Roulette Odds Red Black Green
A European Roulette table has one zero (green), 18 red and 18 black slots. In total there are 37 slots for the roulette ball to land on. The odds that the Roulette ball will land on red is 18/37 = 48.6%. The odds that the ball will land on red two times in a row is 48.6% x 48.6% = 23.6%. European (French) roulette: numbers from 1 to 36 (red or black) and 0 (green) American (double zero) roulette: numbers from 1 to 36 (red or black), 0 and 00 (green) A small ball is thrown into a spinning roulette wheel, and players bet on the number where they think the ball will land. Players can bet on an individual number or on many.
The roulette odds and house advantage you can expect depend on a lot of different factors. Different types of rules attached to online roulette will affect how much you can expect in payback, while different bets also come attached to different odds. Learning about these differences will help you to choose the type of online roulette that suits you the best.
Online real money roulette makes for an outstanding simulation of regular roulette as it is played in land-based casinos. You still get the same exciting thrill of seeing if the ball is going to land in one of the spots covered by your bets.
In the following article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the odds and house advantage of online roulette. We’ll go over the factors that affect these statistics while also comparing online roulette to other casino games in this department. Finally, we’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions surrounding this aspect of online roulette.
Return to Player and House Edge of Online Roulette
When you hear the terms return to player (or RTP) and house edge in reference to a casino game, keep in mind that they are essentially inverse terms to one another. RTP measures what a player’s bankroll will be expected to look like after an average session. House edge measures what the casino, or, in the case of online roulette, gambling site, can be expected to take from the player.
In the case of online roulette, there are two basic styles.
- European-style roulette features an RTP of 97.3% and a house edge of 2.7%.
- American-style online roulette sits at 94.7%, with a house edge of 5.3%.
How RTP and House Edge Affects Your Bankroll
Let’s say that you entered a session of online roulette with $1,000 in your roulette bankroll. If you bet all of that money during a session of European-style online roulette, you can be expected to have $973 at the end of the session, with a $27 loss. By contrast, in the same scenario with American-style online roulette, you’d be looking at a bankroll of $947, which is a $53 loss.
Keep in mind that every gambling game has a losing expectation. If that weren’t the case, gamblers would be able to bankrupt gambling sites and casinos.
Short Session vs. Long Session
When you’re talking about RTP and house edge, you have to realize that they are only averages that are based on the odds of winning spins in online roulette and the payback for those spins. They do not necessarily dictate what will happen, especially in a short session. That’s where luck will dictate the outcome of the action more than anything else.
Online Roulette RTP vs. Other Casino Games
One good rule of thumb with gambling games and RTP is that the easier the game is to play, the less it can be expected to return. In the case of online roulette, that is the case to an extent. It falls behind what you could expect from games like video poker or blackjack, games where there is more of a strategic element involved.
That said, online roulette features a higher RTP than many casino games, including online slots, where the edge roulette has is significant. This is especially the case if you can find games with special rules that benefit the players, which we’ll detail in the next section.
Rules That Affect the Odds and House Advantage
You should go into gameplay knowing that not all online roulette games are the same. Not only is there the major difference between American and European Roulette styles, but there are also a few rules that will affect what you can expect to return from the game.
American vs. European Roulette
The main difference between these two styles of online roulette are the number of spaces on the wheel. In European online roulette, there are 37 spaces: 18 red, 18 black, and one green (zero). By contrast, American online roulette features 38 spaces: 18 red, 18 black, and two green (zero and double-zero).
The number of green spaces is crucial because these are so-called “house” spaces. That means any even money bet on the board, such as odd/even or red/black, is an automatic loser if the ball lands in one of these spaces
Hence, European online roulette is much better for players since only one of these house spaces is included. The odds on every other bet slightly improve as well because of fewer spaces on the European wheel. These differences are responsible for the differences in odds and house advantage between European and American styles.
La Partage or Surrender
As we said above, green spaces on the online roulette are for the house, which means you’ll lose any even money wager if the ball lands on such a number. Yet some online roulette games offer consolation of sorts in these situations with special rules. La partage, in European-style, or surrender, in American-style, are two different names for the same rule.
