Yes, Roulette is a House game, probably more so than any other. But it’s so alluring in other ways besides being a quick and dirty way to win (or lose) your money. Some of my fondest gambling memories have been around the Roulette wheels in Vegas. There was the time my best friend picked two numbers in a row correctly (I made the bets; he doesn’t have the stomach for Roulette) and we blew the winnings on lap dances. Since Roulette is the only game I will play while drinking, it’s also the only game I’ve had the courage to pick up a woman while playing. Years later on our honeymoon, my wife, who doesn’t like gambling, hit lucky 7 on a twenty dollar bet. The look in her eye actually scared me; I envisioned the future trips to Gamblers Anonomous. Hmmm. How cheap are fares to Vegas?

When it comes to the pure math of it, this article is spot on. Roulette should be played for the enjoyment to be had, not the winnings (hopefully they are one in the same now and then). The money I walk into a casino with is already spent, and to expect otherwise is a desperate thought!

Yeah, bit of a run-on sentence there. Sorry about that. I think you responded to what I was going for with your example about the NY Times. I assumed (incorrectly) that all the articles on this site were in the context of “manhood”.

“I didn’t come to cheat”. -

I took the article to say that since you couldn’t work an angle on the game then you shouldn’t play. To me, that’s counter-intuitive to a sportsman-like “level playing field”. I may be misunderstanding.

Yes, to each their own. I find it fitting that the previous comment says “You can’t change Random…” as if that was a bad thing, yet it is exactly why I do like roulette.

Thanks again for hosting an educational and entertaining site.

Casinos like people to win – just not too much… It gives the people who lose something to aspire towards. They keep people drugged to stay, and make bad decisions through free alcohol. And finally, they comp winners a room because you are more likely to gamble in their casino if you are staying there – it gives them a chance to win their money back.

I like the lack of blame in roulette. When I gamble, I don’t want to be able to point my finger at someone and say “He’s the reason I lost”. I don’t like the idea that on a bad night in a casino I could turn into a sore loser. Because Roulette is purely chance, it leaves less of a bad taste in my mouth on a bad night. You can’t change Random…

I’m sorry, I’m afraid I missed that context. Kindly point it out to me.

Unfortunately, people get too hung up on the name of this site. Despite the name, not every article is about defining your manliness, any more than every article in the New York Times is about New York or every article on Askmen.com has it’s origins in interviews with men.

“If you’re looking for a game to exploit, remind me to leave you out of my golf plans. I didn’t come to cheat.”

Again, you’re reading things into the article that simply aren’t there. Who advocated cheating?

This article simply points out that if you’re going to the casino to have fun then it’s even more fun to play a game where you have a better chance of winning. Winning always ups the fun more than basically putting your money into a metaphorical paper shredder. And actually I would argue that it is indeed more manly to employ strategy in a game then to play a fixed game to feel like a big shot. But as you say, to each his own.

Now, aren’t we talking about the ART of manliness? Not so much the science? If we go the science route – don’t walk into a casino. The house wins. You lose.

Factor into your equations the mystique of the wheel of chance – an icon that calls to mind images of the Rat Pack, James Bond, and YOU standing there playing a game that spans continents and time. You, standing there, brazen enough to call how fate itself will play it’s turn. All with the same odds as those that have come before you and will go after you.

Those that enjoy the game know the unmistakable sound of the ball dropping into play and know the feeling of excitement as it bounces to it’s final decision. And, no, the experience is not the same as slots. With roulette you have a table of players to socialize with and a man (or woman) behind the wheel sharing a common experience in the same game.

No offense intended, but if you have played less than two spins, you don’t really qualify for experience points. Please, don’t try and tell me what fun is for me or anyone else. You can tell me the math and that the wheels are laser precise, but don’t tell me that I’m a fool because I like my bag more than yours. I’m sure I can find fault in your leisure as well.

Though it’s sparked quite a discussion thread, I believe the passionate responses stem from the one-sided slant of the post. You want to tell me to not play one game in a casino over another because of statistical risk in the context of defining my manhood? I’d like to see judgment reserved for things like ensuring your children aren’t fatherless or learning how to avoid a gambling addiction. Look at how well the circumcision post was balanced, for example.

I prefer that roulette can not be rigged. If you’re looking for a game to exploit, remind me to leave you out of my golf plans. I didn’t come to cheat. I’m not there to execute a sophisticated math strategy to beat the house or make money. I came to play, drink, look at women and pretend I’m a big shot for awhile. And knowing that the house usually wins makes it that much better when I do.

I pulled a friend away from playing a “Spin the Wheel” game at the Mirage in Las Vegas last week and pointed him toward Roulette. “It’s the same,” he told me, pointing out that betting on the lowest payout number was an even money bet. I patiently explained the differences between the two, while if there were 40 spots on the wheel, there weren’t 20 spaces that had his number, so he had worse odds. I also told him to notice the placement of the game, prime center traffic in front of the Beatles Love entrance, and that might give him a hint of the profitability of the game for the casino. He looked uncertain, but trusted my judgment.

Later on that night, he watched me take a beating at a blackjack table at the Bellagio, then watched as I took my remaining stack to a Roulette wheel and soon returned to a positive bankroll. “It’s an even chance, essentially,” I told him as I scooped up my winnings. “I either double my winnings or not. I stick to the outside bets and hope to double up, then take my winnings to a game where I can manipulate the chances more for a big win.”

That night, we were comped a room and that show for winning five figures between the both of us. Roulette has its place, for sure, but it’s not a game to play. It’s a last ditch effort to win.

What you are describing is not a new way of beating the wheel. As I mention in my post, it was, after the martingale system, the original way of beating the wheel. But every generation of modern wheel is built with more and more precision, and with greater attention paid to devices and techniques that enable the pit boss in charge of the wheel to “reset” the wheel, which means that at a push of a button, the wheel realigns and resets itself completely, clearing any and all discrepancy from the board. Some even keep track of roll history and adjust for trends delineated by wear on the board.The Roulette industry is swiftly catching up with the slot industry in the business of scientific precision.

The key to understanding why you should not play roulette is that aside from any mathematical system, betting structure, technique, pattern, or team play, you as a player are playing a game that is all things being equal, meaning you’re at your best, even. You can’t tip the odds in your favor in the long term. It is mathematically impossible. This means that you are a rational actor with a finite supply of money playing in a controlled and unchanging system of chance against another rational actor with an infinite supply of money. This means two things.

1. In the long term, if you continue to play, not only will you not win, you will end up in debt.

2. There is no realistic or rational way to predict a winning game under controlled or limited circumstances, meaning that unlike blackjack, where a winning system wins every time, in Roulette, a winning system has at most even odds of producing a positive outcome no matter the circumstances. This is true of any game where there is no capacity to exert non statistic control over the situation. No one can ever be good enough to beat the Law of Large Numbers.

Does this mean there are no winning systems? No. But those systems are not of a kind with a card system, or a chess strategy, or any other system of the kind. Because at their core, no mathematical justification has ever been forwarded and proven that Roulette systems should work more often than 50% of the time, and thus any exception to that rule is merely a small subset of a larger average wherein at best you come out with even money, except for the fact that Roulette has less than straight odds, and thus, while the system will work 50% of the time, losses in Roulette on a loss night will trend to exceeding the value of winnings on a win night.

The question is not can you make money. Strictly speaking, you can make money from the lottery, or slot machines. But if you choose to enter a casino and spend your hard earned money in a game of chance, I urge you to spend it elsewhere.