The two roulettes

21 May 2019

By Frank Scoblete

There are two types of roulette games in the world, the American and the European.

Strangely, the American double-zero wheel was created in Europe but is now considered fully domesticated, since it is used far more than any other wheel in the United States. Guess where the European wheel was created.

The American wheel has 38 pockets for the ball to fall into with the numbers 1 through 36 along with a 0 and 00. The numbers are not on the wheel in numerical order; instead, numbers tend to be across the wheel from their neighbors. Thus the number 24 is almost directly across the wheel from number 23.

Players have the choice of betting on individual numbers straight up, meaning right on the number on the layout, or on the outside proposition bets such as red/black, or on combinations directly on the layout, for example 2 and 3. If the player can reach all areas of the layout he or she is free to place all of his or her bets. If the player’s arms are not like Elastic Man’s then the dealer will place whatever bets the player may want that are out of his or her reach.

The house edge on the American roulette game is usually 5.26% which means the players’ expectation is to lose $5.26 for every $100 that he or she wagers.

Since there are 38 pockets the chance that a direct hit occurs is one in 38; that makes the odds 37 to one. In a fair game where the casino has no edge, the payout for a winning bet would be 37 to one but the casino can’t make a profit by paying out fair bets so instead of paying 37 to one, the casino pays 35 to one. If those are dollars, the casino is paying $35 instead of $37.

Keeping two instead of paying that out gives the house its 5.26% edge. Just divide 2 by 38 and you get 5.26%. That edge will hold on all bets at the game except for two, which I will discuss next week.

The European roulette game
The European game was created – yes, yes, that’s right – in America! This wheel has 37 pockets, numbered 1 through 36 with a single 0 on it. The house edge is 2.7%, which is much lower than the American double-zero game’s 5.26%.

The casino pays out 35 to 1 instead of 36 to one but since it only keeps one instead of two, the edge is lowered almost in half of the American game. Just divide 37 into and one you get 2.70%.

Three changes in the house edge
Although I will discuss all the betting options and their house edges next week, there are three differences from the norm, two on the American game and one on the European game.

The American wheel has a combined bet called variously “the beast,” “the monster,” “the devil,” or “the five-number bet,” those numbers being 0, 00, 1, 2, 3. The house edge on this bet is a whopping 7.89%!

However, in the American game if the casino allows “surrender” on its even-money bets of red/black, odd/even and high/low, the edge is lowered in half. Surrender occurs when the 0 or 00 hits and the casino gives back half of the player’s wager. The house edge is reduced to 2.63% on those three above wagers.

The European game has something similar called “en prison,” where a hit on the 0 locks up the even-money bets on the above three propositions. The result of the next spin determines whether the bet wins or loses. That also reduces the house edge in half to 1.35%, one of the best bets in the casino!

Next week I’ll go through the bets and edges at both games.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Visit Frank’s website at www.frankscoblete.com.