Step up and spin the wheel young man!
Recently, on a long flight back to the USA from Japan, I had plenty of time to kill. The in-flight entertainment was awesome, but after about six hours of movies (Shin Godzilla rules!), I needed a change of pace. On the personal touch screens, they had gaming options as well. One of the games was a progressive online casino game named, appropriately enough, Al’s Casino.
The premise was simple enough; win enough money at the casino to purchase the building. When you reach a set amount, you unlocked the next casino. Each colorful casino has its own themes and the stakes get higher and higher. The ultimate goal was to win the titular Al’s Casino, named after legendary Chicago mobster Al Capone.
I confess my gambling knowledge is limited so, like a grandma, I stuck playing penny slots at first. It reminded me of our Top 10 reasons why Las Vegas is overrated list… Sure, I won a few cherries (stop snickering) and earned a couple of coins, but I knew the game wouldn’t progress unless I got into the games with better paying odds.
Roulette seemed easy enough, although my betting strategy was mostly inherited from Wesley Snipes and the 90’s action movie Passenger 57. Snipes’ trademark line of dialogue was, “Always bet on black.” Pretty good advice, I thought. I tried out some online roulette to practice for free, and after some observations here is what I learned.
Betting on roulette can be complex to understand, but the payouts can be worth it. An crucial piece of information to remember is this; Roulette is one of the highest paying out games you can play. For example if you bet a single number, say your favorite is 17, and you bet five dollars on 17, you’ll get paid out 35:1… That is a whopping $175.
There are some basics you need to know first.
Roulette has two different wheels, one with a single zero and one with a double zero. Single zeros are pretty rare these days, especially if you are playing online roulette. The wheel has numbers for betting and they are 1-36. These are split between red and black. The numbers are also displayed on board where players can bet their chips “inside” or “outside”. Combinations of both inside and outside bets are allowed too.
This is a typical double zero roulette board.
Inside bets = Only number bets, including the green zero or double zero. No Black, no Red, no first 12, second 12, or third 12, etc…
Outside bets = Any bets that do not include numbers, that includes: 1-18, Evens, Red, Black, Odds, or 19-36, etc…
If you’re a beginner, here are some tips to help you with roulette strategy odds. The first thing you can do is limit yourself to inside or outside bets. Pick you numbers that you feel are lucky. Imagine you are playing the lottery and look at the board. Remember, though, that even the board shows what has happened on the wheel before, don’t think it can predict a pattern. The roulette wheel is completely random on each spin of the ball.
Other beginner strategies include to sticking to simple 2:1 odds. That means betting on red/black or odd/even is just like flipping a coin. It’s 50/50 you might win. Hedging bets is a more advanced technique when you across two lines. Betting on a corner will cover four numbers or split the line and you’ll get two numbers. The payouts will decrease in odds when you hedge your bets.