Introduction

European roulette remains the most popular variation of roulette. Why? Simply because the house edge is lower.

European Roulette

European roulette wheels have slots marked 1-36 and an 0 slot. This alone brings the house edge down to 2.63% (compare to American roulette below). Additionally, rule variations such as imprisonment rules, surrender rules, and half-back (la partage) rules can decrease the house edge even further.

American Roulette

The American roulette wheel differs significantly from the European wheel in that it has an 00 slot in addition to the 0 slot. This increases the house edge to 5.26%!