Roulette Odds and Strategy
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As Roulette is a game of chance in which the player can not affect the outcome of a spin, understanding the odds for or against a particular result and adjusting play accordingly gives you your best chance of success. On this page you will find the real and paid odds for the various bets you can make and advice on possible ways to maximise your chances. The table below shows the true odds and what the casino pays out for both American (2 zeros) and European (single zero) wagers.
As can be seen from the table above the American game favours the casino more than the European one the actual house percentage being 5.26% for American and 2.70% for European and the five number bet which is exclusive to American Roulette has an even bigger house advantage of over 7%.
If you are not sure what the various bets mean visit our Roulette Rules page for explanations.
So you know the bets you understand the odds how do you go about winning, well there are numerious Roulette Systems that claim to garentee you win however if you look at the odds in the long run the house should win so how do these systems work.
Most are based on some form of progression system such as the Martindale or D’Alembert or “Pyramid" system, the Martindale is a classic negative progression system and quite simple to understand. Every time you loose you double the previous bet so that when you win you get back all your money plus the original bet so you can't loose, you then go back to your original bet and start again. There's got to be a catch I hear you say, well yes there is and its a big one, if you start with $1 betting on even return and have a run of 10 losses you will have bet $2047 just for the chance of winning $1 and if the house maximum is reached before your luck changes, tough, so maybe thats not such a good idea after all. Ok I hear you say whats the odds on 10 straight losses well actually statistically its 613 to 1, and it may not happen to you but there are a lot of roulette wheels out there. The D’Alembert system involves increasing your bet by a smaller amount when you loose and decreasing it by the same amount when you win, this reduces the rate the value of your bet rises its now linear instead of exponential but is still not infalable. Many other systems are variations on one of these maybe increasing your bid by a varying amount or in some cases decreasing it (positive progression), but despite what they say garenteeing winning is a very strong claim to make indeed. The best most systems will do for you is ensure that when you are winning you may win more but when you are loosing you loose it faster.
So whats the best way, well from the odds its obvious the European wheel gives you the best chance so start there, most online casinos offer this option, though finding a land based casino in North America with it may be difficult.
Look for casinos with the "Surrender", " La Partage"or "En Prison" rules for explanations of these rules visit our Roulette Rules page, they all help reduce your losses if zero comes up on certain bets.
Betting on even money options is the safest way and if you have to go for that lucky number fine but don't put your shirt on it.
Develop a money management strategy, decide how much you can afford to loose and at what amount if you are winning you will either stop or at least put either a portion of your winning or what you started with aside and stick to it.
It is possible to win large amounts, remember the song "The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo" he really existed, Charles deVille Wells (1841-1926) over a period of about 12 hours in July 1891 he broke the roulette table (taking all their supply of chips) about twelve times. In total he won about three million French Francs at that visit and repeated the feat a few months later. Unfortuneatly he returned a year later with an "improved" system and lost a simular amount, but hey you could be the one who does it next and knows when to stop Good Luck!
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