How to Play American Roulette
Live roulette never fails to draw a crowd but online roulette offers just as much excitement and the distinct advantage of controlling the pace of the game.
Topics Addressed
- Where can you play American roulette?
- How does the layout differ between American and European roulette?
- American roulette better than European roulette?
Previously Required Knowledge
Familiarize yourself with the rules of the game.
Roulette is one of the more thrilling games of chance offered by casinos! Whether you win or lose a fortune rests on the simple yet alluring spin of a wheel and a little white ball. Live roulette never fails to draw a crowd but online roulette offers just as much excitement and the distinct advantage of controlling the pace of the game. As with many other casino games, today there are different variations of roulette: American, European and French. This is a guide to the most common variant, that is, American roulette including how its rules, wheel, table layouts and house edge differ to the European and French versions.
Where can you play American roulette?
Most bricks and mortar casinos use the American style roulette table with a wheel at one end. When you are playing online, however, most casinos will offer you both the American version and the European version of roulette.
How does the layout differ between American and European roulette?
The single most important difference between the two roulette variants is that European roulette has only one zero (0) whereas the American roulette wheel one additional green pocket market double zero (00). An American roulette table is easily identifiable (whether playing in a real casino or online) by looking out for the double zero at the top of the layout.
Further, whilst the pocket numbers on a roulette wheel follow a set clockwise sequence, the order of the numbers differs between American and European roulette. The number order on an American roulette wheel is 0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-
31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2.
American roulette better than European roulette?
No. Anyone who knows roulette will tell you that you should never find yourself sitting at an American roulette table and here's the simple, mathematical reason why. The odds paid for European roulette and American roulette are exactly the same, that is, 35 to 1. But since there are more pockets on the American wheel, it is a much better deal to play European roulette. As an example, let's say you want to place a bet on a single number. In European roulette, you have a 1 in 37 chance of winning but when you place the same type of bet in American roulette, you have a 1 in 38 chance. Yet you get the same payout from the casino!! So, European roulette offers a lower house edge. In fact, that extra pocket on an American roulette wheel nearly doubles the house edge meaning that in the long run you'll lose money nearly twice as fast compared to playing European roulette!
