Hedging in Roulette

Dear Frank,

I have observed roulette on several occasions and never played. I have noticed that two areas of the board pay 2 to 1, those of course being the spots that allow the player to bet on columns and those that allow you to bet on the first, second, and third sets of 12 numbers.

My local casino uses a roulette wheel that has only one zero space on it. If I played I would bet on two of these columns and hedge with a bet on zero. Is this a correct strategy for playing the game?

Thanks,
Dave

Dear Dave,

The single zero wheel has a lower house edge than a double zero wheel. That edge is 2.7 percent. Unfortunately, there is no way to overcome this edge by using a betting system as you suggest. In the end, you will lose 2.7 percent of all the money you bet at the wheel, no matter how you bet it. However, some single-zero wheels have a feature called "surrender" or "en prison." If you bet the even-money bets and the zero shows, you only lose half your bet. This reduces the house edge in half. If the wheel you wish to play has this feature, then only bet the even-money bets.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank