How To Win At Roulette

Roulette is a game that attracts players from around the world. It is a game of chance, so statistics and probability are not going to give you the edge. The house advantage makes American Roulette one of the toughest games to win and even with a European wheel the house has a 2.63% advantage. If you enjoy the thrill of the game, the best Roulette strategy is to focus on playing to win and stay in the game, rather than playing to win a fortune.

Betting on Roulette

Inside Bets are tempting, as they offer the potential of a higher win. For an inside bet, you select your lucky number and place your chips on that number on the roulette table before the wheel is spun. You can also bet on two adjacent numbers by placing your chips on the line between the two chosen numbers. Inside bets can also be played as split bets between 3 or 4 adjacent numbers and in some casinos a Six Line Bet on six adjacent numbers is allowed.

Outside Bets generally offer odds of 1:1, so the focus is on reducing the chances of losing your money, so you can continue to enjoy being in the game. Outside bets can be placed on a colour (either black or red), an odd or even outcome or on a ‘column’ of numbers. Although you have a minimal chance of winning money with an outside bet, you have a much greater chance of winning each game.

Casino rules

Whether real or online, each casino will play slightly different variations of Roulette, so it is important to be clear on the rules of the game you are playing. Firstly find out if you are playing at an American or European table. The house advantage is halved on a European table, but you usually have to place a higher minimum bet.

Some casinos play French Roulette, which has three even money bets; rouge/noir (red/black), pair/impair (evens/odds) and manqué/passé (1-18/19-36) and the addition of La Partage or En Prison rules for these even money bets.

With La Partage, any time the ball lands on Zero, the money bet is split in two, with the player receiving half of their money back and the wheel being spun again. This means that if you are unlucky on the second spin, you have only lost half of your bet. It also reduces the house advantage to 1.35%.

En Prison is a variation on La Partage; if the ball lands on zero, the original bet is imprisoned, or held on the board for the second spin. If your number comes up, you win the original odds, if it doesn’t you lose. If the ball lands on a zero for a second time, different casinos play by different rules including a loss for all bets, double imprisonment or a win (return) of all bets.

Playing in a Real Casino

Whilst playing roulette online offers you no opportunity to improve your odds, some dedicated players have found ways to improve their chances in a real casino.

Roulette is governed by the laws of physics. As the spin of the wheel slows, the ball will respond by no longer spinning, but dropping and bouncing until it eventually lands in a pocket. Each roulette wheel is hand crafted, so the spin can be affected by minor imperfections in the wheel. This can give a wheel a particular bias. Regular visitors to a casino roulette wheel can study repeated spins and gain a slight advantage by recognising the particular bias of that specific wheel.

There are also players who have studied the spin technique of casino staff. Having spun the wheel regularly for long periods of time, they can become automatic in the force used to make the spin, which can also give a degree of bias.

Final Advice on Roulette

As with any casino game, the best approach is to decide on an amount you can afford to lose during your evening of entertainment. Some online casinos such as Claremonts Casino can help you stick to this limit, by capping the daily spend for any player and allowing you the option of setting your own limit within this cap.

It is easy to get tempted to carry on playing and spend more than you intend to when you are on a roll, so if you don’t want to formally limit your spend, ask a friend to help you stick to your plan. For more information on how to win at roulette and responsible gaming visit Claremonts Casino.