The thing about these roulette tips to win is that they apply whether you are in a real-life casino or just playing online. As long as you are playing on a betting site that employs a random number generator the systems may be able to help you. One way that you can ensure not to lose too much money – especially if you are playing online.
Albert Einstein supposedly once said: “No one can win at roulette unless he steals money from the table while the croupier isn’t looking.”
Although I wouldn’t normally question Einstein, this statement isn’t true. In fact, you can use Einstein’s specialist subject, physics, to help you win. Or you can find a biased wheel that makes some numbers more likely to come up.
What Einstein actually meant was that there is no mathematical trick that can help you win at roulette. Each spin is an independent trial and, in the long run, the casino will win. This is different to a game such as Blackjack where the probabilities change as cards are dealt.
But some believe that it is possible to exploit the way the roulette wheel, and the betting cloth, is laid out to give themselves an advantage. The idea is that you can make bets on the layout in a way that you are guaranteed to win. But is this really possible?
Roulette wheel layout
Like a dartboard, the layout of a roulette wheel did not come about by accident. It was carefully planned and exhibits certain properties. In fact, there are two different layouts. An American wheel and a European wheel. The two layouts are shown below.
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Notice that the American wheel has two zeroes. This is important as it doubles the advantage for the casino. On a European wheel you would expect to lose, in the long run, 2.7% of any money you bet with. On an American wheel you can expect to lose 5.26% (if you are interested in the mathematics of roulette, the video at the end will show you how these odds are calculated).
The numbers are arranged in a different order on each wheel but there are some similarities in the patterns. On both wheels, the red and black numbers alternate around the wheel, although if you removed the zeroes, the American wheel would have consecutive reds and blacks. The wheels are also structured so that the low numbers (1-18) and the high numbers (19-36) should alternate as much as possible.
On a European wheel, this is only violated where the 5 sits next to the 10 (both low numbers). On the American wheel, there are many examples where this rule is violated. It is for this reason that the American wheel is considered not as balanced as the European wheel. Both wheels also try to distribute odd and even numbers as evenly as possible. But again there are a number of violations of this rule on both wheels.
On the European wheel there are two other interesting symmetries. First, all the low red numbers and black high numbers are on one side of the zero, and the high red numbers and low black numbers are on the other side. Second, the sequence 29-7-28-12-35-3-26-0-32 contains no numbers between 13 and 24 (the second dozen). You can place a bet on the whole of the second dozen, with odds of 2-1.
So, can we beat the maths?
A simple search on Google will return many (possibly millions) of systems for playing (and supposedly winning) roulette. Some easy, some complicated, some well described, some not so.
A system should really be a combination of a playing strategy and a money management strategy. Perhaps the best known money management strategy is the Martingale system. This system is guaranteed to win money as long as you have enough of a bankroll to double your bet after every loss and you do not hit the table limit, which you will quickly do so. The Martingale system is probably the quickest way to bankruptcy known to man.
Whatever betting strategy, and money management strategy, you choose, they all suffer from the same fate. Assuming that each number on the wheel has the same probability of being selected – meaning the wheel is not biased – the maths means the casino will always win. The system may look good, and may work in the short term, but when one of the numbers comes up that you have not bet on you will lose and the casino will move towards its win expectation (2.7% or 5.26%).
Some systems involve betting on many numbers, perhaps 20. In this case, you will win quite often as you are covering more than half of the numbers. But when one of the numbers does not turn up (and it will almost half the time) you lose all of the 20 bets you have made. This will often wipe out any wins to date.
Any system, so far devised, can be analysed to show that there is a win expectation for the casino. The following video shows the maths.
You might as well place a single chip on the same number every time and hope that it appears more than it should during the short time that you are playing.
We can dress up the layout of the wheel, the layout of the betting cloth, our number selection and our money management system however we like, but the maths is always there, quietly working against us. You might as well just have fun, pick random numbers and trust to Lady Luck. Either that, or do as Einstein suggested and steal chips (not that we’d recommend it).
Roulette offers a bewildering number of betting options, but the bets are actually straightforward enough. In order to make sure you get the correct payout, you’ll want to make sure that you put your chips in exactly the right place on the table. Missing a payout because your chip isn’t in the right spot is a drag.
Roulette payouts work like this. The odds are stated in the form of x to 1, which means you’ll win x dollars for every dollar you’ve bet. For example, the single number bet offers a payout of 35 to 1. If you win, you’ll get your dollar back plus the $35 for the win.
Payouts on the Outside Bets
On the edge of the table are a series of bets which are “outside” the 38 numbers on the table. Each of these bets refers to a specific set of numbers or colors. If the ball lands on 0 or 00, you’ll lose on any of the outside bets.
The outside bets include:
Red or Black – This bet pays out even odds (1 to 1) if the ball lands on the color you chose.
Odd or Even – This bet pays out even odds (1 to 1) if the ball lands on odd or even, depending on which you chose.
Low or High – This bet pays out even money (1 to 1) if the ball lands on 1-18 if you bet low, or if the ball lands on 19-36 if you bet high.
Columns – The numbers on the layout are organized into three columns of twelve numbers each. A “columns” bet wins if the ball lands on one of the numbers in the column you chose. This bet pays out 2 to 1 when you win.
Dozens – There are 36 numbers on the table, so you can bet on the first dozen (1-12), the second dozen (13-24), or the third dozen (25-36). This bet also pays out 2 to 1.
Payouts on the Inside Bets
You can also bet on specific numbers and sets of numbers on the inside of the layout. These bets win less often, but they pay out more when you do win. The house edge on the inside bets is the same as the house edge on the outside bets.
The inside bets include:
Straight-up – This is a bet on a single number. It pays off at 35 to 1.
Split bet – This is a bet on any two adjacent numbers. You place the chip on the line between the two numbers in order to make this wager. This bet pays out at 17 to 1.
Street bet – This bet covers three numbers. You place your bet on the line outside of the three numbers in the row where you want to win. This bet pays out at 11 to 1.
Corner bet – Some people call this a square bet or a quarter bet. It’s a bet on a corner that makes a square, and it’s a bet on four numbers. A win on this type of bet pays out at 8 to 1.
Five-number bet – You can only make one five-number bet, and it’s the only inside bet that offers different odds from all the others. The problem is that it has a higher house edge, making it the worst bet on the table. This bet is on the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3, and you place the chip on the outside corner line between the 1 and the 0. This bet pays out 6 to 1, but only masochists place this bet.
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Six-number bet – Some people call this a line bet. It covers two adjoining rows of numbers. It pays out at 5 to 1.
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How Roulette Payouts Give the Casino an Edge
These payouts all have one thing in common—they pay out less than the true odds of hitting a win. That’s why the casino enjoys a house edge of 5.26% on roulette. Your odds of winning are always less than the payout amounts.
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For example, the odds of winning a straight-up bet are 37 to 1. There are 37 numbers on the wheel that lose, and 1 bet on the wheel that will win. But the bet only pays out 35 to 1, not 37 to 1, so the house wins more often than it loses.
A split bet offers you odds of winning of 18 to 1, but it pays off at 17 to 1.
I could list all of them, but you get the idea by now. The casino has an unassailable mathematical advantage on every bet. No betting system or strategy can overcome this advantage.
Of course, in the short run, anything can (and often will) happen. This is called “standard deviation”, and it explains why some people walk away from the roulette table as winners. The mathematically true results only come around the closer you get to an infinite number of spins.
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So the best way to approach roulette is as a lark. It’s a fun game. You can relax and socialize while you play. But don’t expect to win, because the odds are against you. And if you do win, walk away and smile, because you beat the odds.