6
As this type of Roulette has only one additional sector – double zero (00) – the edge that the casino has in this game is significantly higher. The edge that the house has is 5.26%, and for some types of bets this goes even higher, for example, when betting on the combination of 0-00-1-2-3, the casino’s edge has a record-breaking 7.89%.
The optimal strategy for playing Roulette is first of all to ignore any bets types that include double zero (as such, bets would give quite a large edge to the casino and the probability of winning these is lower), and to select the most profitable bets.
Strategy for American Roulette: bets selection
Roulette is one of simplest games in terms of rules in casino. Normally, the easier the game, the higher the edge that the house has, and this type of Roulette is no exception. If you are aiming for large wins, and are used to playing games based on logic, experience and knowledge, then American Roulette is probably not for you. It’s possible to win a significant amount in American Roulette, but it would be necessary to follow a certain strategy of betting.
There are many systems for betting in Roulette, and for the majority of these, the efficiency of a system is generally hard to prove or show. Some of these are outright bogus. So when you are selecting a betting strategy for yourself, it’s necessary to base it not on some sequence of bets, but rather on mathematical probabilities for certain outcomes of a round:
| Type of bet | Payout | Probability of a win |
|---|---|---|
| Red | 1 | 47.37% |
| Black | 1 | 47.37% |
| Odd | 1 | 47.37% |
| Even | 1 | 47.37% |
| Small number (from 1 to 18) | 1 | 47.37% |
| Large number (from 19 to 36) | 1 | 47.37% |
| First dozen (from 1 to 12) | 2 | 31.58% |
| Second dozen (from 13 to 24) | 2 | 31.58% |
| Third dozen (from 25 to 36) | 2 | 31.58% |
| Bet on 6 numbers | 5 | 15.79% |
| Bet on 5 numbers | 6 | 13.16% |
| Corner (bet on 4 numbers) | 8 | 10.53% |
| Street (bet on 3 numbers) | 11 | 7.89% |
| Split (bet on 2 numbers) | 17 | 5.26% |
| Any sector | 35 | 2.63% |
In brief, the choice for selecting bets for American Roulette could be formulated as follows: use bets, which have the maximum probability of a win (such as Red / Black, Odd / Even) and ignore the bets that have smallest probability of a win. Of course, there’s a clear trend: the smaller the probability that the bet would win, the higher the payout in case of a win. But if you are planning to stay profitable playing the game, pick the safer options. If you are planning to win significantly during a game, use bets on dozens as a basis of your strategy: the payout on these is larger (2 to 1), but the probability of winning is not that much smaller (31.58%).
Main strategy principles for American Roulette
When you are starting to play Roulette, try to remember these principles:
- Select outside bets: bets on either equal chances, with 1 to 1 payout, or bets on dozens with 2 to 1 payout.
- Never bet on inside bets: even though the payouts on these are quite high and can reach 35 to 1, the probability of a win is minimal.
- Never use bets, which automatically increase the edge that the casino has. In case of American Roulette, these are any bets on double zero: for 0-00-1-2-3 bet, the casino’s edge is 7.89%.
- Don’t use various systems of betting that guarantee your wins in Roulette. As random probability is the based of any roulette game, and it is not possible to guarantee that a ball would stop in a particular sector, there is no model or system in Roulette. The only rule to use is the table of probabilities for various bets.
- Try to control the length of winning and losing sessions. Stop if you have won several times in a row (as you will leave with no profit in this case), and also stop if you have a losing streak. If Lady Luck decided to leave you, leave the casino, don’t try to ’force’ the game: it’s simply impossible.
