Play Roulette Like a Pro!
Roulette is another way to play, and it is fun!
It is commonly believed that a game like Roulette is one of
complete chance and luck. How can there be any strategy for
playing this kind of a game?
While it is undeniable that chance and luck are an inherent
feature of roulette the fact that a strategy for the game
can be followed, should not totally be overruled. Roulette
is a game of statistical probability and hence the strategy
becomes quite simple. Here are a few simple tips that you
should keep in mind while gaming:
Since Roulette is a game based on straight statistics,
generally you get fair odds. For example you will get even
money odds when you bet red and the actual statistical odds
that red will come up is approximately even. The exception
is the one green square in European Roulette. Therefore your
odds are slightly lower than 50/50. It is important to note,
however, that the house edge can vary, as it does most
notably in the US. In American roulette the house edge is
5.26% for every bet except the five number bet which gives a
house edge of 7.29%.
Roulette is a pretty rigid, non-interactive game and players
can do very little to lower the house edge. But what they
can do is to be on a careful lookout for places that offer
special rules. In Atlantic City there is a beneficial rule
called “surrender”. Enquire about this rule, at the table
before playing. But to summarize briefly, the rule is
applicable only to outside bets that pay even money. These
are red/ black, even/odd and high/low. If the ball lands on
a double zero (00), the better loses half the bet instead of
the whole amount.
Though even money bets are doubly nice as compared to their
inner counterparts, the player has to give up on payoffs
significantly in order to benefit from the lower house
advantage. Even though this cannot be considered a perfect
situation, the strategy works.
Be on the look out for wheels that do not have a double
zero. In European roulette wheels this is standard but it is
rarely the case with American tables, where the house
advantage is significantly higher. American casinos do away
with the odds of European Roulette and add an extra Green
space – the double “00”. With this move the house advantage
goes up by a factor of 2. Hence European Roulette gives the
house an advantage of 2.7% as against American Roulette that
gives an advantage of 5.5%.
One other rule that must be kept in mind is called ‘En
Prison’, which can only be found in Europe. Suppose you are
placing an even-money outside bet, and the ball lands at
‘0’, if En Prison is applicable, the bet will not be swept
off after all the other bets. It will not be returned
either. The bet becomes ‘in prison’ and stays on the board
and gets another chance on the next spin. In the next ‘spin’
if your bet wins, you get the money back, though with no
extra winnings.
Well, these are some of the beginning rules of playing roulette like a pro! Good luck and bonne chance!







