Multiple bets at roulette

21 October 2018

By John Grochowski

I've often written that betting combinations of roulette numbers can increase your frequency of wins, but it can't reduce the house edge.

With multiple bets on the table, individual wins are reduced by the amounts of your other bets. In the end, the house keeps the same percentage as if you'd stayed with one bet.

That doesn't stop readers from sending me combinations they think are somehow different than they others. This one, they'll tell me, really is a winner.

The latest to cross my desk is simple. Bet on a zero-double zero split, and bet three times that on two of the dozens or on two columns.

The split bet pays 17-1, and the dozens or columns each pay 2-1. If you were at a table with $1 minimums, a 0 or 00 would bring you a $17 payoff while you'd lose the $6 wagered on the dozens. If either of the $3 dozens or columns bets won, you'd collect $6 in winnings while losing the $1 split and the $3 on the other dozens.

You'd show a profit on 26 of the wheel's 38 numbers, giving you a win frequency of 68.42%. If you bet the split alone, you'd win on only 5.26% of spins, while each column or dozen wins 31.58% of the time.

The house edge on each of your bets is 5.26%. What about on the combination?

In a sequence of 38 spins in which the ball lands on each number once, then if you bet $1 on the 0-00 split and $3 on each of two dozens or columns, your total risk is $266. On the 12 losing spins — the dozen or column you didn't bet — you'd lose your $7 total per spin.

Your wins would break down like this:

• On each of the two spins that are 0 or 00, you'd keep your $1 bet and collect $17 in winnings. Combined, the two winners leave $36 on your side of the table.


• On each of the 24 winning dozens or columns bets, you keep your $3 wager and collect $6 in winnings. At $9 per winner, these bets put $216 in your stack.

With all winners accounted for, you have $252 at the end of the trial. The house keeps the other $14 of your original $266.

Divide that $14 by $266 and you get 0.0526. Multiply by 100 to convert to percent, and the house has kept 5.26% of your money. That's the house edge, and it's the same as it is on the individual bets within your combination.

If you took your total $7 wager per spin and bet it all on the 0-00 split, or all on one of the columns or dozens, then your average result per 38 spins would be the same $14 loss as on the combination.

You've raised the frequency of wins with the combination, but the house still gets the same cut.

That doesn't mean such combinations are worthless. If your goal is to extend play, then splitting dividing your total wager into several parts helps, just as red/black and odd/even are designed for extended play compared with single-number bets. If your goal is a big win with the understanding you could lose fast, then focusing on fewer numbers is the high-risk way to go.

Don't fall into the trap of betting extra money to form a combination. Take your normal-sized bet and divvy it up. Betting extra money with the same house edge super-sizes losses. Nobody wants that.

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