For starters, this is a bet made with one chip on all five numbers and it pays 6:1. What is special about this wager is that it comes with a higher house edge than the others, earning the name Sucker Bet among some gambling circles. This is the so-called Basket Bet, which is a bet on a cluster of five adjacent numbers, more specifically, on 0, 00, 1, 2, 3. There is a bet exclusive to American Roulette, which is not featured in the other versions. In terms of percentages (0.0526315*100), we come to the conclusion that the house edge for American Roulette is ~5.26%. Here we notice the larger difference in true and house odds. For example, the chance to win a Straight Up bet (single number) is 37:1, but the payout for that is 35:1.

This would normally not be an issue, but American Roulette uses the same payout ratios as European and French without adjusting them for the addition pocket, which complicates things for players. In this variation of roulette, there are 36 black and red pockets, as well as two green ones for the zero and the double zero. Similarly, we can calculate the house edge for American Roulette, which uses a 38-pocket wheel. This is also the case for French Roulette, which uses the same roulette wheel, payout ratios, and therefore the same odds and house edge. The difference between the winning and losing scenarios is 1 in 37, which constitutes the house edge.

Therefore, we come to the conclusion that the casino has an edge of 2.7% at European Roulette. Therefore if we take the formula and apply it, we will have the following equation: (19/18 – 1/1) * 18/37 * 100 = 0.027027027. In order to calculate the house edge, we will apply the following formula: (Odds Against Winning – House Odds) * Probability of Winning * 100 = house edge percentage. Like we mentioned above there is an 18 in 37 chance for us to win this bet, meaning that in 19 out of 37 we would lose. The payout for winning a bet on red is 1:1 but this is not reflected in the odds. That means there is a 1/37 (=0.027) chance of landing on green, in which case the casino keeps the bets. Placing an outside bet (e.g on red) gives you an 18/37 chance of winning, similarly for black. Firstly, we consider a European roulette table, so that there are thirty-six numbers which are red and black, and a green zero.

Roulette 8 possibilities