American vs. European Roulette: Which is Better?

There are so many games to jump head-first into and enjoy when you play at a top-notch casino like SlotsLV. Some are modern, some are classic; some are pacey, and others are slow and steady.

Handpick the greatest virtues of every gambling title, Roulette is an invitingly simple online casino game that seems to awesome casino game and throw them all together in a giant mixing bowl with a spoonful of honey. It’s fast but not daunting; easy without being dull; and adored by beginners and regulars alike. Above all, it’s superbly profitable if you bring your head along with your heart. This makes Roulette an excellent choice for our newest members.

Even more enticing is that Roulette has two different versions to play, and two different ways to get paid. We’ll show you right here how to play both European and American Roulette. Plus, we cover the European and American Roulette rules, and a basic Roulette strategy to enhance your gaming session with more wins and more happy grins. 

How to Play American Roulette

American Roulette is one beautiful, big wheel with 38 pockets. For precisely 36 of these pockets, you’ll see each a numerical sequence of odd and even numbers, and alternating colors of red and black. The final two pockets are marked zero (0) and double zero (00), both of which are casually conspicuous in green. 

In a real-life setting (as in, bricks and mortar; this is as real as winning gets), you would tell the croupier, the roulette wheel spinmaster, if you will, which pockets you want the ball to land in. They would give the wheel a good, hearty spin, and you would hold your breath alongside other hopefuls as the ball chooses its winning number. 

When playing American Roulette online, you tap or click your bets on the betting table instead of talking or signaling to the croupier. The table represents the Roulette wheel, where the numbers are laid out flat. You can select individual numbers, groups of numbers, or outside bets directly on the table, then hit “Spin” at your leisure.

Inside & Outside Bets

As the rules of American Roulette go, there are two main categories of bets: inside bets and outside bets. Inside bets pay the highest, but they’re also the hardest to land (as you might imagine). Outside bets are easier to achieve, and they’ll keep your bankroll nice and steady with even money wins.

American Roulette Odds 

Overall, the house edge of American Roulette is 5.26%. The biggest win in the game is a straight up bet, or a bet on a single number. You have a 2.6% chance of winning on the American Roulette, and it would pay 35:1 if it lands. For the easiest and most reliable bet, you’ll want to run with any outside bet for a near 50% (47.37% to be precise) chance of winning at 1:1.

If you want to try another bet that pays out more than a typical outside bet, and yet isn’t as difficult to land as a Straight Up bet, you could try betting on Six numbers (called a Double Street bet), whereby you have a 15.8% chance of winning with a 5:1 payout.

So, now you know how to play Roulette, and that’s how the game is set up. Done! Now let’s pack our bags and take a trip to see how European Roulette differs, while also running through some handy European Roulette strategies to boost your paydays to their highest potential. 

How to Play European Roulette

In the European version of Roulette, you’ll be working with 37 pockets in total. Just like with American Roulette, you’ve got even and odd numbers in alternating red and black pockets. However, unlike the American version, you only have one lonely green zero (0) in the last pocket of the European Roulette wheel. 

Aside from the layout of the wheel (and the odds, which we’ll cover in a moment), American and European Roulette have the same rules. 

First, you place your money bet on the betting table. With both versions, you can place as many bets as you’d like (but remember, that means your stakes get higher and higher with each new number selected). As ruler of the Roulette empire, once your bet is laid, make your spin and watch that wheel go ‘round wheely fast. Wherever the ball lands will once again determine your wallet’s fate.

European Roulette Odds

There are several categories in every round that split the pooled winnings out in different proportions. The highest paying bet when playing European Roulette is a single number bet, paying 35:1.

The most reliable bets are outside bets like odd/even, low/high or red/black. Those occur about 48.65% of the time, and they pay 1:1. If you want to try something in the middle, you could bet on an entire column of 12 numbers.

If the ball lands on any one of the 12 numbers, you win 2:1 on your bet, and there’s a 32.4% chance of doing so. Overall, because of one less zero, the house edge for European Roulette is only 2.7%. Now we’re talking!

European Roulette Strategy

As with American Roulette, the best strategy with European Roulette is to focus on outside even money bets. You could add to that by trying the Martingale Strategy, which has you double your bet after every loss. Yep – you read that correctly! The idea is that when you land a winning spin, the increased stake size will pay back your losses, plus give you a bit of profit.  

So, let’s say you put $5 on black, but the ball ends up on red: you just lost $5. Now you’re at -$5. For your next bet, you’ll put $10 on black, doubling your first bet. If black wins you get $20, which returns your original $5 loss, plus another $15 on top. Simple!

If, on the other hand, you lost that bet, then you would double your wager to $20. You keep going in this way until you get a win. As you might imagine, the Martingale Strategy works best when you have a larger bankroll to start out with, leaving you wiggle room to increase the stakes.

American vs. European Roulette: What’s the Difference?

Now that we’ve gone over American and European Roulette, and with you being a quick learner, you’ve picked up on a few key differences. Let’s take a minute to highlight those differences now, and help you decide which type of Roulette is the best for you.

As you’ve already seen, American Roulette has a nearly double house edge than European Roulette (5.26% vs. 2.7%). That’s because the extra zero pocket (00) throws off the odds. What this means for you is that if you wager on American Roulette over time, that double zero (00) can have a bigger impact on your bankroll. 

Despite the major differences in odds, the truth is that both European and American Roulette are wildly popular, and both casino table games offer 37 or 38 kinds of entertainment.

It’s time to give both versions a spin. Put both hands on the wheel and hold on tight.