What springs to mind when you think of roulette? A game of pure chance? Perhaps James Bond spinning a wheel in a swanky casino? Whatever it is that comes to mind, if you are not an experienced casino player, you will probably be thinking of roulette as a single entity, as a specific type of game. In fact, it’s not. Roulette is an overarching term for several variations of the game and knowing the difference between them can be the difference between success and failure.
At the fundamental level, we can talk about European and American roulette. The rules are different, as is the wheel and the table. The European roulette wheel has the numbers 1-36 (colored red and black) and a single slot with a zero (green). American roulette wheels are numbered 1-36 in the same way and have a single zero slot, but they also contain a double zero slot (also green).
Thus, an American wheel has 38 segments and a European wheel 37 segments. You don’t have to be a math whizz to understand that the advantage lies with the wheel with fewer segments; after all, the goal of roulette is to predict where the ball will land on a wheel. It depends on which bet you make but the difference between the two games can swing the house-edge back in favor of the casino by a few percentage points.
Yet, the rules within each game can lead to an even greater advantage. Let’s consider the traditional rules of some French versions of European roulette. If we make a straight up bet on American roulette – let’s say we picked the number 7 – and the ball landed on the single zero or double zero slot, then that would be a losing bet. However, some versions of French roulette have use quirky rules that can give a further advantage to the player:
- En Prison – basically meaning “in jail”, if the ball lands in the single zero slot, your straight up bet will remain on the table for the next spin, effectively giving you another shot.
- La Partage – with this rule, which means share, if the ball lands in the single zero slot, you will receive half the stake back.
Obviously, no game will employ both rules, but having either one can give a small advantage.
If you read any of this and think it’s inconsequential, that’s understandable. We tend to think of roulette as a game of pure chance. Of course, that is the case. However, there are some bits of knowledge that can help improve those chances. It is especially important when you consider that roulette is associated with high rollers, meaning those few percentage points can mean a lot of money. If you are heading off to a casino – perhaps on a wild trip to Las Vegas – remember that not all roulette is created equal. You can check some cheap clean hotels in Las Vegas
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