House Edge in Roulette

You know that in roulette game the house has an advantage. And if somebody sells you systems or any roulette information how to win the game you should know that they want to make money as the house edge is steady and can’t be lowered by any systems. We are ready to explain all about roulette house edge and give the gambling answers on how to reduce it. You just have to remember that at roulette games the house edge is stable unlike other games in which it depends on the slots or blackjack software provider and payouts.

In the original gambling rooms the house edge was set at 27-to-1, so the roulette player was able to win $27 on his $1 bet. Now the house advantage is determined by law and the probabilities are 34/1 or 35/1. It means that the player gets $34 or $35 on $1 bet, while the house keeps this initial bet. This is in fact how casino gets money.

The house advantage is viewed as a medium amount of money the gambler loses related to the type of bet he/she made. For instance, in American type of roulette the winner has the 1/38 possibility to gain 35 times the initial bet and the chance to lose is 37/38. Thus the house has the edge:

1*37/38 + 35*1/38 = 0.0526 (5.26% house edge)

In French or European wheel roulette its value is:

1*36/37 + 35*1/37 = 0.0270 (2.70% house edge)

The usage of 0 and 00 zero spaces on the roulette wheel and the corresponding slots on the number grid results in the existence of the house edge. In case of outside bets the roulette player loses when the ball rests on single or double zero pocket. If the gambler chooses the inside bets the payout of a single number is just 35-to-1 though the actual possibility to win is 37-to-1. For example, if you place $1 straight-up bet on all the numbers (from 1 to 36 plus 0 and 00) you can win $35 spending $38. It must be underlined that only when you place Five-number bet the casino edge is larger (7.89%), but this type of bet is possible only in American roulette.

It happens that house advantage can be mixed up with the "hold" which is the whole amount of money given for the chips without those chips taken away by casino. It is the actual amount of money the casino gains. Actually the hold for double zero roulette wheels is 21-30%, as the gamblers repeat the bets after every loss or win of a pretty part of their money. In gambling world it got the name “churning".

Since the total size of all bets is greater than that the player has in the bankroll, he or she may not lose or win all sum of money at once. In fact, the house advantage is applied not to the whole sum of money but to a definite type of bet, therefore the gambler can lose more than 5.26% (2.7%) of the initial amount. For example, in case the gambler begins the roulette game with $100, he may make $10 bets on black or red more than 10 times, as surely he wins. Totally, the gambler may make bet on black or red 20 times in the game. And the house edge increases 20*$10*5.26% = $10.52. That is why while the casino edge in this game is 5.26%, but nearly 10% of the money turns into the hold. In case the gambler goes on betting he runs the risk to lose all the money and give the casino 100% hold.