Winning Roulette

Tips, tricks and strategy to winning roulette

Introduction

Roulette is a very popular game that has attracted millions of players over the years and it is relatively easy to learn. It is a game of chance and can be played at a very leisurely pace whilst giving all the excitement of the game. Two positive sides of roulette is that it is a very widely available game in casinos and it has a wagering options that exist in no other games, including some you can create to suit your preferences.

Roulette offers a great variety of betting options anywhere from even-money to 35-1 and bets can be made in overlapping fashion with the same numbers covered in several ways. Although there are various ways in which you can wager, roulette remains an easy game to play. The only skill required is deciding how much and on which number(s) to bet. Like in all gambling, if you want to win at Roulette you must rely on both luck and strategy.

The house edge for American roulette is 5.26% higher than baccarat. Roulette is played on a wheel having 38 compartments. American wheel has eighteen red numbers, eighteen black plus two extra numbers, the 0 and 00 which are in green. With 36 numbers in the wheel, half will be odd and the other half even, half will be in the lower tier(1-18) and the other half in the higher tier (19-36).

The red numbers are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27,30, 32, 34 and 36. The black numbers are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33 and 35. The wheel spins counter-clockwise while a little white ball rolls in the opposite direction. The ball drops into one of the slots and that is the winning number. European roulette has the same number of red and black numbers, but only one green. This reduces the house edge to half.

THE SIX INSIDE BETS:

Straight Up: Pays 35 to 1. Put your wager on any number from 1 to 36, or 0 and 00. True odds would have 37 to 1; consequently, the house edge is 5.26%. This edge is constant for all bets in the double-zero game, with the exception of the five-number bet. When you find a single-zero game, the house edge is reduced to 2.70%.

Split Bet: Pays 17 to 1. Place your bet on the line between any two numbers. There are 62 possible two-number bets.

Street Bet: Pays 11 to 1. A street bet covers three numbers. To choose a row of 3 numbers position your bet on the line that separates the "inside" and "outside" areas.

Corner Bet: Pays 8 to 1. To make this bet, place your wager at the intersection of any four numbers. There are 22 of theses possibilities and you win if one of the four numbers is hit.

Five Bet: Pays 6 to 1 with the casino edge jumping to 7.89%. This bet is not available on a single-zero game. The bet can be made in one place and covers five numbers: zero, double zeros, one, two and three. Don't make this bet! It's the worst bet on the table giving the casino advantage an extra 2 ½% advantage!

Line Bet: Pays 5 to 1. This bet is placed between two three-number rows on the line that divides the "inside" and "outside" fields. A line bet covers all the numbers in either for a total of six.

THE FIVE OUTSIDE BETS:

Column Bet: Pays 2 to 1. When a chip is placed in one of the spots marked "2-1" at the bottom of the number columns, you are betting on all the numbers above it, a total of 12 numbers. (Neither the zero nor the double zero are covered by any of the columns.)

Dozen Bet: Pays 2 to 1: Choose between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd twelve. You're betting on numbers 1 to 12, 13 to 24, or 25 to 36 respectively.

Red/Black, Even/Odd, High/Low: These are even-money bets. Please note that the zero and double zero are not covered.

Red / Black. Pays 1 to 1. To make a wager on all the Red or Black, place your chip(s) on the red or black designated box.

Odd / Even: Pays 1 to 1. There are 18 of each. Chips placed in either the Even or the Odd box cover all the eighteen corresponding numbers and if you win, you are paid even money.

High / Low: Pays 1 to 1. Place a bet on all the eighteen low numbers (1-18)or all the eighteen high numbers (19-36) as indicated in the box and if you win, you are paid even money.

Payoffs - Casino Advantage at Roulette, Double Zero

Wager 1 number 2 numbers 3 numbers 4 numbers 5 numbers 6 numbers Dozens Columns Red/Black Odd/Even 1-18 or 19-36

True Odds 37 to 1 36 to 2 35 to 3 34 to 4 33 to 5 32 to 6 26 to 12 26 to 12 20 to 18 20 to 18 20 to 18

Actual Payoff 35 to 1 17 to 1 11 to 1 8 to 1 6 to 1 5 to 1 2 to 1 2 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1

House Edge 5.26% 5.26% 5.26% 5.26% 7.89% 5.26% 5.26% 5.26% 5.26% 5.26% 5.26%

Payoffs - Casino Advantage at Roulette, Single Zero

Wager 1 number 2 numbers 3 numbers 4 numbers 6 numbers Dozens Columns Red/Black Odd/Even 1-18 or 19-36

