The Odds of Online Casino Roulette Games
Given how many bets are available, you might expect roulette odds to be a pretty complicated topic. But in reality, almost all bets on a roulette table will carry the same house edge. That’s because, in most roulette games, most bets are designed to pay fairly for a wheel with 36 pockets. Only the presence of extra pockets (the zeroes) gives the casino an advantage.
American roulette, for instance, has both a 0 and a 00, giving it 38 pockets in total. That results in most bets having a house edge of 5.26%. On the other hand, European roulette has just a single zero, and carries a house edge of 2.70%.
There are exceptions, however. French roulette games may include the “en prison” or “la partage” rules for even money bets, which give you the opportunity to save some or all of your money when the wheel lands on zero. These rules effectively cut the house edge on those bets in half, to 1.35%. Meanwhile, the infamous “top line” bet in American roulette – covering 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 – has a higher 7.89% house edge, and should be avoided.