Despite what many people think, the odds in roulette are actually pretty good. Of course there’s a ‘house advantage’ but casinos wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t. However if you restrict your play to European wheels with beneficial rules like En Prison that advantage is very low. But just taking the basic game played on the Europe Wheel then the house edge is only 2.7%
Have you ever thought about what that house edge actually means? I mean 2.7% doesn’t sound much does it ! In terms of hard cash what it should mean is that for every 100 dollars you stake, the house would be expected to win $2.70 of that. It sounds quite a reasonable proposition lounging around in luxury, drinking comp drinks all for a a couple of bucks if you lose.
However as anyone who has passed the incredible Wynn Casino Hotel in Vegas and wondered how much it cost to build will realise, it never works quite like that. The real percentage that the casino expects to win ‘on average’ is nearer $30 out of $100 staked. Now there’s a business model that can finance dancing fountains and fake Eiffel towers!
Unfortunately for the punter the reality could be even worse than that. Take a Saturday night in one of my favorite non-Vegas casinos in Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin (Dublin Bet is online version) – there’s a significant number of rather tipsy players. Others play recklessly and some with the madness of a seriously addicted gambler – that $30 is going to be a whole lot higher.
The problem ultimately is that people on the whole gamble very badly. For an average player using common sense – you’ll be up and down over a night in a casino. Not with standing wild swings of luck in either directions you’ll be and up and down over the course of the evening. However most gamblers don’t have a target and they tend to carry on until they hit zero funds.
Even when people hit a winning streak they don’t leave with a hefty profit – no they stay to maintain the streak. However it will almost inevitably turn the other way before they’re in negative territory chasing their losses.
The best thing you can do to plan a successful evening playing roulette or any casino game is to have a target. If you reach that target you finish playing and leave, otherwise play until your predetermined bankroll is gone.
This is the problem in a nutshell – many players have only one way to finish their evening – when the cash is all gone. There should be two – your predetermined profit level.
If you don’t do this then the house edge will defeat you in the end. All games with a house advantage have a negative expectation for the player – i.e. they will lose eventually. If you have a target then you have a decent chance of winning with a profit and how much more fun is that !!
Make Sure You Set Your Limits before you play roulette either online or in a casino.