Keeping the House Edge of Roulette at Its Minimal
Roulette is a very popular casino game worldwide next to slot machines and also video poker. Roulette originally came from France and the modern versions of the game can now be played in any casino today, land-based or online casinos.
The game of roulette is considered as very straightforward but there are some measures that players can do to increase their winning odds. Once the ball starts to spin, roulette players can make wise bets that will keep the house edge at its minimum. Here are some of the things that you can look for to make that possible.
- The House Edge of Roulette
The house edge is defined as the average percentage that players are expected to lose in relation to their bets over some time. One good example is this: If you make a roulette bet on any number and then wins, you will be give a payout of 1/35. If your chance of making the roulette bet is 1/36, the edge will become 0%, thus giving the house with no advantage at all. This is the reason that the zero slot in roulette was made. With an extra slot available, the chance of winning a single number in roulette is 1/37, but the payouts are usually calculated as if the roulette wheel has no zero slot. This is the way the house has always the edge.
- European Roulette wheel vs. American Roulette wheel
The most basic thing that a roulette player must do is choose the right wheel to play. The European Roulette wheel has 37 slots numbering from zero to 36. The American Roulette wheel has 38 slots because of the additional double zero, making the house edge much higher. The European wheel has a house edge of 2.7% while the American wheel has a house edge of 5.26%. If you are a wise roulette player, you would probably choose the European wheel because it has the lower house edge.
- Special Rules for the Roulette Bets of Even Money
This is an important aspect that roulette players must look for - the "Surrender" and "En Prison" special rules. They are just applicable to the even money bets or bets that pays out 1:1, meaning you are paid off exactly the same amount of money to that of your original bet. And you also loose the same amount of money that you are suppose to win. These even money bets in roulette are Black or Red, Low or High, and Odd or Even.
Even if roulette is a game of chance, you can still do something to minimize the effect of the house edge by making wise bets, choosing the right wheel, and taking advantage of the special rules of roulette.