Roulette House Edge Overview
Every casino game has gives players certain probabilities for winning as well as it has its advantages over players. Games of skill and games of luck have different advantages as they depend on odds of the game. It has been calculated that those games of skill that requires lots of training and skills mastering have higher chances of winning for players comparing to games of chance. Roulette is one of the games with the highest house edges as it is pure game of luck. Let's have a close look at the roulette house edge and understand it.
What is House edge?
House edge is simply the general advantage of a casino over a player. In other words it is the difference between true odds of roulette and those odds that are actually paid by the casino in case of winning. House edge is also understood as mathematical house advantage or the amount of money lost by a player when betting on average.
Roulette house edge is different in two main types of the game: American and European roulette. Why it is so? American roulette wheel has two zero slots whereas European roulette wheel has only one zero slot. That makes the odds of winning in American roulette lower and the roulette house edge higher. American roulette odds are 1:38 that make the 5,26% house edge comparing to 2,70% house edge in European roulette with 1:37 odds.
How roulette house edge is calculated?
It is easy to understand how the roulette house edge is calculated if know the formulas. Roulette payouts influence the roulette house edge greatly. If a player places the bet on single number to get the higher payout he/she can get the reward of 35:1 whereas the probabilities of losing are 1:37 or 1:38. The difference between odds of winning and losing makes the house edge.
The house edge in American roulette variant is calculated as [37/1 - 35/1] x 1/38 x 100% = 5.263%.
The house edge in European roulette variant is calculated as [36/1 - 35/1] x 1/37 x 100% = 2.703%.
It is important to keep in mind that the roulette house edge is the same for any kinds of roulette bets.
