There is a strong element of chance to any game of roulette but, as any seasoned player will tell you, it always helps your chances to have some kind of strategy when you play. Here, we explain two of the most popular roulette strategies: the double zero and the single green. If you want to learn what these strategies are, why people choose them, and what chance of winning they give you, then simply read on!
What is the Double Zero Pay Out?
The double zero is a type of bet that you can only make with American roulette boards. European roulette boards have numbers into the thirties, and also a single zero. American roulette boards, however, as well as all of these numbers and the single zero, also have a double zero on them.
So, if you are playing on an American roulette board, you can place a bet on this double zero. Another version of this bet is to bet on both the double zero and the single zero at the same time.
Some roulette players like to spread their bets out further, betting on the double zero but also betting at the same time on various other numbers on the board. This can increase your chance of a hit, but the payoffs are smaller if one of your numbers does get hit. It can be so frustrating to spread your bets out across the board and then see the double zero get hit – if only you had bet everything on the double zero, you would have got a much larger payoff!
What is the Single Green Pay Out?
The color of the double zero on the roulette board is green. The color of the single zero is also green. Thus, the double zero is sometimes referred to as the ‘double green’ whilst the single zero is sometimes referred to as the ‘single green’.
When you bet on single green odds, you bet on this single zero. The hope is that the single zero will be hit! Again, it is also possible to bet on other numbers at the same time as the single green. Though, again, it is also frustrating when you spread your bets out like this only to see the single green get hit. If only you had betted entirely on single green odds at moments like this – you would be enjoying a much higher amount of winnings!
Why do People Choose to Bet on Double Zero and Single Green Odds?
The double zero and the single green are what give the house the edge over the players. A European board (which has just one single green zero) has a house advantage of around 2.7%, whilst on an American board (which has both double and single green zeros) the house has an advantage of around 5.6%. As such, the single and double zeros have become the focal point for roulette players who are interested in beating the house.
The popularity of betting on double zero and single green odds could just be because these zeros are clear indications of house advantage, and so the roulette player sees them as particularly significant squares to bet on! Choosing concrete strategies like these gives you an obvious method for playing roulette and stops you from feeling that you are simply betting at random.
Is betting on double zero and single green odds simply all a psychological phenomenon that gives you no tangible advantage? Perhaps. Read on to find out what the mathematical probabilities of winning when you use these betting strategies are.
Probabilities of Hitting with These Odds.
It is obvious that you have a slightly higher probability of hitting with a European roulette board, simply because there is no double zero and thus there are fewer slots in total on the board. However, when you bet on the double zero you have pretty good odds.
If you bet on the double zero, you have odds of 35 to 1. However, if you bet on both the double and the single zero at the same time, your odds rise to 18 to 1.
So, though the American board has the advantage of enabling you to bet on both green squares at once (with good odds of getting a hit), the European board offers you overall higher odds that you will get a hit on any given square.