Rollin' with Roulette
You rarely find any gaming house that doesn't have other games as well, but roulette is still a big one in terms of attractiveness, style, and atmosphere. The house edge on this game is a big one, too: 5.26 percent in America, where the double-zero wheel is used.
The highest payoff is on single numbers at 35 to 1, down to even money on the side bets - red-black, odd-even or high-low. You may also bet on two numbers, which pays 17 to 1; three numbers, which pays 11 to 1; four numbers at 8 to 1; even the five-numbers bet - 0; 00; 1; 2; and 3, where the standard house edge goes up to 7.86 percent.
Six numbers (also known as a double street bet) is actually a better bet, at 5 to 1, and 12 numbers, either in columns or in order, pays 2 to 1.
In Europe, where the house advantage is less than half of what it is in the U.S., because of the single-zero European wheel, roulette is hugely popular.
Most systems to beat roulette are European in origin, and depend on the 37-slot wheel, and the possibility of the en prison bet on even money bets, where the wheel comes up with a zero.
If you've bet your money on one of the three even-money side bets, your money is put "in prison" when the roll is zero, instead of being raked in by the house.
If you win your original bet while in prison, you get your stake back, to try again or remove it from the table - your choice.
It may be that these additional chances or advantages to the player seem so much more attractive that they account for the increased favor that Europeans bestow on roulette; or it may be just a matter of fashions varying from continent to continent.
Whatever the reason, roulette falls behind craps and blackjack in popularity in American casinos.
The fact is, however, that much more is actually lost at the roulette table, and at all the others, too, than the house edge would predict. Casinos don't expect to make six percent of what's bet at their roulette tables, they expect about 2 percent.
They get it, too, year after year, regardless of who the players are. It's the extra 14 percent that makes casino owners rich, instead of just moderately prosperous.
Where does it come from? It comes from foolishness and misunderstanding, on the part of the players. For the most part, this consists of not knowing when to quit, playing the sucker bets (such as the five-number bet at roulette) and betting heavier when you're losing to recoup your losses.
If you do any of these things, you're contributing to that very comfortable margin over the mathematical advantage that casinos win every year.