An interesting topic to consider when playing roulette, online or offline, revolves around the question whether the player should put bets on as much as fewer numbers or to cover more parts of the wheel by wagering on more numbers. In a casino game which relies heavily on pure chance and mad luck, it’s hard to weigh in the decisions to make. However, there are experts known to swear on neither of the options.
At the bottom of everything, what we’re really talking about is bet variance. It is basically a statistical measure pertaining to the frequency of success given with a particular betting set-up. For you to get a better drift of concept, consider the discussion below.
High Variance Bets
One immediate example that comes to mind when talking about high variance bet is the straight up bet or the wager made on a single number. It’s considered high variance because of its equally high volatility. The probability for a single number, say for example, the lucky number 17, to come up in a European wheel is quite slim at only 2.7% only. But the pay-out is quite enormous at 35:1. Imagine, if you put £100 worth of chips on this single number, you’re expected to get back £3,500. That’s a one-time, big-time pay!
Low Variance Bets
On the other side of the coin, there’s the low variance bets. In this case, the player aims to cover as much as possible, plenty of numbers in the roulette game table. With this, he gets a higher chance of winning per round but the profit to make would be relatively low. Take for example this scenario: he decides to bet £1 on each of the 35 numbers. Any of his number is likely to pop out. Since the payout is 35:1, he’s getting his £35 back plus his £1 bet. When you take a look at it, his bankroll increases by a meagre £1.
If the idea of a slow, painful grind doesn’t scare you then I think this one will. The thing is you only afforded to cover 35 numbers, but there’s 37 in all (if we’re talking about European Roulette) or 38 (if it’s American Roulette). This means you have 2 – 3 unwagered numbers. Given the fact that there’s always an equal chance for all of the numbers to come out in every spin, it’s highly possible that the ball will fall into that uncovered pocket. The result is, you’d lose much of your payroll and it’s unlikely that you can recover from that unlucky round.
So Which One is Better?
As aforementioned, there are roulette game experts who advised against going either of the two pathways. Like them, we believe that it’s better for a roulette player to settle on a golden mean.
Knowing about these two extreme betting strategies can’t be discounted as something useless altogether as they can help the player makes sense of the range he’s in. The challenge now is to find that desirable mid-spot that sits between the two.
And that brings us to the mid-range variance. In this article [link to be added when reference article is already posted], we discussed thoroughly the three level of risk and reward which mostly govern how the players bet. In a nutshell, the three levels are: Low Risk & Low Reward Bets; Medium Risk and Medium Reward Bets; and High Risk and High Reward Bets. Each has their own respective type of betting strategies that a player can make, so check that article out.
Since what we’re looking for is the middle of the two ranges, then perhaps, there’s no need to mention that we should opt for strategies circling around the level of Medium Risk and Medium Reward. Wagers like the column bets are certainly perfect in this case.
But there’s still another way to go around the dilemma. Simply bet aggressively on high variance betting systems and quit early on once you’re winning. Otherwise, if you prefer the safer method, take methodical steps when doing the low variance systems.
Depending on your appetite for the day, each gameplay style will surely bring excitement and fun to your roulette gaming sessions.