So you've come looking for roulette strategies from the Guru huh? Not a problem friend, I'll share what I know. Playing roulette with smart strategies isn't that hard, but avoiding bad strategies can be a bit of a difficult task, especially with all of the horrible advice floating out there these days.
To start with, have a look at my roulette systems page, it should sort out any misconceptions you've had about playing with systems in the past. I'm not saying they should be completely avoided, but, well, they should be mostly avoided.
Good roulette strategies start with what we know, and what we know we can affect. As my roulette odds page states, the American version of the game has a consistent house edge of 5.26%. The only exception is the five-number bet, which has an even worse edge of 7.29%. These numbers may not be a very attractive to some, so let's see what we can do to cut the edge down to size a little.
When in Atlantic City, roulette players rejoice at the offering of 'surrender' on the tables. If you're a casino buff you may instantly think of blackjack when the word surrender appears, but it means something quite different in roulette. Although it's hard to find in Vegas, there are a few spots offering it outside of Atlantic City, but sadly, not near the Guru's house. Just ask at the table before you play and the dealers will let you know.
So what is it? Well it's a rule that only applies to outside bets that pay even money. This includes the red/black bet, odd/even, and high/low. The deal is, when the ball lands in 0 or 00, you only lose half of your bet instead of the full amount. You might be thinking that this is a rarity so how does it really help me? But the 0 and 00 are the main cause of a high house edge in the game of roulette. With surrender at the table, the house edge is cut dramatically to 2.63%.
The next thing you should look for in your quest for decent roulette strategies is a European roulette table. A European table (or European wheel) is identical to a normal American one, but only has a single 0, and no double zero slot. As I recently mentioned, those pesky 0's are the root cause of most of our woes at the roulette table, so getting
rid of one of them automatically increases our chances dramatically! The house edge drops down to a much more manageable 2.70%. Of course it's easier to find European roulette wheels in Europe, but it's not impossible in Vegas, and it's actually very easy on the Internet.
A roulette strategies page just wouldn't be complete if it failed to mention our last hint. There is a little known, and unfortunately rarely available rule called 'En Prison'. If you speak French, or can just guess well, you've figured out that this translates to 'In prison'. It's another rule that only applies to those even money outside bets, but it's an even better one than the rest. What happens is, if a 0 is rolled, your money isn't swept off the table by the dealers, but remains 'in prison'. Your bet outcome wont be decided until the next roll. If the imprisoned bet wins on the next spin, then you get your bet back, if it loses then, well, it loses.
En prison is almost exclusively found on European wheels. With en prison the house edge on the outside even money bets is sliced right down to 1.35%, a number that even blackjack fans would have to look at with a little respect.
So how have your roulette strategies changed after reading this site? I'm quite interested to know, drop me a line! In case you're looking for something more in the way of info on this subject, Aaron's Roulette has info about anything and everything about online roulette; rules, strategy, system, and play a free game. Check it out if you want. I highly recommend it.
