One of the more popular betting strategies in roulette is cross betting. While single bets offer the greatest potential for big wins, cross bets increase the chances that at least one bet will win a player some money while testing out a new online casino. Cross betting, then, decreases the amount of money a player can win, while the expectation of a win increases only marginally, making this an ineffective but still popular betting strategy.

Grouping Bets

Roulette allows players to group their bets according to certain criteria. They can bet on odds or evens, or on red or black spaces. The division of numbers in European Roulette is such that cross bets can sometimes end up canceling each other out. For instance, a bet on Reds and Odds can only win a player money when the roulette ball lands on both red and odd. If it lands on a red even number, the bets cancel out; the same goes if it lands on a black odd. By cross betting, the player only stands to win money on 10 out of 37 possible spins.

Improving the Odds while Losing Out

Certainly the odds of hitting 10 in 37 are much better than hitting 1 in 37. The player lessens the risk of losing everything but also weakens the chance of winning big. A $20 wager grouped across categories can win only a small amount with the 1 to 1 payouts. That same $20 could win a player $700 with the 35 to 1 payout of a single bet. While minimizing risk, the player guarantees that he or she will never win as much as he or she could.

Part of the fun in roulette is taking the big risk. Hedging bets with cross betting can take some of that fun away. If players want the full roulette experience, they should pepper their risk adverse cross bets with the occasional straight bet.