Roulette Winning

Roulette is simple. This is one of its virtues. A gambling greenhorn can approach a table and play as well as a venerable veteran, by watching how others bet for a few minutes and receiving only the aid dealers who appreciate tips provide as a matter of course. This aside, myths about roulette abound. And more solid citizens want to believe them than you might imagine.

One such fiction holds there's a secret bet that gives players a 50-50 chance of winning. The operative word is "secret" and the myth is the implication the even chance of winning makes it a "fair" bet. Say you're at a double-zero table.

The wheel has 38 positions. Cover half of them, any way you want, to get a 50-50 probability of success. You could drop $1 each on 19 spots. Or $10 on a 12-number column and $1 each on any seven spots not in that column. Five three-number rows and one 4-number corner not overlapping those rows is another choice. The options are myriad.

The reason the 50-50 chance of success is no big deal is that the average profit when you win is less than what it costs when you lose. Make believe, for instance, you bet $1 on each of 19 spots. A hit pays $35. Subtract $18 for the spots that didn't hit for a $17 net gain. But losing costs you $19. The arithmetic is more complicated for non-uniform bets or wagers on combinations whose elements don't pay equally. But the conclusions are comparable.

Another myth is that you can trick the casino out of high-value comps if you and a cohort, who pretend to be strangers, play at the same table and make offsetting bets. An example might be $20 on Red and $25 on Black. The "theory" is that you're really only risking $5 except in the rare event that the ball lands in 0 or 00, but your combined rating is for $45 per spin.

Over enough spins, the house expects to earn the same from your action whether you bet $45 all on one color, or split between the two. So the $45 combined rating is correct. Strategies that ostensibly milk casinos for comps are never good ideas. You may earn a profit and get the comp as well. That's what gambling is all about. But you'll have paid more dearly than you think with the increased risk you took in flouting the laws of mathematics.