When this rule is in place, you will only lose half your bet if you made an even money wager and the ball lands on a green space. The other half is returned to you. Take a look at the effect that this will have on expected return.
| Style/RTP | Without Surrender | With Surrender |
|---|---|---|
| European | 97.3% | 98.6% |
| American | 94.7% | 97.2% |
Roulette Imprisonment
Imprisonment is sometimes referred to as “en prison,” in part because it is generally only found in European-style online roulette. This is another rule that comes into play when the ball lands in a green space and you’ve made an even money bet. When this happens, your bet is said to be in prison, meaning that you won’t lose it just yet.
Instead, an imprisoned bet stays in place for the next spin.
- If that spin lands on one of the numbers you originally had covered with the bet, you get the amount of the bet back.
- But if it lands on an uncovered number, you would then lose the bet.
With imprisonment in play, your RTP rises from 97.3% to 98.6%. The bottom line is that you should strive to play online roulette games with either surrender or imprisonment in place, unless you have no interest in making even money bets.
Odds and Payback on Individual Online Roulette Bets
It’s important to realize that your RTP and house edge for individual wagers on a roulette board are pretty much the same as they are for the overall game. Roulette is unique in that sense, in that the balance between risk and return is so symmetrical.
Here is a look at the different bets available to you in online roulette, in terms of the amount of numbers covered and the payback you can expect.
- Single number (straight-up): 35 to 1
- Two numbers (split): 17 to 1
- Three numbers (street): 11 to 1
- Four numbers (corner): 8 to 1
- Five numbers (basket): 6 to 1
- Six numbers (six line): 5 to 1
- 12 numbers (columns, dozen): 2 to 1
- 18 numbers (odd, even, red, black, 1 to 18, 19 to 36): 1 to 1
With the exception of the basket bet, all of these bets, when looked at individually, feature the same return to player as the entire game as a whole: 97.3% in European style with one green space, and 94.7% in American style with two green spaces. The only difference is the “basket bet” (on 0-00-1-2-3) in American online roulette, which brings in a lower RTP and should generally be avoided.
Different Online Roulette Bets and Variance
Of course, the odds on these bets will do different things to your bankroll if you use them. For example, if you constantly make even money bets, your bankroll will feature relatively little variation. Any rises or falls above the original base level will be minimal.
But if you go with straight bets, your bankroll will go on a much different ride. You’ll be prone to long losing streaks, since your chances of hitting that bet will be only 1 in 37 or 38, depending on which style you play. The other side of the coin is that, if you can hit a few of these bets in short succession, your bankroll should soar.
These examples give you an idea of different variance levels attached to different online roulette bets. When you’re sticking to low-variance bets, you can generally play for a long time with a small bankroll. With high-variance bets, you’ll run more of a risk that your bankroll will disappear in a hurry, although you’ll have more chance for quick winnings in a hurry.
FAQ About Roulette Odds and House Advantage
Is There Any Strategy I Can to Improve My Online Roulette Odds?
One of the things that you have to accept when playing online roulette is that you won’t have any control over the outcome. All you can do is spin the wheel and hope to get lucky on where the ball lands. But trying to guess where that ball lands and making bets based on those guesses won’t help you out much.
The outcome of individual online roulette spins is based on random number generator software. This software ensures that each spin will be completely random and unpredictable. As a result, you can’t hope to take advantage of any patterns or trends, because they really don’t exist.
Can I Use a Betting System to Decrease the House Edge of Online Roulette?
Since they can’t predict the outcome of the bouncing digital ball, many people try to improve their online roulette chances by using a roulette betting system. Proponents of these systems believe that there is a way to outsmart the game, in a way. But that just isn’t possible.
The RTP and house edge of online roulette doesn’t change, regardless of what you bet and when. If anything, following a betting system might get you in trouble if you find yourself needing to bet more than the limits allowed by a particular gambling website. You can use a system if you like it, but don’t think it will improve your results.
How Will Betting Bonuses Improve My Online Roulette Odds?
