Also (since I was rudly interrupted by customers, mail and work...) if one looks at the 50-50 bets, black/red, odd/even, etc. they are all 18 number bets. You get 18 numbers, the house gets 20 numbers. 5.26%

But here's the part you have been waiting for. (maybe?)

You bet $1 on 26 black (my "lucky" number) and win, what happens? By the way the formula works for any roulette bet, so if you want to go figure, plug in the numbers and have some fun.

[Win] x [numbers played/38] - 1 x [numbers not played/38] = house edge

less cryptic example.

You bet $1 on three numbers, the win Amt. is $11, plus your original chip back.

11 X 3/38 -1 X 35/38 = -2/38 (or -0.0526)

For the European wheel, replace the 38 with 37 and like math magic, the answer becomes - 1/37 or -0.027

It takes 9 plays of Martingale (double up) to be wiped out at roulette. (where you hit the table limit of $500) 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256, {you can't bet $512)

There is a way to play an multiple number bet, which covers half of the physical wheel. If one wants to have all the numbers in one area, so a close hit still breaks even. When 26 comes up it's a large win. After all that, it changes nothing. LOL But that's that's what I play when I'm sitting taking my shot at not giving the house $5.26 out of every hundred I bet.