How to Beat the House Edge at Roulette
Roulette is one of the world’s most popular casino games, and a cultural icon at casinos and other gambling establishments. It is a simple game in which players place chips on a designated betting table to predict where the ball will land when the roulette wheel stops spinning. The game was developed from the French word ‘Roulette’ meaning little wheel, and combines elements of Roly Poly and Even Odd, both games that involved predicting which numbered ticket would be pulled from a bag, and Biribi, an Italian game where players wager on whether the number will be high (1-18) or low (19-36).
The Roulette wheel consists of a solid wooden disk slightly convex in shape, with thirty-six compartments, painted alternately red and black, numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. A tenth compartment, painted green and carrying the sign 0, is found on European-style wheels; while American roulette wheels have two additional green compartments, marked 0 and 1.
There are many different types of bets that can be placed in Roulette, each with a different win to stake ratio. The most common bet is a single number, which pays up to 35 times the amount wagered. A player may also choose to place a chip in the middle of two numbers, to bet on both; or to select a grouping of numbers, such as the reds, odds, or a particular section of the board.
There are many strategies that can be used to help players beat the house edge, but arguably one of the most famous is the D’Alembert System. Based on the theory of probability, the D’Alembert System is designed to take emotion out of the game, and make bets more methodical. The D’Alembert System can be used to increase the chances of winning on even money bets, such as red/black.
