Roulette is an interesting casino game where your luck determines its outcome. Due to this reason, roulette is generally considered as a game of chance. Not as popular as video poker, craps, blackjack or slot machines, roulette is viewed as a game that is disappearing especially in the American gaming industry, while the situation is just the opposite in Europe. This is mainly because the American Roulette wheel consists of a 0 and 00, along with 36 numbers in contrast to the French wheel which has only a 0.
The house advantage in roulette depends on the 0 in the French wheel, and both 0 and 00 in the American wheel. Since all bets are paid at odds, the house edge in an American game is therefore, 5.26%. In contrast, the French wheel generates a house edge of only 2.7%, facilitating a reduction of 1.4% on all bets to do with even-money. The American wheel can hence be identified by the 00, and with its high house edge, becomes a difficult game to win.
Roulette is a wheel based game played at an elongated table. Two betting areas make up its surface, the inner area, having numbers, and the outer, having colored areas. As with the original layout still widely in use today, the colored blocks are alternating red and black for numbers 1 through 36. Green backgrounds adorn the 0 and the 00. The wheel has 37 slots (American ones have 38) with the same colored background as the number on the table. The wheel is under goes a one directional spin by the croupier, who also tosses a small plastic ball in the opposite direction. Once the wheel comes to a stop, the ball also settles down on a numbered slot.
One of the main reasons roulette is known as a game of chance, is because no player has any role in spinning the wheel or tossing the ball. This is carried out by the croupier, who will use his own judgment during the game. Furthermore, the casino takes special care in maintaining the wheels to remove any possible irregularity on its surface that could bias it towards specific points or numbers.
During the game, players place their money on the layout and ask for chips. The dealer hands the players special roulette chips that cannot be used anywhere other than on the table. After the game, the player needs to exchange the remaining chips for regular casino chips, if he wishes to use them elsewhere in the casino. The chips also have a denomination which is handed over based on players' requests. Every single player receives chips of a different color enabling the dealer to keep track of which player the chips belong to.
Players use different kinds of strategies as with most games. However, being a game of chance, they may or may not be successful at any random game. That being said, to an extent, strategies may seem to help win some games. Some of these betting systems have names such as Martingale, Grand Martingale, and cancellations. In the first case, Martingale, the player doubles his bet if he loses. Going through a number of betting rounds, when he wins, he gets a profit that equals his original bet.
Grand Martingale opens doors to more losses based on players' luck, where he doubles the bet and adds another unit in the event of a loss. Cancellation is safer where a player starts with a number and bets the total on both ends. If he wins the bet, he cancels them, and if he loses, he adds the total until the end of the series. Finally, once all numbers are canceled, the profit he earns would be equal to the sum of the original numbers.
While being a fun game, bear in mind, roulette the game of sheer chance, and as we have seen with the scenarios above, you finally end up at the mercy of Lady Luck. So pray that the dealers' hand works in your favor, and enjoy the game. After all, Roulette is the favorite pastime of millions, especially in Europe.