Betting bonuses are one method you can use to improve your potential payback. The best online gambling sites will use them as a way to secure your business. These bonuses might come in the form of signup bonuses or VIP perks for frequent play.
When you factor these in, you can slightly raise the RTP. In the case of a game like online roulette, that little boost can actually be quite valuable.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we hope that the odds and house advantage for roulette are clearer to you now. If you understand how the game works, chances are you’ll enjoy your experience much more.
By Ion Saliu, Founder of Roulette Mathematics
This question was posted in mathematical newsgroups (alt.math.recreational, alt.math.undergrad, alt.sci.math.probability): 'Winning and Quitting on Red/Black in Roulette'.
- 'Obviously in roulette betting on in the long run you are going to lose your money but at some point chances are you'll be in profit. To take an extreme example if you had $1000 you could reasonably expect to be up $1 at some point. Is it possible to generalize this? I want to win W dollars at which point I will quit. How much cash C would I need to have probability P of succeeding? Let's say I'm betting on a 37 number roulette wheel (18 red 18 black and one green 0)?'
On the surface, the best probability for the roulette player to be ahead is in one trial (spin): 48.6% to win (versus 51.4% to lose), as far as even-money betting is concerned. I don't agree that it is the best strategy (betting all your bankroll on one spin).
Theoretically, no bankroll will put a player ahead guaranteed, IF flat-betting and playing very long consecutive sessions. There are moments, however, when the roulette player can be ahead by at least one betting unit. Even in even-money bets, the player has a good chance to be ahead by at least one unit after 5, or 10, or even 100 spins. But more than 20 spins are NOT recommended; the probability (odds) to lose go(es) above 50%! Think about it!
The main thing, mathematically, is the number of player's wins in N trials. To be ahead, means the player has won at least one more roulette spin (number of successes) than the number of losses in N trials. The question then becomes:
'What are the probabilities for the player to be ahead in various numbers of trials?'
Everybody can use my probability software SuperFormula, option L: At Least M successes in N trials.
Winning probability: p = 18/37; M must be at least (N/2) + 1.
Here is a number of cases from the player's perspective.
The figures are applicable to all even-money roulette bets: black or red; even or odd; low or high (1-18 or 19-36).
1 trial (spin)
- probability (odds) to win: 48.6%; odds = 1 in 2.05
- probability (odds) to lose: 51.4%; odds = 1 in 1.95
(the probability to lose is 19/37; adding zero to unfavorable cases).
2 trials (spins)
- probability (odds) to win 2 of 2: 23.7% (1 of 2 doesn't mean 'being ahead')
- probability (odds) to lose 1 of 2: 76.3%
3 spins
- probability (odds) to win at least 2 of 3: 48%
- probability (odds) to lose at least 2 of 3: 52%
10 spins
- probability (odds) to win at least 6 of 10: 34.4%; odds = 1 in 2.91
- probability (odds) to lose at least 6 of 10: 41.1%; odds = 1 in 2.43
20 spins
- probability (odds) to win at least 11 of 20: 36.5%
- probability (odds) to lose at least 11 of 20: 46.2%
100 spins
- probability (odds) to win at least 51 of 100: 35.5%; odds = 1 in 2.82
- probability (odds) to lose at least 51 of 100: 56.8%; odds = 1 in 1.76.
It's getting worse for the player...
The roulette strategy (or system) is a totally different ball game! But there are professional gamblers out there, including roulette players! They must have strategies, some roulette systems deduced from some figures like the ones above! The player can be ahead at any point in the game. If so, maybe it's time to move to another (or casino) table: It improves the odds of winning!
Always keep track of the losing and winning streaks. Be strong and put an end to a winning streak. You are ahead, you quit the roulette table. Go to another table and wait until you are ahead. The bankroll is of the essence: It must assure going through long losing streaks. Divide the streaks in 10 spins or 20 spins. Never fight aggressively short or mid-term losing streaks. This is the best approach for those who do not know Ion Saliu's casino gambling systems. A good approach to gambling is the next best thing to a good gambling system! Applicable to blackjack and baccarat, too!
