What's Your Best Bet?

Online casino players often have a choice of American and European roulette when they play in internet casinos or UK casinos. What are the differences between the games and does the online version offer a better chance of winning than the offline version?

Roulette is a game of pure chance, and, although various people have claimed that their 'system' has enabled them to beat the wheel, it is essentially luck that decides the winner.

There are sometimes two types of roulette available to play in online and in some land-based casinos - European and American roulette. European roulette is the older version, with its origins in 17th-century France.

In both games, the wheel is divided into numbered slots that are alternately black and red. There are differences in the types of chips used in the two games, and in that, in European roulette, the croupier uses a rake to collect the bets, while in the American version, they use their hands.

House Advantage

As far as the gambler is concerned, however, the main difference between European and American roulette lies in the respective house advantages. European roulette has one green slot for zero, while American roulette has two green slots - one slot for zero and one slot for double zero. In European roulette, there are 37 slots, while in American roulette there are 38.

The zero spaces represent the house advantage and in the case of European roulette this is 2.7 per cent, which most gamblers would think pretty reasonable. However, in American roulette, with its double zero, the house advantage is 5.26 per cent, which is obviously less favourable to the player.

Roulette essentially consists of betting on what number slot you think the ball is going to fall into when the wheel stops spinning. However, you can choose to make various kinds of bets.

Although the payouts are the same for European and American roulette, the odds are different.

Playing Online

Although some have faith in various mathematical strategies, or systems many gamblers believe that playing online is one of the best ways to maximise the chances of winning at roulette.

Firstly, you can always find an online casino offering European roulette, which gives you a greater advantage. Also, unlike a land-based casino, there are no distractions, either from other players or the croupier. When you're playing online, you can organise your environment to allow you to concentrate fully on your game.

There is also the question of the wheel. Although casinos regularly check their wheels, the idea of the biased wheel, or the dealer signature in which the croupier unconsciously rolls the ball so that it falls in particular sections of the wheel, persists. This isn't a problem in online casinos, which use a computer-based random number generator. So provided you play in an online reputable casino, there can't be any doubts about fairness.