Prepare to take a ride on the best and the worst bets you can find at the venerable, now invulnerable, game of roulette. There are some bets at roulette that are actually low-house-edge deals and there are some bets that are just awful, just awful, as in whichever person came up with these bets should spend close to eternity in the fiery pit. Maybe even all eternity. I’ll leave that up to you.
You will be amazed at one area of roulette (coming up in the companion piece to this article) and that area might freeze you the way medusa froze unwary men. We’ll see; or, rather, you’ll see.
Three Roulette Games Are NOW Available: Yes, Three!
There are three basic roulette wheels (games) out there. Yes, those of you who think there are only two types of roulette games are about to be shocked (shocked!) because a third one has snuck its gelatinous mass into the roulette world.
This third game was created by unscrupulous people (they hide in the shadows like specters) who don’t want to give players even a sniff of something delicious; that sniff being a few wins here and there. Sinful, sinful people invented this third game. They will or should be severely punished.
[Please note: I sometimes refer to games as wheels and I sometimes refer to wheels as games. And I sometimes just say bets. Yes, okay, sometimes I am confused.]
We’ll get to that new game at the very end of this two-part article – the very end because the most sinful bets at roulette should come last. The greatest sinners are in the lower level of hell, according to Dante.
The American Double-Zero (0, 00) Wheel
On the American double-zero (0, 00) wheels, the house edge is usually 5.26% except on certain bets (a little later on this).
There are 38 pockets on this wheel, each paying off at 35 to 1, but you can see that the house is shorting the player two bets when the player wins. The fair odds of the American double-zero (0, 00) game are 37 to 1 and the fair payout would be 37 units for a player’s win.
In a fair game even though there are 37 losses for our player (remember that of the 38 pockets, the player has a 1-in-38 chance of hitting the correct pocket), the single win of 37 units would make the game an even contest between casino and player. In such a game, the casino does not have an edge, no edge against the player whatsoever. That no-casino-profit roulette game would ultimately undo your beloved casino as it couldn’t obviously make a profit. No casino profits? No casino. No you playing in the non-existent casino.
By shorting the player those two units of a win the casino creates the roulette edge at the American game of 5.26%. By dividing the 38 pockets into those shortened two units, you then arrive at the house edge of 5.26 percent. (Ah, the magic of math.) This 5.26% covers all the bets at the game (well, kind of).
The European/French Wheel
The great mathematician, scientist and scholar Blaise Pascal created the European/French single-zero (0) wheels. The house edge on that wheel is usually 2.7% (on most bets as you shall see).
Now, good old Blaise (as we aficionados call him) was looking to create a perpetual motion machine. Instead, he wound up creating a great gambling game. That game, so far, has lasted from the mid-1600s to now.
The single-zero game is clearly the better game. With its 37 numbers, the single-zero wheels also pay back 35 to 1 for a winning wager. Go ahead, do it, divide 37 into that one unit, and math-a-magically a house edge of 2.7% appears. Pascal was no dope. Yes, the kids in his neighborhood tortured little Blaise but his invention has made an industry multi-millions of dollars. Those other kids? Who were they again?
The Third Roulette Game
Nah, nah, you’ve got to wait until the very end of this two-part article to discover the horror that is now being visited upon us. The people offering this game, most of them anyway, should know better but are so greedy that they want even more of an edge over the game than they already have.
It is painful for me to even think of this third game and of the rotten people who are pushing it upon us. Shame!
The GREAT Roulette Bets
I am not going to mathematically analyze how these bets create a lower or higher house edge. I do not want to delineate the great bets by mathematizing everything. Trust me on the house edges. If I mathematically go through all the details, I would bore you (and I would bore me too). Suffice it to say, we are entering a new world of roulette play – for great, good, bad, ugly and sinful bets. Take a deep breath, here we go.
The Great Roulette Bets: No. 1
The best bet at roulette can be found on the European/French game (0) on the even-money bets of red/black, odd/even and high/low. These bets are called “even-money” bets because they pay back even money, not because they are 50/50 propositions between the casino and the player. The casino will win 19 decisions and the player will win 18 decisions.
The casino might have a rule called en prison which means that if the green or blue zero hits (sometimes these wheels have a blue zero instead of a green one), the player betting one of those “even-money” propositions only loses half of his or her bet.
The casino will not collect the bet but will allow it to ride for the next spin.
