House edge is the numerical advantage that a casino has over players.
At the end of the day, casino sites are businesses dependent on earning profit, which is why rules and payout odds are engineered to give them a long-term advantage.
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European Compared to US roulette.
A European roulette wheel is numbered from 0 to 36 and has 37 potential outcomes.
American roulette wheels are also numbered from 0 to 36, but the presence of a double zero means that there are 38 possible outcomes that can occur.
When figuring out the house edge, you need to understand the number of possible outcomes.
And one of the most impactful instances is whenever you play American roulette, which features a 38th possible outcome to give the house an added edge.
The Basics of Calculating House Edge
There is a wealth of different calculations that can be made in roulette, which is why we’re going to keep things simple without getting too complex.
In American roulette, let’s assume that you are placing your bet on an even-money outcome, such as backing the ball to land on an odd number.
To obtain the house edge, you divide 1 by 19 for a 5.26% valuation.
That is the standard house edge for every bet in roulette except for backing cover 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 in a basket bet.
In this instance, the house edge rises to a less desirable 7.89%
When playing European roulette, the house edge is determined through dividing 1 by 37, which equates to 2.70%.
The beauty of European roulette is that the 2.70% house edge applies to every single bet.
Roulette Probability Matters
House edge can be misleading for some players, who can overlook that probability also plays a roll on each spin of the wheel.
You may have 2.70% house edge on every spin, but you are still less likely to win from a single bet over red or black.
In the following table, you can compared the payouts and probability of winning standard bets in European roulette compared to the American version.
| Bets | Payouts | European probability | American probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | 35:1 | 2.70% | 2.63% |
| Two numbers | 17:1 | 5.26% | 5.26% |
| Three numbers | 11:1 | 7.89% | 7.89% |
| Four numbers | 8:1 | 10.53% | 10.53% |
| Six numbers | 5:1 | 15.79% | 15.79% |
| 1 to 12 | 2:1 | 32.40% | 31.58% |
| 13 to 24 | 2:1 | 32.40% | 31.58% |
| 25 to 36 | 2:1 | 32.40% | 31.58% |
| 1 to 18 | 1:1 | 48.60% | 46.37% |
| 19 to 36 | 1:1 | 48.60% | 46.37% |
| Red | 1:1 | 48.60% | 46.37% |
| Black | 1:1 | 48.60% | 46.37% |
| Odd | 1:1 | 48.60% | 46.37% |
| Even | 1:1 | 48.60% | 46.37% |
House edge is not something you frequently have to consider in roulette.
After learning that European gives you a greater advantage compared to US, you know to stay away from the double-zero and refuse to strengthen the house’s position.
In addition, you should also consider the probability of the bets that you stake. From the list above, you can see that the fewest numbers have the lowest probabilities.
They will deliver much better payout odds, but you can go bust without adopting a more complex betting strategy than backing single numbers.
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