Cindy Plays Straight-Up Roulette

23 March 2023

By Royal Flushes

CINDY: This is our second view of roulette coming from my angle. Abby and I are going to give roulette a long period of time of extended play. Abby published last week her first experience betting the “even-money” bets of red/black. I am going to go straight up on numbers. I won’t bet more than six numbers at a time.

ABBY: We’ll then take a break and report on our total findings in an upcoming month. As always wish us good luck!

CINDY: I bought in for $500. That will be our common buy-in, $500. The dealer gave me my special-colored chips and I was off to the races (so to speak).

The table minimum was $10. I was playing mid-week but the roulette tables did have decent crowds. The casino world is bustling now that it is fully open. I didn’t see more than a few of players with masks on and none were at roulette. Slot machines seem to have most of them.

Okay, first bet, I went with the number 17, the supposedly most-played number at the game owing to its link with Sean Connery and his James Bond fame. That was a $10 bet.

I am only going to bet $10 on a number but I might do more than one number some times. We’ll see.

My payout will be $350 if I win. The house edge is 5.26 percent which means my expectation is to lose $5.26 per $100 wagered. That’s a high edge but roulette is a rather leisurely game though I will not be betting one-hundred or more decisions per hour as you could with blackjack or mini-baccarat. That keeps that edge somewhat in control unless I bet multiple numbers straight up.

I am not to bet “groupings” of numbers, that would be Abby, if she wants to. But I can put individual bets on multiple numbers. Yes, that would give the house edge more numbers to grind away at my bankroll. Well, we’ll see, won’t we? Abby and I are not going to do quick hits and leave the table; we’re going to be complete roulette players, putting in our time at the tables.

Twenty-five minutes later I am down $200. None of my numbers hit. I came close at times. I do watch the wheel as the numbers on the wheel are not laid out as they are on the layout. Thus, the number one is not next to the number two on the wheel as it is on the lay out. That is true of all the numbers. They are spaced out in a different manner, generally across the wheel from each other. The layout shows them in numerical order. Tricky!

Of course, one hit and that $350 payout will get me right back in the game. That is the joy of the straight-up betting, a big payout. That’s kind of like a slot machine. Periods of bad luck perhaps (perhaps!) followed by some good luck (please! please!).

I am now down $400. Crummy luck all the way. I bet different numbers but I had no good luck. When the ball came near my number my heart raced. Not to be satisfied.

I am giving myself $50 more of betting and then I am taking a break. The losses are depressing. One woman at the table got two direct hits in a row. She was betting $25 dollars on three different numbers.

Should I do that? Should I risk more money than just $10?

No, I didn’t. And I didn’t win a thing!

Well, there will be a next time. I’ll make that tomorrow. If my luck says bad I will take a week off to compose myself.

But I will say this for sure: Roulette is riveting. But that ball seems to be anti-Cindy at the moment.