Knowing Roulette Odds
Many people play roulette without a true understanding of the odds of the game or how they work. They know if they hit a single number they get a big payoff, and if they hit something more general like red/black or odd/even, they get an even money payout, but not all players understand why.
True Roulette Odds
A roulette layout is numbered 1 though 36, meaning each number should show up on average once every 36 times. For every time any specific number comes up, that number should not come up 35 other times, meaning the odds on a number should be 35-to-1. Lo and behold, that is exactly the payoff for hitting one number.
Similarly, hitting one of a two number spread is 17-to-1, and a four number spread 8-to-1. Hitting a number in one of the three columns pays 2-to-1. Hitting red or black pays even money for a 50-50 shot. Seems fair.
Casino Roulette Odds
But wait. We don't have a complete picture yet. This is because we have failed to account for the presence of the green zero and double zero spaces on the wheel. It is in these spaces that the casino house edge is found. The green zero is the where casinos makes money of roulette.
Resulting from these spaces, the odds of hitting any individual number is actually 37-to-1, not 35-to-1, and so on throughout the layout. The presence of the zeroes creates the House edge, which comes out to about 5.26 percent.
What to Know About Roulette Odds
You should know that not all roulette wheels have two zero spaces. Some wheels, known as European roulette wheels, have only one. Since the House gets its edge from the zero spaces, clearly a wheel with only one zero is much more favorable to the player. A one zero wheel cuts the House edge more than in half, knocking it down to about 2.36 percent.
Still many players choose the American table with the two zeros. Knowing the roulette odds and considering the fact that most casinos do offer the European version, this is a mystery. Or maybe, just a sign of lack of knowledge.