Game-Show Roulette

How the multiplier works

Before each spin a random set of one to five numbers receives a multiplier, typically 50×, 100×, 200× or 500×, announced with lights and a presenter. If the ballequipmentBallThe small ball launched along the track against the rotor. Modern balls are ivorine or Teflon, 18–21 mm.Read full → lands on one of those numbers and you have a straight-up chipmoneyChipA token representing a fixed amount, placed on the layout to make a bet. Also: check.Read full → there, you are paid the multiplier on that chip instead of the base payoutmoneyPayoutWhat a winning bet returns, quoted as “X to 1” on top of the returned stake.Read full →. Every other bet, and every straight upbetStraight upA single number, pays 35:1.Read full → on a number without a multiplier, is paid at the table’s standard rates.

How the edge moves

Cutting the straight-up payout from 35 to 29 costs 6/37 of EV, about 16% of the stake per spin on straight ups. The multipliers give some of it back, on average, in rare large wins. The result is a straight-up bet with far higher variancemathVarianceA measure of how widely results spread around the expected value. High for straight up, low for even-money bets.Read full → and a similar or slightly worse expected valuemathExpected valueThe average result per bet over the long run. −1/37 of the stake for every standard European bet.Read full →. The outside betsbetOutside betA bet on the boxes surrounding the grid: dozens, columns and even-money bets.Read full → are untouched in most formats, so a player who bets redbetRedEven-money bet on the 18 red numbers. French: rouge.Read full → is playing ordinary European roulettevariantEuropean rouletteSingle-zero wheel, 37 pockets, house edge 2.70%. The canonical model on this site.Read full → with a light show.

European Roulette

The arithmetic, roughly

Suppose on average the multipliers add back 5.9/37 of the stake across all straight-up bets. The player gave up 6/37 and got 5.9/37: a net extra cost of 0.1/37 ≈ 0.27%, so the straight-up RTPmoneyRTPReturn to player: the share of wagers paid back on average. European roulette: 97.30%, which is 100% minus the 2.70% house edge.Read full → is about 97.0%, close to the 97.1% that typical formats publish. Better formats, with richer multipliers, land close to 97.3%; poorer ones, or those that also trim dozensbetDozen1–12, 13–24 or 25–36, pays 2:1.Read full → or add side betsbetSide betAn optional extra wager attached to the main game, usually on a streak, a bonus event or a jackpot. Almost always dearer than the standard bets.Read full →, fall to 95% or below. The game publishes the number; read it.

What to look for

Published RTP per bet type. Whether outside bets are paid at classic rates. Whether dozens or columnsbetColumnTwelve numbers in one vertical column of the layout, pays 2:1.Read full → have been altered. Whether there are side bets, which often carry edges of 5% or more. Whether the maximum multiplier is capped per spin or per player. If the game does not publish RTP by bet type, assume the straight ups are the expensive part and bet outside.

Roulette Side Bets

Three price tags for one idea

The makers publish the base payout and the RTP, never how often each multiplier comes up. Those two figures are enough to see how much of the straight-up bet rides on the lightning. On a Lightning Roulette table the plain 29 to 1 returns 81.1% of the stake and the multipliers carry the other 16%. XXXtreme Lightning cuts the base to 19 to 1, which alone would cost 45.9%, and lets up to ten numbers carry multipliers as large as 2,000×. Gold Vault Roulette drops 5 to 20 gold bars a round worth 50× each, more when stacked, over a base of 24 to 1. All three publish about 97.1% on straight ups and 97.30% on everything else: the same price, with more and more of the return packed into rare wins. A multiplier of 50× pays 49 to 1, because the multiplier counts the stake you get back. A Nevada version on a double-zerowheelZeroThe single green pocket that no even-money, dozen or column bet covers; the source of the house edge. Also: single zero, 0.Read full → wheel shows the other way to set the dial: 30 to 1 as the base, and always five lucky numbers paying 50 to 200 to 1.

Who it is for

Players who want a lottery ticket attached to each spin and a presenter to talk to. The game is honest about being a show; the pricing is in the help panel. If you want the show and the classic odds, bet outside and ignore the lights.

Why it exists

The show is the product: a presenter, a studio, lights, a wheel of multipliers. It turns a 90-second round into television and attracts players who would not sit at a plain table. The pricing is honest and disclosed; the player’s job is to read it, which the lights are designed to discourage.

Questions