What’s harder – conquering roulette or building a time machine? If you had to think for a bit before answering that, you realize how difficult roulette truly is to do professionally.
But it can be done.
There are actual professional roulette players in the world. Kim Larsen is known as a roulette pro and earned that name by appearing on a New York cable show and turning $500 into $10,000. He’s also been banned from many Vegas casinos.
What chaos theory does Larsen have to get so many casinos politely kicking him to the curb? We suggest you read his book, Rob the Casinos Legally, to get those answers.
But if you’re just starting to dip your toes in the roulette world we suggest you first know some basics.
Know Both American and European Roulette
If you plan on attempting to spin some roulette wherever you are in the world you need to know the rules in both American and European versions. Especially since Atlantic City, New Jersey offers the European version of the game.
American roulette has 38 numbered slots: a zero, a double zero, and numbers one to 36. European roulette has numbers one to 36 but only has one zero. Obviously, having only 37 numbers to choose from rather than 38 is much better for gamblers. The house edge in American roulette is about 5.26 percent while the edge for the Euro version is 2.70 percent – nearly two-times better.
Also, some European roulette tables have what’s called the “En Prison” rule – which is French for “in prison”. Basically, if a spin hits zero on any even money bets (like wagers in the 1-18 box), the player can either take back half their bet or leave the bet “en prison” for another spin. Keep in mind that if you do take another spin, you get nothing if it hits zero again. There is one more rule some European tables apply called the “La Partage” rule. This is similar to the “En Prison rule” only you get no shot at a second spin.
Obviously, players looking for the best odds available should try to find European tables whenever and wherever they play.
Know the Terminology and Odds
If you want to play some serious roulette you need to know how just about everything on the table works… and pays.