Live Roulette is, without a doubt, one of the most popular table games at any online casino, and there are good reasons for that. The game is simple to learn, and doesn’t require any real skill or specialist knowledge, so it’s an easy choice for casual and beginner gamblers. You simply pick the colour, number, or group of numbers you hope will come up. Then the wheel spins, and you see if you’ve won.

What new gamblers may not immediately realise, however, is that there are different versions of the game. It’s important to know which one you’re playing, because the wheels are slightly different, and this has an impact on your chances of winning. The two main variants of the game are American Roulette and European Roulette, and today, we’re going to be looking at the differences between the two.

What is European Roulette?

European Roulette grew out of the original roulette game invented in France in the 18th century (yes, we’ve been playing this game for a while). In fact, it’s generally accepted that the modern-day roulette wheel was essentially invented by French physicist Blaise Pascal, in 1655.

Far from aiming to invent a popular casino game, Pascal was interested in inventing a perpetual motion machine. Nevertheless, his attempts seem to have led to the invention of the roulette wheel, and, eventually the game of roulette. The game evolved over the years, and in the mid-19th century a significant change was made to the wheel, when a zero space was added to it.

The zero space on the European roulette wheel can be traced to a specific event in 1843, around the time that gambling was temporarily outlawed in France. Francois and Lois Blanc decided to design a new type of roulette wheel for King Charles III of Monaco, and included a zero space, with the aim of increasing the house edge and therefore increasing the profit of the casinos of Monaco.

How is European Roulette different from American Roulette?

In time, the game of roulette, unsurprisingly, made its way across the Atlantic to America. The single zero that had already been added offered a bigger house edge than the original wheel, but to give the house an even bigger edge, American gambling venues added yet another zero space, this time a double zero.

To this day, the zero spaces are the main difference between European and American Roulette. European Roulette wheels have a single zero space. American wheels have a single zero and a double zero. The zeros are green, as opposed to red or black like all the other numbers.

What are the differences between the American Roulette wheel vs the European Roulette wheel?

As we’ve mentioned, the main difference between American and European Roulette wheels is the number of zero spaces, but what does that mean exactly, when it comes to [playing a roulette game(/blog/livecasino/roulette/how-to-play-roulette)? It means that there is a house edge, when it comes to European Roulette, and a bigger one with American Roulette.

Let’s go back to the original roulette wheels. There was no zero, just 36 spaces: 18 red and 18 black. This meant that if a player bet on either red or black, they had a 50/50 chance of winning. The addition of the zero space changed that because when the ball landed on the zero, none of the players who had bet on red or black won. And the house got to keep their money.

The chances of the ball landing on zero were small, but it definitely tipped the odds in favour of the house just slightly. When the Americans added a second zero space, it tipped things even further.

Now a European Roulette wheel always has 37 spaces: 36 red or black numbers and a green single zero. An American Roulette wheel always has 38 spaces: 36 red or black numbers, a green single zero, and a green double zero.

American Roulette vs European: what are the similarities?

Both American and European Roulette follow very similar rules for the most part. The players place their bets, the wheel spins, and the ball falls into a pocket. Online roulette games are automated, and a random number generator decides where the ball will stop.

Betting odds and options are similar in each game. You can choose to bet on red or black, odd or even numbers, individual numbers or groups of numbers, such as a row of numbers (as laid out on the roulette table) or a group of numbers such as one to 12, or 13 to 24.

It’s important to note that you can of course bet on the zero space (or spaces) as well. The odds when you place a bet on a zero space will be the same as betting on any other single number in the game.

American Roulette vs European: what are the differences?

The main difference between the games is that extra zero space, and the impact that has on house edge. Most new players will go for one of the safer bets like red/black or odd/even, but if the ball lands on zero, the house keeps their money.

Of course, the chances of a zero coming up are pretty low, with either wheel, but they are twice as high when there are two spaces. What this means is that when you play European Roulette the house edge is only around 2.7%. When you play American Roulette, the house edge is a much higher 5.26%.

Both these options present a pretty low house edge, to be fair, which is one of the reasons roulette is a popular casino game. Your chances of winning are higher than in many other games, but it’s always worth knowing that they’re higher in European Roulette vs American.

American vs European Roulette: which roulette systems can be used?

Any betting system you can use in European Roulette can also be used in American Roulette. As we’ve already mentioned, there’s no real skill involved in roulette, insofar as picking the numbers goes. The numbers that come up are completely random, so there’s no way of influencing or predicting that.

This means any strategies you employ will generally be betting strategies that you could use in any game of chance, such as the Martingale, the D’Alembert or the Fibonacci. Gamblers are divided when it comes to assessing how well these strategies work, but the simple fact is, both European and American Roulette are games of chance. Therefore, any strategy you would employ for one would also work for the other.

What bets can be placed in American Roulette?

As well as the common red/black and odd/even bets, you can also place:

• A dozen bet on a group of 12 numbers (one to 12, 13 to 24, and 25 to 36).
• A low/high bet (on either one to 18 or 19 to 36).
• A straight-up bet on single number, including the zeros.
• A split bet on two numbers that are opposite each other.
• A corner bet on a group of four adjacent numbers (made by placing your chips at the corner where the numbers meet).
• A line bet on six numbers in a line (or two rows of three numbers).
• A five-number bet which is a bet on the zero, double zero, one, two, and three.

What bets can be placed in European Roulette?

The bets you can place in European Roulette are mostly the same as in American Roulette, but there are a couple of differences. European Roulette doesn’t have the same option for a five-number bet, as it doesn’t have the double zero. There are also call bets available in European Roulette, which is when you bet on a specific section of the wheel.

There are three fixed call bets (known as Voisins du Zero, Tiers du Cylindre and Orphelins) that always cover the same sections of the roulette wheel. In addition, there are two variable call bets (known as Neighbours and Final) that can cover different sections on the roulette wheel (depending on where you place your bet).