True Odds 36 to 1 35 to 2 34 to 3 33 to 4 31 to 6 25 to 12 25 to 12 19 to 18 19 to 18 19 to 18

Actual Payoff 35 to 1 17 to 1 11 to 1 8 to 1 5 to 1 2 to 1 2 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1 1 to 1

House Edge 2.70% 2.70% 2.70% 2.70% 2.70% 2.70% 2.70% 2.70% 2.70% 2.70%

En Prison Rule

In certain casinos and in particular Atlantic City, when betting on even-money propositions, the player has an additional option which is very beneficial to the player. This option is known as the en prison rule. If the player makes one of the even-money waging bets and 0 and 00 is the next outcome, the player has two alternatives:

a)The player can "imprison" the bet. This means the bet stays where it is. Then if the bet wins on the next spin, the bet is returned to the player.

b)Or the player may surrender half of the bet. The en prison option lowers the house advantage to 2.7%.If you are playing the European Roulette which has one green, the 0, and with the en prison rule, the house edge is reduced further to a respectable 1.35%.

Casino Advantage

As mentioned above if you are playing the Amercian Roulette with no en prison rule, the casinos will enjoy an advantage of 5.26% over you. What does that mean? To answer this question, it is best to illustrate with an example. Let's say you are a $5 bettor playing, Roulette. The Roulette wheel spins about forty times each hour. At $5 wager, you are betting a total of $200 every hour. And if we multiply $200 by the casino advantage of 5.26%, you would expect to lose $10 every hour and if you play for 10 hours a day you could expect to lose $105. You may well win $300 the first four hours, lose back $250 the next three hours and then lose another $150 on the next three hours. Any combination of winning and losing is possible and because of the generous advantage you give to the casino, if you play long enough you are expected to lose because this is a negative expectation game.

Strategies and Systems at Roulette:

Because of the high house edge of 5.26% at the American Wheel, this is not a game you might want to play for serious money. The house advantage is very strong and quite difficult to overcome in the long run. Therefore, if you have to play this game, treat it as a game for fun and don't get carried away in the excitement of the moment. If you are lucky to win, leave the table with your winnings. If you stay too long at the table, the generous advantage you give to the casino will soon grind you down.

What Bets to Make

If you are playing at a standard American table with the 0 and 00 then all your bets will give the house the same advantage of 5.26% with the one notable exception - the inside bet at the top of the layout, referred to as fiveline and this carries a 7.89% vigorish. The higher the odds the more likely you will lose. The lower the odds, you will have more chances of winning. Thus if you bet only on single numbers, the payoff is 35 to 1 for a win, but the odds are 37 to 1 stacked against you.

On the other hand , if you bet on the even-money choices, the odds against winning on these are 20-18 . You have 20 numbers, including the 0 and 00,working against you. Theoretically you should win 18 out of 38 times, a better proposition than 1 out of 37 times when betting a straight-up. Howeve the payoff is only even money. Then again, you might like the 2-1 outside bets. where the payoff is 2 to 1. Or if you prefer the odds-on wagers, you could play two of the 2-1 bets together and get really good coverage and a good chance to win but the payoff for this combination which covers 24 numbers, is only 1-2 (ie you are betting 2 chips for a profit of 1 chip). Therefore you must use your discretion when making your bets. Are you the aggressive type that wants to take a shot at a big winning, or are you the conservative type not wanting to take a big risk but prefer to conserve your betting capital and hope to be a little ahead at a time? The choice is yours, the odds are the same as far as the house edge goes.

There are ways to compromise. Roulette offers many ways to create bet returns of your liking. You can play numerous inside bets that pay 35-1, 11-1, 8-1, and 5-1 to name a few and you can make six-number bets and cover a large of variety of numbers and still get a good payoff. You can bet on an auspicious number, or a hunch on certain numbers, and bet it straight-up or a split, surrounding it with a corner. If you prefer favourite odds, you could spread chips all over the board, covering eighteen numbers or more. All kinds of possibilitie are available at the roulette table. The discretion is yours.

When playing at a table that has en prison rule, then by all means concentrate on the outside bets that pay even money such as red or black, odd or even, or the lower-tier numbers (1 to 18) or the upper-tier numbers (19 to 36). They can cut the house edge in half, and why not take advantage of this ? The same holds true when betting in a European game. Bet on the even-money choices where there is en prison rule as this reduces the house edge further.

