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Introduction
Roulette is one of the easiest game to play and understand
in the casino. As usual, however, the easier a game is to understand
the greater the house edge, and roulette is no exception. If you
must play roulette you would be well advised to seek out a single
zero game. If you must play double zero roulette just stay away
from the 0,00,1,2,3 combination which has the highest house edge.
Rules
Roulette is played with a wheel with 37 or 38 numbers.
The numbers 1 to 36 are each on the wheel as well as a zero and
usually a double zero. Half of the numbers from 1 to 36 are red
and the other half are black. After giving the players some time
to place their bets the dealer will spin the wheel and spin a
ball in the opposite direction. Eventually the ball will slow
down and land in one of the numbers on the wheel. After the ball
lands the dealer will mark the winning number on the table, collect
losing bets, and pay off winning bets.
In roulette every player has their own color chips.
You can specify the value of each chip when you buy in. Usually
the value of each chip is set so that when you start you have
a stack of about 50 to 100 chips although you can specify the
value and number of chips you want to buy.
There are a host of different bets you can make,
most of which have the same house edge. If there were no zeros
on the wheel all of the bets would pay fair odds, except of course
those on the zeros. It could be said that it is the zeros that
give the house its edge and are often thought of as the dealer's
numbers, despite the fact that the player can bet on them.
The following table shows all the various bets, their
payoff, probability of winning, and house edge for a double zero
wheel. In the case of single zero games the payoffs are the same
but the house edge is always 2.70%.
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Double zero roulette |
| Bet |
Pays |
Probability |
House edge |
| Red |
1:1 |
47.37% |
5.26% |
| Black |
1:1 |
47.37% |
5.26% |
| Odd |
1:1 |
47.37% |
5.26% |
| Even |
1:1 |
47.37% |
5.26% |
| 1 to 18 |
1:1 |
47.37% |
5.26% |
| 19 to 36 |
1:1 |
47.37% |
5.26% |
| 1 to 12 |
2:1 |
31.58% |
5.26% |
| 13 to 24 |
2:1 |
31.58% |
5.26% |
| 25 to 36 |
2:1 |
31.58% |
5.26% |
| Any one number |
35:1 |
2.63% |
5.26% |
| Two number combination |
17:1 |
5.26% |
5.26% |
| Three number combination |
11:1 |
7.89% |
5.26% |
| Four number combination |
8:1 |
10.53% |
5.26% |
| Six number combination |
5:1 |
15.79% |
5.26% |
| 0,00,1,2,3 combination |
6:1 |
13.16% |
7.89% |
The numbers on the wheel
To the casual observer it would appear that the numbers
on the wheel are not organized and seem to be distributed randomly.
The only obvious patterns are that red and black numbers alternate
and that usually two odd numbers alternate with two even numbers.
However the distribution of numbers was carefully arranged so
that the sum of the numbers for any given section of the wheel
would be roughly equal to any other section of equal size. In
particular the numbers are usually organized in pairs, with one
number in between, and whose sum is either 37 or 39. This is true
of all of the following pairs: (10,29), (25,12), (29,8), (12,19),
(8,31), (19,18), (31,6), (18,21), (6,33), (21,16), (33,4), (16,23),
(4,35), (23,14), (35,2), (9,30), (26,11), (30,7), (7,32), (20,17),
(32,5), (17,22), (5,34), (22,15), (34,3), (15,24), (3,36), (24,13),
(36,1). The only numbers that fall outside this pattern are 27,14,2,28,11,13,
and 1.
Locations of single zero games
At a few places in the United States, and many in
Europe, you can find single zero roulette. This is a much better
gamble than double zero roulette, with a house advantage of 1/37
=~ 2.70%. Many of the single zero wheels in the U.S. have high
minimums. I know of or have heard about single zero roulette at:
- The Tropicana (Las Vegas)
- The Frontier (Las Vegas)
- The Monte Carlo (Las Vegas)
- The Stratosphere (Las Vegas)
- Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas), $25 minimum
- Grand Casino (Tunica)
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