Axiomatic one, everybody knows that the casinos have an edge or house advantage (HA) in all the games they offer, roulette including. The house advantage is created by the payouts in rapport to total possibilities for the respective bet. We can apply this simple formula based on units paid UP over total possibilities TP:
(always expressed as a percentage.)
For example, in single-zero roulette, the one-number (straight-up) bet has payout of 35 to 1. The to qualifier is very important: the casino pays you 35 units and they give you back the unit you bet; thus, you get 36 units. There are 37 possibilities in single-zero roulette: 36 numbers from 1 to 36 plus the 0 number. Therefore, HA = 1 – (UP / TP) = 1 – (36 / 37) = 1 – 0.973 = 0.027 = 2.7%.
Let's calculate HA for the 1 to 1 bets: black/red, even/odd, low/high. HA = 1 – (UP / TP) = 1 – (2 / 2.055) = 1 – 0.973 = 0.027 = 2.7%. There are little differences among bets depending on how many decimal points we work with in our calculations.
The point is, the casinos have an advantage, or the players have a disadvantage. Nonetheless, the players' disadvantage is far better than what they face in state-run lotteries. Yet, most casino gamblers lose big, including at roulette tables. They do not have sufficient bankrolls to withstand long losing streaks.
However, around 45% of the roulette numbers lead the gamblers to profits in a few thousand spins. That is, with a sufficient bankroll, a player has a pretty good chance to make a profit, even if playing a random roulette number, or a favorite number. I analyzed about 8000 roulette spins from Hamburg Spielbank (casino). Quite a few numbers ended up making a profit: roulette systems, magic numbers.
By contrast, the more lottery drawings a player plays, the higher the degree of certainty of a loss. Let's make a comparative analysis to the roulette long series above (spins: total roulette numbers, 37, multiplied by 200). If playing the pick-3 lottery for some 100,000 drawings, it is guaranteed that all pick-3 straight sets will be losers. Some numbers will hit up to 3% to 5% above the norm — but that is not nearly enough to assure a profit. A frequency of 3% to 5% above the norm leads to profits in roulette, however.
Ion Saliu's Paradox and Roulette
Ion Saliu's Paradox of N Trials is presented in detail at saliu.com, especially the probability theory page and the mathematics of gambling formula. If p = 1 / N, we can discover an interesting relation between the degree of certainty DC and the number of trials N. The degree of certainty has a limit, when N tends to infinity. That limit is 1 — 1/e, or approximately
0.632....If you play 1 roulette number for the next 38 spins, common belief was that you expected to win once. Not! Non! Only if you play 38 numbers in 1 spin, your chance to hit the winning number is 100%. Here is an interesting table, which includes also The Free Roulette System #1 presented at the main roulette site.
The maximum gain comes when playing 38 numbers in one spin: 36.3%. Obviously, it makes no sense to play that way because of the house advantage. On the other hand, a so-called wise gambler is more than happy to play one number at a time. What he does is simply losing slowly! Not only that, but losing slowly is accompanied by losing more. That cautious type of gambling is like a placebo. A roulette system such as Free System #1 scares most gamblers. 'Play 34 or 33 numbers in one shot? I'll have a heart attack!' In reality, the Free Roulette System #1 offers a 28.8% advantage over playing singular numbers in long sessions. That's mathematics, and there is no heart to worry about, axiomatic one.
Roulette Odds Red Black Green Stripe
You can also use SuperFormula to calculate all kinds of probabilities and advantage percentages. The option L — At least M successes in N trials is a very useful gambling instrument. If you play 19 numbers in one spin, the probability to win is 50%. If you play 19 numbers in 2 consecutive spins, the probability to win at least once is 75%.
Editor's note
• In an apparent change of heart, the Hamburg casino (Spielbank) offers online roulette results for free. The new link is (for the time being!):
www.spielbank-hamburg.de/spielsaal/permanenzen.php4
• • Real-life roulette spins are also available from the Wiesbaden, Germany, Casino (Spielbank)
www.spielbank-wiesbaden.de/DE/621/Permanenzen2.php: Wiesbaden Spielbank Permanenzen
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