Roulette

Rules

Strategy

Tips

Online roulette comes in two main forms, those of European and American roulette. Although there are also some variations on the European game with regards to betting options, the wheel, numbers and basic rules are the same. The obvious difference you’ll notice between the two main forms of roulette is in the number of zero pockets in addition to the thirty six straight numbers on the wheel.

The European roulette wheel has a single zero pocket and the American roulette wheel has two.

The reason for this difference goes back to the days of the American Wild West when roulette was introduced to the gambling saloons of the gold mining towns that were full of gold prospectors with a lot of money to spend. The owners of the saloons wanted to increase the house edge to make more money from roulette and the way to do that was to introduce an additional house zero to the wheel.

In modern roulette, the two versions exist side by side in both real world casinos and their online counterparts. While it is often a case of personal preference, it is useful to know that the house edge on American roulette is higher than on European roulette, meaning that there is a better overall chance of winning on the European version.