This reduces the house edge from 2.7% to 1.35%. Yes, this becomes one of the very, very best bets in the casino. Only blackjack comes in lower than this. Even the best bets at craps will come in slightly higher! Wow! (Don’t count the odds bets because you need another bet to make it!) We’re talking a major benefit here for even-money roulette bettors.
Sadly, not all European/French games have this rule and many that do will not have a sign on the table to indicate it. In fact, most won’t. What should you do? Just ask! This great bet can be the difference between a close game and a not-so-close game. Asking can’t hurt you, can it? “Sir, do you have en prison on these bets?” (No big deal to ask.)
If you are a high roller, some casinos will offer this bet to keep you playing in their casino. Again, just ask! Casinos can make separate rules for different players. The higher the roller you have the higher chance that you can get some consideration on the games you enjoy playing. Few casino players know that the casino is very flexible at times in its game and/or in their payouts.
Another Great Bet: No. 2
Yes, we are beginning our descent from great great bets to just great but this is casino play and you don’t always have the best given to you at all times in your play. Come on, we all know this.
[Please note: Some critics of casino play think the casinos would be happy to have its players just mail in a check without ever playing. That would be true of just about every business in the world. A movie premiere would make a ton of money if the movie didn’t have to be made or distributed. Same with your local grocery store. Just give them the money and forget about their inventory or regularly eating.]
This next one appears at the American game (0, 00). Again, we are playing one of the even-money bets of red/black, odd/even and high/low where the house will win 20 decisions and the player would win 18 decisions. (The house edge at this game is 5.26%, which is somewhat high, although the game is leisurely.)
The American game will sometimes offer surrender which means the casino will only take half of the player’s losing bet. This reduces the house edge in half, to 2.63%, a somewhat decent house edge from its 5.26% edge. It is always better to have your house edge reduced by half, wouldn’t you say?
Much like the European/French game, most casinos will not advertise that they have this option. Again, just ask. You have nothing to lose by asking for a better game. There are some areas where every casino in a given venue offers this option but you will not see any signs on any roulette tables telling you so.
Coming Down: Just a Regular Edge Here
The European/French game in and of itself is a decent roulette game overall. That 2.7% house edge is not to be sneezed at (at least not into the ear of the person playing next to you).
Just as in the American game, the European/French game of roulette is leisurely. Yes, it is good to play at tables with other players so the game slows somewhat more. Fewer decisions for the players are always a good thing. More decisions are always better for the casino. That’s a good rule to remember: less is good for the player, more is good for the house.
There is one problem with the European/French game in America; you won’t find it in most casinos. In the casinos that have both the American game and the European/French game, the latter one will probably have much higher minimum bets to make sure it makes enough money for the house. Such is casino life.
Next: Sadly, The Ladder Begins Its Arrival
We just stepped off a high ladder and we are beginning to fall a long way to the ground. We are at the American game (0, 00) in its full glory and that glory can be problematic in terms of the resident house edge.
The house edge on the American game is 5.26%. As a house edge that is pretty high and if that were the only thing you had to think about when you are playing this game, well, maybe you shouldn’t play it. But it isn’t the only thing to think about. You can have other thoughts too. Good thoughts.
Roulette, as I have said already, is a leisurely game and it gets even more leisurely when more players are playing than when fewer players are playing. These more players have to make bets and making those bets at a full or semi-full table means some time has to pass to give the bettors time to get their bets out there and for the dealers to collect losing bets. Maybe you can get in 40 decisions an hour. That would be great. The house edge in that case is not so devastating.
Both blackjack and mini-baccarat come in with much faster games and far more decisions per hour. Blackjack can play 100 decisions or even more per hour. Mini-baccarat is a whirlwind of 150 (or more) hands per hour.
While both blackjack and mini-baccarat have very low house edges (mini-baccarat on two of its three bets). Mini-baccarat has a 1.06% edge on the banker bet and a 1.24% house edge on the player bet. Blackjack has about a 0.5% house edge but you can play 100 to 150 bets per hour on both games.
Indeed, roulette actually makes up some ground by being such a leisurely game. The hurt isn’t too bad if you keep the number of decisions somewhat contained. That is a truism to trust.
The Bottom Line
We’ve seen some interesting highlights of the two traditional games of roulette. Blaise Pascal would be happy if he knew you are taking such an interest in his game.
This section does not have outrageous bets. None will scare any roulette player. Why should they? Roulette players love the game.
But our next article? Well, we shall see just how awful some roulette bets can be.
All the best in and out of the casinos!
