2006-12-07 17:44:37 · 3 answers · asked by chezatoc 1 in Games & Recreation ➔ Gambling
Some good information on the link.
It basically stems from the odds they pay you versus the chance of winning. This house edge is created with the introduction of the zero and the double zero. The latter is generally an American tradition. The rest of the world tends to have no double zero which makes the house edge around 2.6%
2006-12-07 18:42:01 · answer #1 · answered by ZCT 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To simplify everything wikipedia has, the fact is that an American roulette board has 38 spaces. 00, 0, and 1-36. The payout is 36 to 1 (35 to 1 plus your original bet).
The extra 2 spaces divided by 38 is equal to .0526 or 5.26%. Without these 2 extra spaces and the same payout, the game would be considered fair as you would be expected to win 1/36 tries and get paid 35 times your bet plus your original bet. But of course casinos operate to make money and the house always wins ;)
Hope that helps.
2006-12-08 01:53:19 · answer #2 · answered by thematador81 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
See this Wikipedia article, which has the calculations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roulette
2006-12-08 01:49:39 · answer #3 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