from the casino. You’ll have a better time on the floor and the entertainment value of the cash you lose at the roulette wheel goes up.
Bet Maximums and Roulette Winnings
Roulette is a negative expectation game, which is the main reason for strict bet maximums at roulette tables. Roulette wheels make more money and stand to cost the casino less when players spread their wagers out on multiple smaller bets.
Bet maximums protect casinos from big lucky bets. If a guy walks in and bets $1 million on red, the casino has a 48% chance of paying that bet off. It will take a lot of time, players, and bets to win that money back.
Bet maximums in roulette are another reason why some betting systems don’t work.
Winning At Roulette Best Numbers
Winning at Roulette in Las Vegas
Unlike casinos in Atlantic City, Europe, or at tribal gaming sites, Las Vegas casino roulette games are a little tougher to beat. The main reason why Vegas roulette games are tough to beat is that few Vegas casinos offer European-style roulette wheels.
Roulette Casino Free
You can find single-zero European-style roulette games at a handful of other casinos, like the Las Vegas Hilton and Paris, but these European games are altered with other rule changes that give the casino essentially the same advantage as the American style game. The standard edge on American games is 5.26% for most bets, about twice as much as the European style game, that offers around a 2.7% edge to the casino.
The only real way to win at roulette is to play the right kind of game (a European single-zero wheel), avoid betting strategies that don’t work, and to try to enjoy yourself while you play. Drink the free booze, look at the beautiful people, and if you’re lucky, you may even win a few bucks at the roulette wheel.