We all know, or should know, that roulette is a game which involves a wheel being spun. Before the wheel is spun, you will be asked to select a ‘bet’. You have a multitude of different options at your disposal when it comes to selecting how you will bet on the wheel. We have another guide elsewhere on this website for that.
What most people are unaware of is the fact that there is more than one type of roulette. For the most part, these games play in the same way. However, there may be slight differences in the odds. On this page, we are going to look the different variants of roulette.
Different Variants of Roulette
European Roulette
This is the most popular type of roulette. If you must play one type of roulette, try to make sure that it is this variant. In fact, even if you live in America, try to play European Roulette. This is because it is ‘easier’ to win on.
With European Roulette, there are 37 numbers on the wheel. You have the numbers one through thirty-six and then you have a single 0. It is this zero which gives the house a slight edge when you are playing.
Here is a quick breakdown of the probability of winning in this game. We are doing this because we wish to compare European Roulette to American Roulette and demonstrate why you are far better off playing the European version of the game:
Betting Odd, Even, Black, Red, or numbers 1-18 or 19-36
The probability of winning here is 48.6%. This is due to the inclusion of the zero which gives the house a very slight edge. The only way you can win with a zero is if you bet on it on the main board.
Numbers 1-12, 13-24, and 25-36
The chances of winning here are 32.4%. Again, the number is ever so slightly lower than you may expect due to the inclusion of the zero.
Single Number: 2.7%.
American Roulette
For the most part, American Roulette plays like European Roulette. However, there is one key difference. There are 37 numbers on the wheel instead of 36. This is due to the inclusion of a 00.
The inclusion of this 00 increases the odds in the favour of the house. It is a small amount, but you do have less of a chance of winning. For this reason, if you can avoid it, then you probably would not want to play on an American Roulette table.
Betting Odd, Even, Black, Red, or numbers 1-18 or 19-36
The probability of winning here is 46.37% This is due to the inclusion of the zero which gives the house a very slight edge. The only way you can win with a zero is if you bet on it on the main board.
Numbers 1-12, 13-24, and 25-36
The chances of winning here are 31.58%.
Single Number: 2.63%.
One of the intriguing things about American Roulette is that despite the lower odds, the payout is actually the same. For example, if you bet on a single number in European Roulette, the payout is 35:1. This is the same payout as American Roulette. So, do you really want to play American Roulette? The answer is: probably not.
French Roulette
French Roulette, for the most part, plays the same as the other two versions of Roulette. You are not at all likely to encounter this unless you speak French. We have yet to see a website which offers this game in English. There are two main differences between French Roulette and the other forms of Roulette:
The first is that the layout of the board is ever so slightly different to the other games. Plus, the fact that it is all in French. The bets are going to be the same. It is just that you may take a little longer working out where to place your bet.
The second, and the most important difference, is known as the La Partage Rule. With the other forms of roulette, unless you bet on the 0, if it lands on the 0 you lose your whole bet. That is not the case with French Roulette. You only have to give up half of your bet. Let’s say, for instance, you bet £100 on Black. The wheel spins and it lands on a 0. Obviously, this is not a black. In normal versions of Roulette, you would lose that £100. In French Roulette, you only lose £50. It does help to soften the blow a little bit!
California Roulette
This is, again, a version of roulette that you probably will not be encountering all that often. As you may well know, there are a variety of different laws in the United States related to gambling. Technically, under Californian law you can’t play roulette. You are only allowed to play skill and card games. Americans decided they did not want this. So, they turned Roulette into a card game.
The wheel is actually the same as standard forms of Roulette. The only difference is that instead of there being numbers on the wheel, they are cards. These cards are valued from one through to thirty-six. As this is American Roulette, there is also a 0 and a 00. This means that the odds and payouts are the same as that game.
We have seen online casinos which offer California Roulette, but there is no sense in really playing on them if there is a European variation of the game that is available. The European version really will offer you the ‘biggest bang’ for your buck.
Obviously, you are playing roulette to both have fun and to earn some money. This means that you are seriously going to want to play a game which offers you the biggest chance of this happening. All of the betting strategies that you find online can be attributed to each variation of roulette that you can find online.