There aren’t as many gambling games as roulette which have a history of a player winning big. Since it was first introduced over a century ago, roulette has allowed players to win big and spend their lives on money. However, were those players lucky, or is roulette more than just a chance?
Read below to find out whether you can win big in roulette through some tactic or if it is all about luck.
Is Roulette More Than Just a Chance?
If you have lost in roulette, you might be consoling yourself by thinking you were just down on luck. Most agree that roulette is all about luck since there is no way you can change where the ball falls on the slot. However, is roulette more than just a chance? What if there was a way you could win big even if you don’t have the best luck?
However, before determining if you require luck or skill to win roulette, you must first understand the game.
How is Roulette Played?
At any casino, you will see a roulette table. The roulette table consists of a roulette wheel and a betting side. The roulette wheel has slots made into it, with the number of slots varying depending on the version of the game.
Half of the slots are colored red, while the other half are colored black, with either one or two green slots. The wheel spins, and a ball is dropped on the wheel. Players have to bet on where they think the ball will fall. You can bet by placing your chips on the betting table, with numbers and different bets marked.
You can bet on which single number the ball will fall into, whether the number will be odd or even, or whether the slot will be red or black. The odds change depending on your bet.
So, how is roulette more than just a chance when you can not even influence where the ball falls? Isn’t it just guessing? While that is true, there are some ways you can increase your chances. To understand that, you must have a deeper understanding of the game.
Understanding Roulette versions and House Edge
Roulette has three popular versions: French, European, and American. The odds differ depending on which version you are playing.
French and European roulette are similar in that they each have 37 slots; 18 red, 18 black, and a single green zero slot. However, the house edge differs in both versions. European roulette has a house edge of 2.7%. French roulette has a lower house edge of 1.35% because it gives back 50% of the bet if the ball falls into the green slot.
American roulette has the worse house edge of all three versions, a whopping 5.26%. This is because the American version has an additional green double-zero slot, making the total number of slots 38.
Understanding Roulette Bets Payout
Is roulette more than just a chance, or can you influence it? You already know the European and French roulette versions can influence your winning, so you know roulette isn’t all about chance. However, you can further push your luck if you know about the bets and the payouts.
As we mentioned previously, you can place three kinds of general bets in roulette:
- On single numbers
- Red or black
- Even or odds
Depending on these bets, your odds can increase or decrease. Placing single bets gives you a one to 35 odds, which means a 2.7% chance of winning, which lowers to 2.63% if you play American roulette.
Alternatively, if you place a red/black or even/odd bet, you get one-to-one odds, which gives you a 48.65% chance of winning in European roulette and 47.37% in American roulette.
However, despite these general bets, you can also place various kinds of a mix of the three to increase your winning. These include:
- A Low/high bet, where players bet on whether the number will be less than or greater than 18. These bets give you the same odds as even/odds and red/blacks.
- A Dozen bet, where players bet on one of three sections covering 12 numbers; one to twelve, 13 to 24, and 25 to 36. Your odds increase to two to one.
- Similar to a dozen bet, you can place Column bet where you bet on 12 numbers in any one column. Your odds increase to two to one.
- A six-line bet, where you place bets on six numbers in two lines adjacent to each other, with three numbers in each line. This increases your odds by five to one.
- A Top Line bet is where you cover the zero, one, two, three, and four in European roulette or the first five numbers, including zero and double zero in American roulette. This increases your odds six to one.
- A split bet is where you place bets on two numbers next to each other and increase your odds from 17 to one.
- A square bet is where you place bets on numbers that form a square on the betting table, increasing your odds from eight to one.
- A street bet is where you place your bets on the grid line to indicate a bet on three numbers in a line, increasing your odds from 11 to one.
Hence, depending on your bet, you can get better odds of winning. However, remember that the better your odds are, the lesser your payout.
What Role Does Science Play
There are many stories of roulette winners, and not all of them were normal workers. Is roulette more than just a chance if the biggest winners in history were mathematicians or physicists? You can use your knowledge of the sciences to increase your chances.
While you can not influence where the ball falls, the wheel can. Most mathematicians who won big at roulette would study a roulette table to understand where the ball is most likely to fall. They involve the probability theorem and the conditional probability phenomenon to judge.
In simple terms, they gather data on a specific table, calculating that if the ball falls on a particular slot, it is more likely to fall next. They then make a bet according to their calculations. While there is no guarantee that they will win, the chances are significantly higher.
To Conclude
Is roulette more than just a chance? If you’ve read everything above, you can safely say it is not. While luck plays a major factor in your winning, you can always improve your own through different factors. Be it luck, making the right bet, using your knowledge of the sciences, or choosing the right version of the game, roulette doesn’t depend on any one factor.
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