We Tackle Roulette

CINDY: Unveiling a new game for us to play more than we ever played it before!

ABBY: That’s right; for us, we are entering the roulette waters.

CINDY: Yes, we have played roulette off and on for 30 years but now we are going to concentrate on it as our main game. At least for some months. It will be number one. Certainly, we’ll still play craps and blackjack and some rare slot machines, maybe Pai Gow Poker too. But we do want to see how playing roulette will affect us. I mean there are players who have played this game for their entire casino careers.

ABBY: The house has a 5.26% advantage on the American game. That game has 38 numbers; one through 36 and 0 and 00. The payoff on a bet placed directly on a number is 35-to-one. You can see that the casinos short-pay the players by not giving them a 37-to-one payout, which is the true odds of the bet.

CINDY: There is another roulette game, called European roulette, that has 37 total numbers going from one to 36 with one 0 instead of two. The house edge on this game is 2.7%. This is the better game percentage wise but usually the minimums at those tables are higher than at the American double-zero [0, 00]. If given a choice and the payoffs on the European game come in for the player better than the American wheel, well, then go for it. A $10 European game is better than a $10 American game.

ABBY: The casino can get you coming and going. In just about every game at just about any time you must be aware that you face the house edge on all bets. That’s how the casino makes its money from casino players. Yes, casino are a business and that business is making money from players.

CINDY: There are a host of bets a player can make at the game. The player can bet directly on individual numbers – called straight-up bets – and the player will actually place these bets him or herself.

ABBY: There are bets that can incorporate many numbers and colors and propositions. These pay at reduced rates too. The house edge on the American wheel is still 5.26 percent and on the European game at 2.7 percent. You can’t escape those edges unless the casino is offering some kind of special on them. You won’t see too many of such specials at roulette because roulette players are loyal to the game.

CINDY: Really loyal!

ABBY: Now we will bet whatever we like and at the end of six months we’ll decide how we feel about the game.

CINDY: We know we face a house edge but how does the game make us feel when we play it? Is it a positive experience? Is it negative?

ABBY: Really is it fun? I am guessing prolonged play over some months will answer these questions for us.

CINDY: We have over long time periods played a lot of craps and blackjack. Now it is our turn to turn our attention to roulette as a primary game and play a lot.

ABBY: We will see what we will see and we shall share it with you.

CINDY: Next week we’ll begin our strategies.

ABBY: See you then.

This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net.