PLAYER STRATEGY
ROULETTE: Cashing in on Half-back Roulette should need little introduction.
Holland: Same rule as Berlin, except if zero is hit
old could understand and play however;
imprisoned. In this case two consecutive wins are
It is a simple game of luck any 10-year-
knowing the house edge and a few basic facts can help stretch your winnings.
To get started, there are two basic wheel
two consecutive spins, the bet becomes double necessary to release the bet. Any further zeros result in a loss. This results in a house edge of 1.37% on even-money bets.
variations that can greatly affect the house
Hamburg: If the ball lands on zero, half of all
number of zeros on the wheel. In almost
house edge of 1.35%.
edge. These variations have to do with the all cases, there are either one or two zeros
on a roulette wheel and some casinos offer different variations of what happens when it hits. While the single zero wheels are
most common, try to stay away from the
double zero wheels if possible as the extra zero can cost you in the long run.
Some casinos offer what is called Half-
Back, where the player loses only half their wager on even money bets when the ball
lands on zero or double zero. The chart on this page shows the house edge based on
four combinations. Single zero, Half back, even money bets and all other bets.
European roulette wheels generally feature just one zero, plus the half-back rule on even money bets (often known as “en
prison”), or some variation. Following are
the unfavorable double zeros and no half-backs on losses. However, there are exceptions. In
Atlantic City, the double-zero wheels feature the half-back rule. There are also plenty of singlezero wheels in Atlantic City, but they don’t
feature the half-back rule. Las Vegas has several
single-zero wheels around town, often with high minimums (but not always; Nevada Palace and
Stratosphere have run low-minimum single-zero games for several years now.) The Grand Casino in Tunica also features a single-zero wheel.
The best rules can be found at select high-end
Las Vegas casinos (e.g., Bellagio, Mirage, etc…), which offer single-zero roulette with the halfback rule. Strategy
Berlin: If the ball lands on zero, all even
play single zero rather than double zero when
spin results in a win, the bet is released and returned to the player without winnings. Otherwise the bet is lost including on a subsequent zero. This results in a house edge of 1.39% on even-money bets.
with favorable rules. Most important is to possible. This may sound obvious, but on
occasions where both are available side by side. Players will usually be split between them, the
double-zero players are oblivious to the fact the casino edge is cut almost in half just a couple of
steps away. If the half-back rule is in force, make even-money bets only. Always stay away from
the 5-number combination bet offered in double18
| G A M I N G A N D D E S T I N AT I O N S . C O M
Michael “the Wizard of Odds” Shackleford is the author of is the author of Gambling 102 covering the best proven strategies for all casino games. He holds a degree in mathematics/ economics and is a prominent gambling consultant and acclaimed computer programmer.
Most roulette games in the United States feature
The only strategy in roulette is finding wheels
spin is used to resolve the bet. If the next
MICHAE L SHACKLEFORD
even-money bets are returned. This results in a
some other rules you might come across. money bets are “imprisoned.” The next
by
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