Tipping procedure for roulette in Europe

I saw a post in the newspaper that said that it is standard practice in Europe to give up your initial bet as a tip if you hit the single number in single zero roulette. If you work that into your house edge you lose 2/37 vs. 2/38 in American roulette. He almost implied that they will automatically take the bet unless you say otherwise, and they will be visibly upset if you object.

Can anyone confirm this practice? I don't play roulette so there may be an expectation as well in American game.

From what I understand the aggressive tipping practices in Macau are often far far in excess of the normal HA. While tipping is nominally an option, I know in some countries that the social pressure can be extreme.

I can address Macau a lot better than Europe. I've been to Macau twice, and gambled a lot both times. Not counting myself, I think the number of times I've seen a player tip is zero. Having been to China five times, tipping is still not the norm there. Now if they see a pale face they will expect a tip in a nice restaurant, but not for Chinese patrons. My first couple times there (in 92 and 94) I don't think anybody had even heard of tipping. Since Macau gets mostly Chinese players, it does not surprise me that I didn't see any tipping.

In the series 'Breaking Vegas' there was a story about a group that successfully beat unbalanced roulette wheels, mainly in Spain. The story said the crew was heavily badgered for not tipping, but steadfastly refused to. Their argument, like most advantage players, is that tipping significantly cuts into, or wipes out, any thin advantage they have. So you're probably right that tipping is expected of roulette players in Europe.

I played in many casinos in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, never saw such "standard practice".
Tipping is completely voluntary and my impression is that it is less common than in the US.

On the other hand, I did see a couple of greedy dealers openly asking for tip in plain English (or French),
something like: This hand you won 50 Euros, can you give 5 Euro tip?

youd be better off playing a double zero roulette wheel with no tipping than a single zero roulette wheel assuming you tip one unit on every win on a single number.

35:1 when youre 37:1 to win

34:1 when youre 36:1 to win

Quote: pokerface

I played in many casinos in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, never saw such "standard practice".
Tipping is completely voluntary and my impression is that it is less common than in the US.

I agree completely. To be fair, I heard exactly the same story regarding tipping about the U.S. Casinos.