Which Roulette Has the Best Odds? A Comprehensive Study.

The game of roulette has existed for several centuries and it is one of the most instantly recognizable games you will find in a casino. Despite having simple rules, live roulette online real money offers a whole lot of excitement and opportunities to socialize with other participants. With the rising popularity of roulette, casinos have introduced multiple variations to cater to the preferences of regional players.

Although the basic rules of the game remain unchanged, the winning odds for these variations are not the same. In this article, we shall discuss different types of roulette games in order to determine which one gives you the best chance of winning.

European Roulette

Among all the different variants, European Roulette is the most popular one. Therefore, casual as well as serious gamblers worldwide prefer to take part in this game. You shouldn’t be misled by the name, since this variant is popular internationally. Of course, you will find it more commonly in Europe, but most of the casinos in the USA and Canada host this game.

In this variation, there are 37 pockets or divisions on the wheel. While one of the pockets is green in color, the others have alternating black and red colors and are numbered from 1 to 36. European roulette has the wheel located in the center of the table and there are a couple of layouts on either side that are mirror images of each other. For each layout, there is a dedicated dealer, and as such there can be several players in a game of European roulette.

There a two principal types of bets in European Roulette. You can make an inside bet on a number group or on a single number for a particular layout. The chances of winning are higher for outside bets since you will be wagering on the properties of the different numbers. For example, you can bet on the color of the next number, its range, or whether it is even or odd. Here, you must remember that there are 18 red-colored numbers between 19 and 36 that are odd as well. The rest of the 18 numbers lies between 1 and 18, are odd and are black in color.

Since the wheel has a zero on it, the win and loss probability are not exactly equal, despite being quite close. Due to the higher winning chance for outside bets, you get steady returns from making such bets, although you are not likely to win big at a particular instance. Since we cannot consider zero as odd or even, its function is to prevent even-money bettors from winning. The house has an advantage since you lose all odd and even bets if the ball lands on zero.

Due to the nature of the number sequence, there are certain unique bets you can make for this variation. These wagers, also called announced bets involve all the wheel sections. The player needs to announce their bet before a round begins and the casino representative puts the chips in that particular section of the wheel. This not only increases the pace of the game but also accommodates both dealers and players.

The main difference between European and American Roulette is that the latter does not allow casino representatives to place wagers for a player. Since the number sequence is entirely different, there is no opportunity for announced bets. However, if you are playing at an online casino, you don’t need to follow these rules.

European roulette offers better odds compared to the American variant because there is only a single zero pocket. Gambling experts always advise going for the European version, since the house advantage is quite low at 2.70%. If you are looking to make long-term profits, you should definitely opt for European Roulette.

American Roulette

This game is popular throughout the United States, as the name suggests. You can also find this variation outside the States, however, and most online establishments have added it to their respective repertoires. While playing this variation, you can wager on an extra number. This is due to the fact that the wheel has another zero pocket.

Similar to European Roulette, there are numbers from 1 to 36. This means there are 38 divisions in total. The addition of an extra zero pocket does not change the game mechanism, but it does impact your winning chances. American Roulette is relatively unfavorable for the player, regardless of the bet type. The additional zero pocket gives the house a higher edge which in this case is 5.26%.

Nevertheless, if you are in the habit of visiting brick-and-mortar casinos, you may encounter American roulette games where you can use the surrender rule. This option is rarely available with roulette games at online casinos.

When this rule is available, you can get 50% of your wagering amount back if the ball lands in one of the two zero pockets. However, this option can be used only when you’ve placed an even-money bet. What is remarkable about this rule is that it drastically reduces the house advantage for the American variation, bringing it down to 2.63%, which is even lower compared to the European version.

While discussing American Roulette, we must also mention another major distinguishing factor. Here, there is a unique inside bet known as the five-number bet where you wager on the ball landing in one of the zero pockets, or the first three numbers. As a general rule, you should avoid making this type of wager, since the odds of winning are very slim indeed.

In case you get lucky and the ball lands on one of the five numbers, you get a 6 to 1 payout. But it is simply not worth it, because the house advantage for this inside bet is extremely high at 7.89%. European Roulette also allows you to make a similar inside bet involving zero and the first three numbers. This wager offers better odds for gamblers since the house edge remains the same.

French Roulette

French Roulette closely resembles the European variation when it comes to the wheel layout and the regulations. There are similar wagers and the number of divisions is also the same with only one zero pocket. The number sequence is exactly the same as well.

The main difference between the two variations lies in the layouts. The main number grid remains unchanged, but the outcomes are of course outlined in French. Color wagers are tagged as Noire or Rouge and sometimes the dealer uses black or red diamonds to indicate the placeholders for the wagering chips. For the different wagering types, the betting boxes are labeled in French and the dozen bet boxes are relatively smaller.

Another notable difference with the European version is the types of chips used by the players. Usually, you won’t find any denominations written on the chips. European Roulette has eight chipsets that are color-coded. When you place your wager, you have to get the chips by depositing the cash and to avoid any confusion, the dealer gives each player chips from different color sets.

You can calculate the worth of each chip by taking the player’s total buy-in and dividing it by the chip count. Since these chips have no inherent value, you cannot exchange them for cash. However, some casinos do offer cash chips as an alternative.

The French version has certain rules that are not applicable to American roulette. For example, if the ball stops at zero, you get 50% of your initial wager back. Also, if you hit zero, you have another shot at getting back your initial stake. The chips remain locked and if you win the wager for the second time, you get to recover the original stake. The house edge for this variation is the same as European Roulette, but for certain types of wagers, you can bring it down to 1.35%, which means it has favorable player odds.

Mini Roulette

In Mini Roulette, there are only 13 numbers on the wheel. There are the first 12 natural numbers and zero. This game comes in various shapes and sizes. Some of them have a ball and a wheel like a regular Roulette game. Others don’t include the ball and the wheel keeps spinning till it stops at the marker, thus deciding who wins the bet.

Random Number Generator (RNG) Mini Roulette does not involve a ball and a wheel. The mechanism is very similar to slots games and the player odds and payouts are not too favorable. You should remember that your winning odds don’t increase when the wheel has fewer numbers.

Double Ball Roulette

This game was first introduced in the Las Vegas casinos. It follows the rules of regular roulette but involves an extra ball. It was launched with the intention of offering new betting options for players and making the game more interesting.

While roulette wheels are usually random, some of them are biased and there are professional gamblers who perform wheel bias analysis to determine on which number it is most likely to land. Since there are two balls in this game, the analysis can be performed with twice the speed. However, experts do not consider bias analysis an effective strategy.

Rapid Roulette

Casinos stand to make the maximum amount of profit from slot games and you will naturally find several options in this department. But players would get bored if there were only slot machines available at an establishment, and that is why games like roulette are offered.

Because of overcrowding and slow spins, the casino can lose revenue. This is why some of them have introduced rapid roulette where a large number of players wager on a spin. The spin frequency is higher and payouts are automatic.

Conclusion

After looking at the different Roulette variations, we can see that European Roulette offers the best odds. According to greatcasinoonline.com, this variation has the lowest house edge at 2.7%. Professional gamblers favor physical wheels to RNG software-based wheels that sometimes turn out to be faulty.