Beginners and expert roulette players would often ask the question, if it’s really possible to win at roulette. Of course, if you are the type of player who just want to hang around in a live roulette room, chatting with the croupier or with other players online, then you would not be minding whether you win or lose. However, a player who looks for fun and profit in every spin may seriously consider his probability of increasing his bankroll.
The Common Consensus
For a mathematician or statistician, roulette is not only difficult to win, but also close to impossible to beat in the long run. Sure, anyone has the chance to win at online roulette with a couple of games or more. But even these lucky ones may admit that they cannot hold on to their profit for too long.
If there’s anyone who can speak with great magnitude of truth in this universe, it would be Albert Einstein. And he supposedly once said: “No one can win at roulette unless he steals money from the table while the croupier isn’t looking.”
What he meant by this is that, there’s absolutely no mathematical trick that a person can use to win at roulette. Remember, we always said that each spin is part of an “independent trial process;” there’s no way that the previous outcome will influence the next result.
But then again, there are some people whom you might expect less to offer a much realistic answer to the question: can you beat roulette?
The Dealers
These hardworking casino employees believe that roulette can definitely be beaten. However, strict and rare playing conditions must be factored in. For example, in a brick and mortar casino, croupiers may refer to what is called the “wheel bias.” Basically, it is the physical defect of the roulette wheel which makes some numbers come up more often than the others.
Being in the frontline, dealers are also trained to spot professional roulette players who may go beyond what the prescribed gaming rules dictate and exploit these “glitches.” They work with casino consultants who provided them with the necessary training that could help them pick out these kinds of people in crowd.
Generally, croupiers have first-hand observation on how a game of roulette goes. For them, unless luck is really hard to come by, then it’s always possible to win the game.
The Pit Bosses
These nonchalant, frigid-looking individuals roam around the casino floor to oversee how the roulette tables are going. In land-based casinos, they monitor disputes, spot violations, and even check on how the dealers do their jobs. They make sure things are running smoothly.
When it comes to the probability of winning roulette, they might swear on what the dealers have to say. As long as the players follow the house rules, there’s always a chance for them to win the game.
The Casino Proprietors
A lot of casino owners lack knowledge about the games their establishments are offering. For them, their casino is nothing but a source of income. Their main concern is how they could bring in more people into their house and make money from them. But for the big boss who likes to get his hands dirty, every game, every player, every personnel, matters.
Hands-on owners, like the rest of his crew, may also believe that anyone has the chance to take home big roulette wins. However, it would be illogical for them to invest into a business where he shares an equal chance of loss or gain with his patrons. His house needs to lock in profits on top of the gross income. Otherwise, it won’t take long for him to file a bankruptcy. He needs to earn money and this is where things get complicated.
The House Edge
So, from where the casino mine its income? The House Advantage. The game, whether it is a European roulette wheel or an American roulette variant, doesn’t pay what your bets are worth. For example, in American roulette, there are 38 numbers in total (1 to 36, a single zero, and a double zero). The odds of hitting a straight up bet would be 37 to 1. However, if the player wins, the house only pays 35 to 1. A similar case happens on other combination bets. This little, yet highly significant discrepancy is the casino’s edge against the player; this is also what keeps these businesses up and running. You may always win but it’s still impossible to absolutely “break the bank.”
Should this fact stop you from playing online roulette? Absolutely not! Because even if this is the case, “the house can’t stop you from winning.”
If you want to learn more about house edge/advantage, you can go here.