The two significant different roulette wheels are the American Roulette Wheel and
the European Roulette Wheel. The European wheel is very similar to the American
wheel. It is also known as Single Zero Roulette or French Roulette. The most substantial
difference between the two is that the European Roulette Wheel has only a single
zero with offers the player batter odds than the American Roulette Wheel. The American
wheel has a single zero and a double zero. Another difference is that the numbers
on the American wheel are placed opposite of one another in pairs. The European
wheel numbers are placed in a more random order. Both wheels contain 36 numbers.
The European Wheel is mostly found in European and South American casinos and seldom
seen in the United States. Despite this, however, you can find some single zero
reoulette tables in some US casinos so you don’t necessarily always have to be forced
to play at the American roulette wheel in Las Vegas. Thus an advantage of online
internet roulette is that virtually anyone can play European roulette without having
to travel out of their native country.
Some consider the American wheel is more practical because the red/black and odd/even
bets are situated right next to each other. Also the first and last 18 betting spots
are place next to the single numbers. However, the European single zero table is
more symmetrically appealing to some.
The house edge varies on the different wheels. On a single number bet on the American
wheel with 38 different numbers it is 2/38 or 5.26%. The edge on the European wheel
with just a single zero has better odds because the edge on a single number bet
is only 1/37 or 2.7%. Therefore, when possible, you should always look for the single
zero European roulette wheel.
Different rules apply when playing in different parts of the country and on different
wheels. The united states rules include single zero rules in which the limits on
single zero wheels are usually higher than the double zero wheels. Some cities follow
different rules as well. For example in Atlantic City, all even money bets follow
a variation of the European imprisonment rule explained next. European rules feature
a favorable “en prison” rule. This rule applies if the player makes any even bet
such s red, black, odd, even, 1-18, or 19-36 and the ball lands on zero. The player
either gets half the bet back or it becomes imprisoned. On the next spin, if an
imprisoned bet wins, it is released and the player gets it back without winnings.
It is similar to the La Partage rule that offers half back except without the option
to imprison. Same with the U.S. different European locations follow different rules.