Betting Systems

The most well-known , and the most notorious systems to play are the Martingale and the Grand Martingale. Martingale system involves doubling the bet size on losses to the point where the next win would yield a one-unit profit. If you keep losing, keep doubling. When you win the betting cycle is consumated and you regress to the amount you started with. The Martingale is simple and you need to win one bet and you are a winner.

The Martingale is often played by novices who feel that sooner or later their choice is going to come up, and based on the theory of equilibrium, they start to rationalsie their bet. This theory is based on the belief that all things will eventually balance out or even-up. For example, if you flip an unbiased coin long enough, an equal number of heads or tails is bound to appear. Nothing can be further from the truth. Based on this theory if one side has a winning streak, say "black" has hit 20 times in a row, "red" is now due and must invariably appear to achieve that equilibrium. What they don't understand is that there is no theory of equilibrium. There is the law of large numbers, which roughly states that the more events played the closer to the theoretical norm will be the result. If you take a million spins (excluding the zeros), black may appear 520,000 times and red 480,000 times and red stll has a long way to catch up. It may never catch up, but will come closer to the 50% norm as more spins of the wheel are played.

Here's how the Martingale system works. It's really nothing more than a doubling up system. After a loss, you double your bet till you win. For example, let's suppose you bet $1 and you lose. You now bet $2, You lose. Your bet is $4 and you lose. You bet $8 and win. Having won, you start all over again with a $1 wager. What if you lose? Your first bet is $1. Then go to 2-4-8-16-32-64-128-256-512 and finally $1024. Financing those bets cost over $1,000 just to manage a $1 profit at the end. Imagine betting $1024, just to manage a profit of $1 and only if you win. But that is what this system is all about.

If the Martngale is treacheorus, the Grand Martingale is even more deadly. After each loss you add a unit to the bet. But the loss sequence is $1, $3, $7, $15, $31. $63, $127, $255, $511 and so forth, and this can lead to astronomical loss in a very short time. Both the Martingale and Grand Martingale systems are not a good long-range way to play. There is also this to consider: when a streak occurs, as they do, the Martingale or Grand Martingale player is making minimum bets. But when a cold streak occurs, he is escalating his bets and this can prove to be disatrous.

If you want to play a betting system, you may want to play a conservative one. The Mini-Martingale is less destructive, because it is limited to three stages. For example, you might bet $1 and if that loses, bet $2. If that loses, you bet $4. If you don't win at the third level, write off the series and start all over again. A full series cost $7 at the $1 table. At the $5 level, the series is 5-10-20 and costs $35. The snag is that you have only three chances to win and it will take seven wins to compansate for one series loss. Of course you are not going to win big money but at least you won't be losing your bankroll with one bad run of luck.

Since roulette is a leisurely game where you can sit down comfortably and make bets between spins of the wheel without much pressure, we suggest that you buy 40 chips of $1 and have fun playing, hoping by luck to make some money.

Therefore, our best advice would be to play some favourite numbers, make some corner bets and perhaps a few even-number wagers. Enjoy yourself.

With some luck, you could win big.

Money Management

This is always important in gambling. It means managing your gambling stakes so that it can give you a good shot at winning (whilst capping your loss) and at the same time provide some fun. For purposes of playing roulette, we suggest getting two stacks of chips only if you can afford to take the risk. Now you have 40 chips to bet. Risk no more than 40 $1 chips. By limiting yourself to relatively small bets, you will never get badly hurt.

Divide the 40 chips over 8 spins betting 5 chips at each spin spread over five numbers. Repeat the same bet until you win; you have enough chips to last for 8 spins. Pick any five numbers you like wedding anniversaries, repeat numbers, birthdays or any other favourite dates that come to mind. If you hit a winning number your pay-off is 35 to 1 and you are off to a great start. If you hit twice in a row, you are coming to the end of your session. Play with the remaining chips and do not forget to "lock" away some of your profits.

Never bet more than what you can afford to lose, and always quit when you have won as much as you set out to win - such as 80% of your stake. Start cautiously, until you know exactly how the game works and you feel confident.

And bear in mind that there is a huge difference between knowing how to play and knowing how to win. Casinos want you to know how to play the games and they will even teach you how to play BUT they won't help you win !! Losing is not fun! Winning is fun !! So don't let your gambling reach a stage where losing is fun !! Therefore learn to be satisfied with any sort of win because winning beats losing anytime. And lastly, do not be greedy.

Always remember that no betting system is infallible, that’s why we suggest you don’t risk more than 40 chips.

Good Luck!

If you like to play Roulette, you will undoubtedly benefit more by reading:-

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