Best Roulette Bets – What Makes The Casinos Worried?
It’s quite logical really, the best roulette bets have to be the ones that the casinos dislike the most. Remember in all casino games including roulette there is a negative expectation, that is there is a probability that the player will eventually lose. Of course this doesn’t always happen sometimes people will win fabulous amounts of money and defy this expectation, the trick is to walk out of the casino when this happens – quickly, in fact if you’re up big time then run away. The simple fact is that the longer you play, the more you are subjecting your bank roll to this negative expectation and it will eventually catch up with you. The less actual bets you make the more chance you have of being a winner.
Many of course would argue (with some justification) that the minimum number of bets is actually none at all. But it is true that to maximise your odds of winning you’d be best to walk into the casino, place one large bet then leave immediately. It really doesn’t sound much fun and it would make for a pretty dull evening although of course that could really depend on the result of your one single large bet.
You see the casino are well aware that in the short term there will be fluctuations. You will see lots of wierd results and strange winning streaks in the short term, but experience tells them that these never last very long. The longer someone plays the more likely the expectation will be realised, if you bet indefinitely whatever your bank balance you will eventually lose. It’s the large, I mean really large single bets that really worry a casino – in a short term anything can happen, a few spins could easily go against the odds. This is what keeps the casino owner sweating at night and what actually is the best way to win.
So the Best Roulette Bets are Large Single Stakes
In essence yes, the way to maximise your potential of winning is to minimise the number of bets. Walking into a casino, putting your entire bankroll down on an even number spin and walking out whatever the result is the way to play. The casino seeks to outlast the player and ride out these small variations, one off large bets don’t allow them chance to do this. It is the very simple reason why a house has table limits, so they can reduce their risks to individual spins. The casino would much rather take your cash off you with a 1000 – $2 dollar bets than win it all of you in a single spin. For the simple reason they are far more likely to win in the long term scenario.
But of course knowing this is not likely to change most peoples behavior in a casino, after all who wants to put one bet one and then leave. Playing roulette online or off is supposed to be fun but knowing these expectations can make a difference to how people play. If half way through the evening you find yourself way up, then think to yourself the expectation at the start of the night was that you would lose. If you carry on playing you are giving that expectation more chance to happen.
How many times have you heard about some huge wins, when a player takes a casino for millions. These luck streaks happen but the only reason a casino needs to worry is if the winners stop playing, their negative expectation will catch up to them if they carry on. Of course they might continue their gambling at a different casino – but the players expectation will still be reached.
No you can’t enjoy roulette or most casino games by playing purely with these sort of tactics. Of course you can minimise the negative expectation against you, the advantage known as the house edge. In the case of roulette always play on European tables if possible, as they have one less zero than the American ones plus they normally allow En Prison or La Partage rules which further reduce the house advantage.
If you’re playing online then you can take that even further, there is one roulette game which has no advantage – it is completely equal 50-50.
Betfair’s Zero Lounge
…..has no zero on the wheel, and as such they offer by far the best odds of any online game anywhere. I’m not that fond of the actual roulette interface of this game but there’s no doubt it’s the place to play if maximizing your odds is your goal. You wonder how they make money, well in fact the Zero lounge has in fact lost money in many of the countries it operates in. The fact is that players drift away from the Zero lounge eventually and start playing the slots, video poker and all the games were the odds are back in their favor.
The zero lounge is a good place to try and win big money, but it’s not the place to test a system simply because you won’t get that advantage in any other place on or offline. The Zero lounge also relies on one other fact to push the odds back in their favor – most people are hopeless gamblers !
En Prison Roulette Rule
If you ever come across the En Prison Roulette rule at a casino, well you’re in luck. In fact a surprising number of roulette tables play this rule, which greatly improves the odds of you winning particularly if your strategy focuses on outside bets. The en prison rule is very similar to the surrender rule which is covered elsewhere on this site.
En Prison is Played in Monte carlo
Basically if you make an even money bet such as red/black or odd/even and the ball lands on the zero slot then you don’t automatically lose your stake. Instead the ball is considered – ‘en prison’ and is locked until the next spin of the roulette wheel.
Your stake is left where it is and if it wins on the next spin then your stake is returned (without any potential winnings), if the bet loses then you lose your stake. If another zero comes up then, the ball remains ‘en prison’ until there is a non-zero spin.
So just to summarize – when En prison rule is played, if a zero comes up then all even money bets are held over to the next spin. The fate of your stake is determined by that spin.
- If your bet wins, then you get your stake back without any winnings.
- If your bet loses then you lose your stake.
- If another ’0′ is spun then the stake remains on the table again.
So what does en prison actually mean to the odds you receive when playing roulette? Well it’s actually quite beneficial and turns roulette into one of the best bets in a casino. It actually cuts the house edge from 2.7% down to quite a low 1.35%.
It’s quite easy to play in fact unless the roulette table also offers the surrender rule you don’t have to do anything. The croupier will hold your stake by putting a little marker on it and either return it or take it on the next spin. Remember to retrieve it if you win and don’t want to let it ride on the same bet. Hope this post is useful to someone, somewhere who also enjoys playing roulette online like myself !
