Roulette is one of the most popular and simple casino games since its inception. Fun, strategic, profitable and with many betting options leading to an exciting spin of the wheel where the winners are separated from the losers by just a few bounces of the almighty cue ball.

For everyone, beginners and experienced players, we have prepared a comprehensive guide that will guide you through everything you need to know to become a roulette master. We’ll cover the basics, from how to play to more advanced concepts and strategies.

Variations of roulette – the difference between American and European

Although there are many variants of online roulette, American and European roulette are certainly the most popular. Before you start playing one or the other, it is definitely important to know the differences between them, in terms of rules, strategies and house edg (house advantage).

European roulette

European roulette has its roots in France and Germany. This version of roulette is much older than the American version and is considered the original game. The main thing that attracts players to this casino game is that it contains only one field with “zero”. As you may already know, the green zero field on the wheel represents the house edge, which in European roulette is about 2.70%. For example, if there were no zeros on the wheel, it would be a zero-sum game. Which means that players and casinos would be even in the long run. As we all know, casinos do not conduct such activities.

American roulette

The American roulette wheel went through quite a few changes over time before we got to the game we call American roulette today. Wheel with 36 number fields and two green ones with ‘0’ and ’00’. In the late 19th century, for example, a popular form of this roulette featured fields from 1 to 28, plus 0.00 and an American eagle slot. Since this version only paid 27 times the bet on a single number, the house edge was huge. About one in ten spins ended at 0.00 or heads, with the house picking up all the chips on the table. As a result, very few players were able to walk away from the table with a profit at the time. Fortunately, the player’s odds improved as these early versions of American Roulette made their way from their developmental beginnings in Louisiana to Mississippi. Of course, casinos still have an advantage, but in modern games, this has decreased significantly. The house edge in American roulette is 5.26%.

Which version should you play

There is really only one difference between the two, and that is that the European roulette has one zero field, while the American roulette has two (0 and 00). Probably the most important part of winning strategy is to choose the right wheel before even starting the game. The reality is simple, there is absolutely no reason to play American Roulette unless you are from America and feel unnecessarily patriotic and don’t care if you lose a lot of extra money for nothing.

Unfortunately, the only function that a double zero field performs is to significantly reduce your chances of winning. In addition, certain versions of European Roulette offer additional advantages such as the “En Prison” and “La Partrage” rules.

The “La Partage” rule means that if a player places an outside bet (bets on even, odd, red, black numbers,…) and a field with a ‘0’ falls, he gets half of his stake back.

“En Prison” however stipulates that instead of receiving half of their bet, the player can leave the bet on the table for the next spin.

If the bet wins on the next spin, the player gets their full stake back, but without any winnings. If the bet loses, the entire amount is lost.