Roulette tips

27 February 2016

By John Marchel

1. The Single-Zero Wheel

When playing the game of roulette, try to find a wheel that only has one zero rather than the double zero. The single zero is known as a French or European wheel. The odds for a player are greatly improved when playing against a single zero. The odds of minus 5.26% on the American wheel drop to only minus 2.70% when the double zero is removed from the wheel.

More and more casinos in the US are adopting the single-zero wheels. Look for it when you next visit your favorite casino.


2. The Worst Roulette Bet

When playing roulette, one specific bet that can be made by the player is the five-spot. This wager includes the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 spot. This is the worst bet on the American roulette wheel. That’s the wheel with the zero and double zero.

The odds against the player increases to 7.29%, from the normal 5.26%, all in favor of the house. You should avoid this specific wager at all cost.


3. Inside vs. Outside Bets

In roulette, all the numbers are known as “inside” bets and the red-black, odd-even and high-low are “outside” bets. If you only bet the outside spots you have to bet at least the minimum for that table. For example, if the placard says $5 minimum, that is the minimum bet you have to make on these outside spots. However, the inside numbers can have dollar bets on them, providing your entire inside bets total at least $5.


4. Getting Better Odds

When playing roulette, you don’t have to play the single numbers and hope for a big 35 to 1 hit. You can also divide your bet in the center of two numbers and get a 17 to 1 pay out. Three numbers pay 11 to 1; you can make a bet of four numbers at 8 to 1 odds. Six numbers pay 5 to 1. The total win with these types of bets is not as high as a single number; however, your odds are greatly improved by betting multiple numbers in lieu of just a single spot.


5. Getting 2:1 odds

To improve your chances of winning play different combinations. Here is one: wager three chips on the red spot and two chips on the middle column of twelve numbers. This combination covers 18 red numbers; the middle column will also cover eight additional black numbers. Only 10 black numbers and the 0 and 00 will make you lose this bet. This will result in you having 26 ways to win and only 12 ways to lose.

Here is how it turns out.

If a red number shows up and it’s on the center column you will win seven units. You will have won three units for red, which pays even money, and four units for the center column, which pays 2:1. On the other hand, if one of the red numbers ends up in the 1st or 3rd column, you will win three for wagering red and lose two for the column bet, still a one-unit profit.

If the ball lands on black in the center column you will win four and lose three on the red spot, again a one-unit win. You can also change the combination by playing black and the third column with the same results. In this case you don’t win a lot, and you don’t lose a lot, but you get to play a lot.


BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

• In 1976 Washington State authorized commercial card rooms. Initially, the games were player-banked games. This meant that poker and blackjack had the dealer rotating among the players.


• The Washington State legislation approved house-backed games in 1997 which ended player dealers.


• Massachusetts Puritans passed America’s first law against gambling in 1638.


• The marquees of the 50 largest casinos and hotels in Las Vegas use enough electricity to run more than a thousand average U.S. homes.