The Truth About Roulette Numbers

30 July 2023

By John Grochowski

QUESTION: My casino buddy is a math teacher, and on the drive home we were talking roulette. I play, he doesn't. He mostly plays blackjack.

I was talking about the bets with even-money payouts and how you lose on the zeroes because they're not odd or even, not in 1-18 or 19-36 and they're green, not red, or black. He said, "But zero IS even." Best I could do was, "But not in the game," and he kind of snorted.

If in math, zero is even, and they counted that in roulette, what would it do to the game? I'm guessing it would give the player too much for the house to do that.

ANSWER: An integer that yields a whole number and not a fraction when divided by two is an even number. Zero divided by two is still zero with no remainder, so it's an even number. You can approach it another way and get the same answer: Any integer that is a multiple of two is even. Zero is zero times two, so it's even.

But that's a matter for math class. In roulette zero and, often, double zero exist to create a house edge. When you win a bet on even, it pays even money. If you bet $5 and an even number turns up, you win $5. Among the numbers 1 through 36, there are 18 even numbers and 18 odd numbers. With no zeroes, you'd win as often as you lose and there would be no house edge.

With one zero that counts as neither odd nor even, you still have 18 ways to win, but 19 ways to lose. With zero and double-zero, you have 18 ways to win and 20 ways to lose. Those extra losing numbers give the house its edges of 2.7 percent in single-zero games and 5.26 percent in double zero games.

If the zeroes counted as even numbers, then betting on even would give you 19 ways to win with one zero and 20 with two. The edges would still be 2.7 and 5.26 percent, but they'd be in favor of the player.

The house would retain its edge on bets on odd, but the vast majority of action would be on even as bettors caught on. Roulette would become unprofitable and the house would have to eliminate the even bet.

Zero may be even in math, but your "not in the game" response is the way things have to be.

QUESTION: Is this worthy of back-to-back jackpot mention? I was passing time playing nickel Double Double Bonus Poker on Five Play Ultimate X video poker. The pay table was only 7-5, but I don't expect much on nickels.

I was dealt a full house, so 35-coin payoff for five hands was 175 nickels. Nice pay, but jackpot? That's why I wasn't sure about submitting this.

That dealt full house left me 12x multipliers on all five hands for my next play. I wasn't expecting much. Usually, the big multipliers are on nothing hands. This time, though, I was dealt King-Jack-10 of clubs and two throwaways. I had a dollar royal once for $4,000, but this is the second most I've one on one hand.

On four hands, I got no payoff. Not even a high pair. But on the fifth, I got the Ace-Queen of clubs! A $200 nickel royal, but times 12, so $2,400. Hooray!

ANSWER: I don't know if those are back-to-back jackpots, but the first certainly set up the second. Congratulations on your big win, and thanks for sharing a fun story.