Ask Tangam: Should Early Bets for Roulette Be Allowed?
Should you allow early betting while the dealer is paying the inside bets? Most casinos in Europe, Australia and elsewhere have this procedure.
In Roulette, after the ball has dropped, the Dealer announces the winning number (e.g. “17. Black, Odd!”) then clears the layout of losing wagers.
The next steps differ between North American operations and their counterparts in Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Procedure Difference:
These are the areas where the patrons are able/allowed to place bets for the next spin, immediately after the Dealer has paid the outside winning wagers and is in the process of paying the inside winning wagers:
In North America, the whole layout is locked as denoted with the orange color. No wagering is allowed until the next spin. Patrons must wait until the very last winning wager has been paid.
In Europe, Australia, Asia, wagers for the next spin are allowed in the blue-marked area. Players retrieve their outside winning wagers and proceed to place bets for the next spin anywhere except for the orange area where the previous winning number is and its surrounding area.
In North America, only after the Dealer finishes paying the very last winning inside wager and removes the dolly, players proceed to retrieve their outside winning wagers. They will then proceed to placing wagers for the next spin. The Dealer waits for the players to place their bets to spin again:
Outside of North America, 80% of the layout is already in action with wagers placed for the next spin, by the time the Dealer is finished with paying the winning inside wagers. The Dealer announces to finish placing bets and then spins the ball. All done in a shorter period of time:
Conclusion:
When dealing Roulette, most of the time is spent on payouts and waiting for players to place wagers for the next round. By allowing early wagers, there is a direct impact to the customer experience and the game pace. Guests can start their next round faster, reducing idle time thus improving the game efficiency and the performance.
Why isn’t this common practice in North America? Perhaps it’s because of fear or leakage or a surveillance requirement. This procedure is widely adopted in other mature markets, and as long as the property has able dealers, it’s a simple and effective procedure change that can help move the needle in the guest experience and performance of the game.
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Author(s)
With nearly 20 years of casino experience, Victor has worked at various Canadian casinos where he trained staff and managed both table games and slots operations. At Tangam, he helps clients all over the world implement data-driven management of table games spreads and pricing on the gaming floor to achieve their revenue management objectives. Victor holds an MBA from University of Newcastle, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor Degree on History & Philosophy from the University of Bucharest.