American vs European Roulette

When the classic roulette wheel headed across the Atlantic and landed in the hands of the Americans, the game was adapted by the casinos Stateside.

So how exactly does the American roulette wheel differ from the European wheel?

More Pockets Means More House Edge

The most noticeable feature about the American roulette wheel is the number of pockets it has. The American wheel has an additional slot: a double zero slot which adds an extra betting option to the American game (on the single number bets, in any case).

Having that extra well does means that your chances of winning are less. With the extra slot, the roulette edge increases from 2.7%, for the European version, to 5.26%.

This is the main reason that European roulette is more popular around the world than its American counterpart.

The American wheel comes with 38 pockets compared to the Europeans’ 37 and the order of the numbers on the wheel differs in both games (check out our roulette layout page for a detailed view on this).

Whilst the American wheel is always placed at one end of the roulette table you may find that some European wheels in some casinos are positioned in the centre of the table with the betting sections placed at either side of the wheel.

You may also come across variants with 38 pockets like this Key Bet roulette game that have an additional side bet pocket instead of the second zero.

Different Rules

So we have taken a quick look at the physical differences between the two roulette wheels but how does the actual game play differ? First of all, depending on where you are playing, some casinos will offer the ‘en prison rule‘, particularly on French Roulette tables (a sub set of European). This gives you a free repeat spin if you have placed an even-money bet and the ball lands on the zero.

Avoid this Bet

And if you want to reduce your odds further, you could play the ‘Basket Bet’. This is only offered on American roulette tables, as it involves the double zero slot. The bet includes a five numbers: the zero, double zero, 1, 2 and 3.

The payout is 6 to 1, and is one of the worst bets you can make at the table in terms of odds. The house edge is already higher when playing on an American table, and with this bet it increases to 7.89%. Avoid the 5 Number bet!