Roulette — European, American & French
One extra zero doubles the edge — and one French rule almost halves it. The wheel matters more than the bet.
In roulette the bet you place barely matters — almost every bet on a European wheel carries the same 2.70% house edge. What matters is the wheel: European (single zero) is 2.70%, American (double zero) is 5.26%, and French roulette with the la partage / en prison rule cuts even-money bets to just 1.35%. Same game, very different maths.
On a single-zero wheel a straight-up number pays 35:1 but there are 37 pockets; a red/black bet pays 1:1 but only 18 of 37 win. Work through any bet and the expected loss is the same 2.70% — the zero is the house's cut, spread evenly across the whole layout.
The American wheel adds a second zero (00) for 38 pockets, raising the edge to 5.26% on essentially every bet (the five-number 'basket' bet is worse, at 7.89%). Choosing single-zero over double-zero halves your expected loss on the identical game.
On a French wheel, even-money bets (red/black, odd/even, high/low) get half the stake back (la partage) or held for one spin (en prison) when the ball lands on zero. That drops the edge on those bets to 1.35% — the best value on any roulette table.
Martingale and its cousins feel like a plan but never change the per-spin edge; each spin is independent and no number is ever 'due'. They trade many small wins for a rare ruinous loss. The only real choice is the wheel and the bet's rule — never a betting pattern.
Edge = 1/37 ≈ 2.70% (single zero)with a second zero it becomes 2/38 ≈ 5.26%Straight-up £1 on European roulette: (1/37)(+£35) + (36/37)(−£1) = −£0.027 → 2.70%. The same bet on American roulette: (1/38)(+£35) + (37/38)(−£1) = −£0.0526 → 5.26%. Identical bet, nearly double the loss, purely because of the second zero.
Education, not advice. This explains how the game works so you can read it clearly — it is not a system to beat the house. Every casino game carries a house edge; over enough play it wins. 18+.