Casino players like to win often. They also like to win a lot of money. The two goals sometimes are in conflict. Winning more often is not always the best thing for your bankroll. That's as true for online players as for those who play in live casinos.
Roulette is no exception. There's a built-in tension between winning more often and winning more money just as there is in blackjack, video poker and many other casino games.
In blackjack, taking the "even money" form of insurance will guarantee a win anytime you have a blackjack and the dealer has an Ace face up. But you'll win more money if you skip the insurance on games with the traditional 3-2 pays on blackjacks. If the dealer also has blackjack, you'll have to settle for a push, but the 3-2 pays come often enough that you win more money by declining insurance and winning a little less often.
In Jacks or Better video poker, if your hand includes a Jack or higher along with a low pair, you'll win more often by holding the high card and discarding the rest. That yields the best chance at a high pair that wins five coins for a five-coin bet. But if you hold the pair instead and discard the others, a greater proportion of wins will bring bigger payoffs. You win more money while winning less often.
Roulette involves no decision-making as complex as that in blackjack or video poker. The only way a roulette player has of increasing win frequency is to bet on more numbers.
The problem is that with rare exceptions, betting on more numbers does not decrease the house edge. Average results bring losses at the same percentage of your wagers whether you bet one number, all of them, or anything in between.
And on American double-zero wheels, there is one way to bet more numbers that actually increases the house edge compared to other wagers. Before tackling the exceptions, let's check out the basics.
COVERING ALL THE NUMBERS
Imagine you cover all the numbers so you have a winner on every spin of the wheel.
There are several ways to do it. One is to make single number bets on every number, including 0 as well as 1-36 on a single-zero wheel as is common in Europe, or 0 and 00 on the double-zero wheels common in the United States. Online roulette players can find both European and American roulette games.
Covering all the numbers for $1 each requires $37 in wagers on a single-zero wheel or $38 on a double-zero wheel.
On each spin, you are guaranteed to have one winner, and single-number winners pay at 35-1 odds. That would earn you $35 in winnings and you'd keep the $1 wager for a total of $36.
Problem is, that doesn't cover all your bets. It leaves a net loss of $1 on a single-zero wheel for a house edge of 2.7% or $2 on a double-zero wheel for a house edge of 5.62%.
Those are the same house edges as on most other bets. If you made just one single-number bet or one four-number corner bet or one 12-number column, the house edges still would be 2.7% on the European wheel or 5.62% on the American.
Worse, by covering all numbers with single-number bets, you guarantee an overall loss for the spin. At $1 per number including the zeroes, your total wager is $37 with one zero or $38 on a double-zero wheel. Your one winning number would leave you with $36, smaller than your total wager. You win on every spin, but never make a profit.
The guaranteed loss of $1 per $37 wagered means the house keeps 2.7% of your bets. That reflects the house edge of 2.7%. On a double-zero wheel, covering all numbers with single-number bets brings a loss of $2 per $38 wagered. That's 5.26%, the same as the house edge on almost all bets on that kind of wheel.
OTHER COMBINATIONS
Winning on every spin but never making a profit is self-defeating, so on one plays that way. Instead players seek combinations that will win a majority of the time and can bring a profit.
One simple way is to bet on two of the 12-number columns. That gives you winners on 24 numbers, leaving 13 losing numbers on a single-zero wheel and 14 losers with both 0 and 00.
If you bet $5 on each of two dozens, you risk $10 per spin. If the ball lands on any of your 24 numbers, you win a 2-1 payoff on one of the columns. That's a $10 payoff, plus you keep the winning $5 bet giving you $15. You have a $5 profit on the spin.
The problem is that if the ball lands on any of the other numbers, you lose both bets for a $10 loss. On a single-zero wheel, there are 13 $10 losses for every 24 $5 profits, or $130 in losses offsetting $120 in profits. That net loss is 2.7% of your total wagers, equal to the house edge.
On a double-zero wheel, there are 14 losing spins, so your $120 in profits on the winning spin are offset by $140 worth of losses per 38 spins. The average result per 38 spins is $20 in losses, or 5.26% of total wagers. Again, the average loss is equal to the house edge.
You can show a profit if winners come up just a little more often than usual. On a single-number roulette wheel, if numbers in your dozens come up 25 times in 37 spins instead of 24, then you show a $5 profit for the sequence.
That's what keeps combination players going: the chance that for a short time, their chosen numbers will come up just a little more often than average.
There are many such combinations, usually more complex that betting a couple of columns. All win more often than choosing a bet on the layout, and some win much more often than they lose.
The downside is that any losing spin costs more money than any winning spin gains, and single losers usually wipe out multiple wins. In the end, average results will lead to the house keeping 2.7 percent of money wagered on single-zero wheels and 5.26 percent on double-zero wheels.
You win more often with these combos, but in the long run you don't win more money.
THE BASKET TRAP
One bet available on double-zero wheels but not in single-zero games extracts a toll for those trying to win more often by covering more numbers.
That's the five-number basket bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. If you bet $5 on the basket, for 38 spins you risk $190. On any of the winners, you're paid 6-1, so you win $30 and keep the $5 bet. That happens an average of five times per 38 spins, leaving $175 in your stacks.
Since you've risked $190, that's a $15 average net loss. Instead of losing 5.26% of your total as on other bets at double-zero roulette, you lose 7.89%.
You may win more often betting the basket than betting on a single number, two-number split, three-number street or four-number corner, but you lose more money. And any combination that includes the basket faces a higher house edge than combinations that leave it out.
Never bet the basket. If you want those numbers, cover them with different wagers.
THE EXCEPTIONS
There are ways to win more often and lower the house edge in some French and Atlantic City roulette games.
Special rules in those games cut the house edge in half on bets with even-money payouts: odd or even, 1-18 or 19-36, and red or black.
In the United States, you'll mainly find single-zero French roulette in online casinos. There are several optional rules. One prime example is called "en prison" – basically, if the ball lands in zero, your wager on an even-money option doesn't lose. It's held in prison for the next spin.
If the next spin is a winner for you, you get your bet back. If not, you lose.
Imagine you bet on red. If the ball lands on zero, your bet is held en prison. If the next spin is red, you get the bet back, but you lose it if the ball lands on black or zero.
That drops the house edge all the way to 1.35%, half the usual 2.7% on single-zero roulette.
The Atlantic City half-back rules is mainly available on double-zero wheels in New Jersey. The house takes only half your money if the ball lands on one of the zeroes. Imagine you’ve wagered $10 on black. You lose $10 if the ball lands on a red numbers, but only $5 if the ball lands on 0 or 00.
That cuts the house edge on from 5.26% to 2.63% on double-zero wheels
When those rules are in play, your best bets are to stick with odd or even, 1-18 or 19-36, or red or black. You win more often by covering 18 numbers at once, and you slash the house edge. For a roulette player, that's the best of both worlds.
