One of the other inside bets you can make in roulette is called a “split” bet. Here, you bet your chips on the intersecting line between any two numbers on the inside of the layout, which are paid 17 to 1. On 3-number “street” bets, you bet on the left sideline of the inside number that intersects an imaginary line going through the two numbers next to it. Street bets pay 11 to 1. The “corner” bets, where your chips touch the intersecting lines of four numbers forming a corner, pay 8 to 1.
The last inside bets in roulette are the 5-number bets and 6-number bets, where your chips are placed on the intersecting lines of 5 or 6 numbers. As with all the others, most would pay true odds if there were no 0 and 00 on the wheel. As is, they pay 6 to 1 and 5 to 1 respectively.
The 5-line or “Basket” bet is the only bet in roulette that would not offer true odds if there were no zeroes. To illustrate, both 5-line and 6-line bets pay 6:1, but 5-line only covers 5 numbers which makes it less likely to win. As a result, it’s the only bet with an RTP of 92.11% while all others have an RTP of 94.74% (This bet only exists in American roulette.)
As such, the 5-line bet would have lower RTP than any other bet in the game, regardless of the number of zeroes. Even if all other bets had true odds, this wager would still be around 2.7% behind.
Low-Risk Strategy
So, now that we know the basics of roulette, it’s time to play it.
The best way to play it is to have a viable strategy, preferably a low-risk strategy. The object is for you to either win or lose very slowly. Since the 0 and 00 serve as the Goddess of Wagering protecting the casino’s edge, you cannot expect to win playing roulette every time. But if you have a good low-risk strategy, you can experience more winning sessions than losing ones. Like in any casino game, there are high and low outcomes associated with roulette.
The Best Roulette Strategies
So, what are the best strategies?
Well, the optimal strategy would be the one that keeps you in action the longest, getting the most bang for your buck. That would definitely be one that keeps you making outside bets as opposed to inside bets.
On inside bets, the odds of winning any individual bet are considerably lower than when making outside bets. But when you hit an inside bet, you receive a much higher payout because they’re more volatile.
Fine-tuning that Optimal Strategy
So, to fine-tune that optimal strategy by betting outside, the way to go is placing bets that pay one-to-one or even money. You still are not being paid true odds on those even-money bets, but you would most likely lose your money slower than when betting inside numbers at higher odds.
This does not hold true all the time, but certainly most of the time. In the long run, if you play the same amount of money per spin, no matter how you divide up the bets, your element of ruin would be the same for every roulette optimal strategy. That’s because every bet in roulette carries the same built-in house advantage.
And, so, you might ask, What’s the element of ruin? That, my friends, is gamblers´ jargon for that unfortunate occurrence of going broke. But remember, by betting with the best optimal strategies, you will last a pretty good amount of time in action.