The Unofficial Guide to Casino Gambling
Squeezing and Stretching Risk at Roulette
Basil Nestor is the author of the new Playboy Complete Guide to Casino Gambling. This wonderful book teaches players how to avoid sucker bets and win more when playing gambling games. He is also the author of The Smarter Bet Guide series for video poker, slots, craps, and many other books about gambling. Basil's website is www.smarterbet.com certain way and squeeze the risk right out of roulette, or stretch it so thin that it has no effect. But it can’t be done. Fortunes have been lost by people who tried.
The following betting systems squeeze and stretch risk. They can be fun to play, but keep in mind that they won’t put you ahead in the long run unless you’re lucky.
So if you’re looking for strategies that actually lower or eliminate the house edge, see the next article in the series.
Betting two groups of twelve
This is a well-known system that is popular among people who like to see the dealer frequently pushing them money. The player bets an identical amount on two groups of twelve. For example, $10 on 1-12 and $10 on 13-24. If the ball lands on one through twenty-four, the bettor wins net $10 ($20 on the winning dozen less $10 on the losing dozen). A bet on two dozen wins 63% of the time. The wins and losses together add up to a predictable 5.26% average loss, but it’s certainly fun to “win” more than six out of ten times.
Betting one group of twelve and 1:1
A system that “wins” even more frequently is betting two units on a group of twelve and three units on a totally opposite 1:1 contest. An example would be $10 on 1-12 and $15 on 19-36. This combined wager pushes the risk into only eight numbers, 13-18, 0 and 00. A win either way pays an aggregate of $5. A loss costs the bettor $25. Losses occur 21 percent of the time, about one in five spins. Wins occur the other four times, so five spins usually will cost $5.
Of course you might win ten consecutive times and be ahead $50. Or you could lose three times in a row. That would cost you $75. One way or another, the wins and losses eventually will add up to a 5.26 percent loss on all your action.