Variations of Roulette Game

Roulette is one of the oldest gambling games. However, there are not as many variations of the game as there are of other casino games. There are only two basic variations of roulette rules and this page deals with both of them. Below we give the main features of American and European roulette, that can coincide as well as differ.

American Roulette	European Roulette
numbers from 1 to 36	numbers from 1 to 36
single-zero (0) and double-zero (00) pockets	only single-zero (0) pocket
5.26% house edge	2.7% house edge
extra Top Line bet on 5 numbers	extra call bets
Outside bets pay out 2 to 1 and 1 to 1 (even money)	Outside bets pay out 2 to 1 and 1 to 1 (even money)
Inside bets pay out from 5 to 1 and up to 35 to 1	Inside bets pay out from 5 to 1 and up to 35 to 1

In both games, American and European roulette, the players can place bets on the numbers from 1 to 36 and 0, however American-style roulette wheel has additional 00 pocket which influences the game rules a bit. Due to the extra double-zero slot the casino has higher advantage over the players in American roulette game. It also allows to place one more bet – five numbers bet covering 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 with 6 to 1 payout. The payouts for the rest of the bets are the same for both roulette games. Now let’s take a look at American and European roulette wheels separately.

European Roulette

The first variation of the roulette game which is today known as European roulette still remains to be the most popular game due to the fact it has a lower house edge. The rules of the game though remain almost the same, but still there are things that must be taken into account before you play.

The fact that the wheel does not have a 00 slot decreases the house edge to 2.70 percent. So, the game is very beneficial for the players and if you want to win more at roulette table, always look for European game.

Another striking feature of European roulette wheel is that the numbers on the wheel are placed randomly compared to American roulette wheel at which the numbers are placed in pairs. The sequence of the numbers on European roulette wheel is:

1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26-0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5
-24-16-33

American Roulette

American roulette is more modern variation of the game than the European version as it was created 150 years after the game was invented. When the game came to American casinos, the owners saw great profit in it but wanted to increase it as the game became very popular. The first thing they did is the introduction of an extra slot of 00 which made the casino edge almost 5.26 percent! This made American roulette one of the games that brings most of the profit to the casino.

According to one of the versions, roulette game with double-zero pocket existed along with single-zero roulette, but it survived mostly in the United States.

As it has been already said, American-style roulette game is less profitable for the players, offers additional bet on five numbers and the sequence of the numbers on the wheel differs from the standard European one being:

1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2-0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34
-15-3-24-36-13

French Roulette

Sometimes French roulette is defined as one more variation of roulette game, however it is in fact the original version of European roulette. The only difference that it offers some more betting options compared to most European roulette games played at modern casinos. These are the call bets placed on the groups of numbers the way they are arranged on the wheel. As a result, a special betting area is added to the table layout.

So, the players have chance to make the following call bets:

• Voisins du Zero
• Orphans (or Orphelins)
• Tier du Cylindre

To make any of this bets the player has to put chips on all the numbers from the group. If one of the numbers covered by the bet is winning, the player is paid 35 to 1, like in case of Straight up bet. Read more about these and other call bets to understand better the betting options in roulette game.

Except the most popular variations of the roulette game, there is also less popular one but not less interesting. This is Roulette Royale, which allows you to win a huge jackpot in case the same number is hit five times in a row. All the other rules of the game are totally the same and need no detailed explanation.

Modern Roulette Games

At modern casinos, especially over the Internet, the players can try absolutely new variations of roulette game with extra features. These are:

Multiball roulette

Mult­iball roul­ette is usu­ally played ac­cord­ing to the ba­sic rules of European roul­ette with some ex­cep­tions. The play­ers can roll up to 3 balls on the wheel and thus there can be three win­ning res­ults. In case the play­er de­cides to play with more than one ball, his or her bet is di­vided in­to 2 or 3 equal parts. In this game there can be also oth­er ex­tra bets, but it de­pends on the casino you play at.

No Zero roulette

No Zero roulette is one of the best innovations on gambling market as it has no house advantage! Zero pockets are missing on the roulette wheel. The players can bet on 36 numbers and there is no such big risk to lose like when playing any of zero roulettes.

Mini-roulette

Mini-roulette is another version of roulette created to ease gambling process. It is based on European roulette and the striking features of mini-roulette are a smaller wheel and only 12 numbered slots to place bets on. The payouts also differ from the standard ones. Betting in mini-roulette is very simple: one number bet, even/odd, red/black, row and combination bets. The payouts alter from 1 to 1 to 11 to 1 maximum.

More and more casinos make all possible to attract players and for this reason they start offering roulette games with no house edge. Still roulette remains to be the most unpredictable and random like no any other games of luck.