Blog Posted on 04/03/2020 | Author: Karen Macarthur
Does Mathematics have the Upper hand in Roulette odds?
Roulette is one of the most popular games in the present times and is liked by all players who indulge in online gaming. One of the most important concepts of this game is the house edge. Finding out what is the house edge one is important, specifically when it comes to the choice of the Roulette variation. Successful Roulette players are capable of calculating the likeliness of the win with a particular bet with the help of simple probability. To get the maximum out of your game, it is important to understand how much you can expect to win with your bets and the house edge you have to fight against at that Roulette table.
Knowing the Roulette odds of an outcome helps the player make educated guesses while making a bet. In this article, you will learn about the different bets and strategies against the house edge on each bet. If you want to be a successful roulette player, you have to understand these principles and be good at calculating your odds at winning.
The House Edge
A quick introduction, the house edge is the percentage of the winnings that go to the casino as a commission. The house edge is in every game you play and is built into the winning payouts.
In games like the Roulette, the house edge remains more or less the same, regardless of the bet. The only exception to this is on the American Roulette table where the 5-number bet for the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 is accompanied by a huge house advantage of 7.9%.
As per the house edge, the Roulette odds are somewhere in the mid-range. Here zero is what gives the house its advantage. Here, the zero is considered neither red nor black, but it is also not high/low or odd/even.
The most popular game of Roulette is the one with the European rules. The game with a single zero. There are 18 red numbers and 18 black numbers spread on the wheel, and one green zero, giving the house an edge of 1:37, or 2.7%.
One of the advantages of roulette odds is its comparatively low house edge. There are plenty of variations of Roulette that are found online, and many even give bonuses which change the house edge, but there are three types of house edge which are important to be known:
European Roulette: 2.7%
American Roulette: 5.26%
French Roulette (with La Partage and En Prison): 1.35%
The reason for this is that the American Roulette has 2 zeros, so there is a 2/38 probability of zero as the outcome, hence, twice the house edge.
In many French versions, there are two more rules, the En Prison and the La Partage. The La Partage rule means the casino will return half of the bet back to you if zero comes up. And whenever En Prison is applied, and zero comes up, the croupier will put a marker next to the player’s chips to show that the money on the stake is “imprisoned” for the next coup.
Hence, the player is then given a second chance to win with their bet money. If the player loses, the bet money is lost.
This is why in Roulette odds; you will always lose money in the long term. Because Mathematics puts the house at an advantage in the long term. The more time you spend at the Roulette table, the more you end up losing to the casino. And all the casinos would want you to play longer and longer. There is no strategy that can help you escape the Roulette odds or the house edge in the game of Roulette, or any other casino game for that matter.
The world of probabilities and chances is full of nuances, but it is also important to understand Mathematics and the Roulette odds, when you involve yourself in gambling, no matter what the game is. While understanding the workings of principles, probabilities will work in your favor, it will never bestow you with divine powers of prediction. However, you can still take calculated risks and make your odds better in case of certain bets and games. This is the only advantage a player can ever get in this game of luck.
The most crucial thing is to decide what bets to place as per the Roulette odds. Best of luck!
