Differences between European, American, and French Roulette

PokerioMokykla.comUpdated 2024 m. October 31 d.

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games in the world, but few players know that there are actually three different variants of this game. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

European roulette

Differences Between European, American, and French Roulette

Many casino visitors choose to play roulette without thinking about the possible differences. In fact, there are three different types of roulette – European, American, and French. The roulette mechanism itself differs in only two aspects, so what are the differences:

  1. The numbers are arranged differently
  2. American roulette has 0 and 00.

The first difference in roulette is, of course, the design, as it does not affect probabilities in any way, but the second significantly increases the house edge and the player's chance of losing their bet. French roulette differs both in its design and rules, but we will discuss it in detail later.

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Differences in American Roulette and House Edge

The main difference between American roulette and European (and French) is the inclusion of the double zero on the wheel, which does not count as red/black or even/odd, and so on. At first glance, it may seem that just one additional slot does not significantly change the player's or house's chances of winning, but in reality, the presence of the double zero almost doubles the house edge.

When placing a bet on a specific number in European roulette, we have a 2.7% chance of winning (1 in 37) and receive a payout of 35 times the original bet. Making the same bet in American roulette, we have a 2.6% chance of winning and receive the same payout. This difference does not seem significant until we perform broader calculations.

Bet Payout E. Probability A. Probability Edge
Color 1:1 48.65% 47.37% 2.7% vs 5.26%
(Odd)Even 1:1 48.65% 47.37% 2.7% vs 5.26%
Low/High 1:1 48.65% 47.37% 2.7% vs 5.26%

In all bets, the house edge in American roulette is almost twice as high. In practice, this means that money can be lost almost twice as fast – if you lose 1000 euros per hour on European roulette, then, mathematically speaking, you would lose the same amount on American roulette in half an hour.

French Roulette and Its Rules

This roulette uses the same structure as European, but has two additional rules that give the player an advantage:

  1. La Partage – “sharing”. If the ball lands on zero, all even bets (color, even or odd number, low or high number) are split in half. The player gets back half of the bet, the other part goes to the house. For all other bets (on exact numbers and so on), standard rules apply.
  2. En Prison – “prison”. If the ball lands on zero, all even bets are marked. If they win on the next spin, the player gets back the full bet amount. If the En Prison rule applies, the marked bet cannot be changed.

French roulette follows one of the two mentioned rules, but La Partage is most commonly used. In any case, the house edge is slightly reduced. In all cases except for the zero outcome, the edge is 2.7%, and when zero comes up and one of the rules is applied, the edge is reduced to 1.35%.

French Roulette Bets

Announced Bet Bets

When playing roulette, you can place not only inside and outside bets in special sections but also bets called Announced Bet in the racetrack area.

These Announced Bet are most commonly announced in French roulette, but are now increasingly found in online European roulette variants. Moreover, they all have their unique names in French, so you can feel the true spirit of the French game even more!

  1. Let's start with the “Voisins du Zéro” bet, also known as “Neighbours of Zero”. This bet covers zero and 7 numbers on each side of zero – from 22 to 25 on the wheel. This means that a bet of 15 numbers is covered with 9 chips.

Distribution

A trio covering 0,2,3 (2 chips)

Five combinations: 4/7, 12/15, 18/21/19/22, 32/35 (1 chip each – total 5)

One corner: 25/26/28/29 – (2 chips)

  1. Another bet, which, like “Voisins du Zéro”, covers quite a few numbers, is called “Le Tiers Du Cylindre”. This bet covers 12 numbers with 6 chips – from 27 to 33 on the wheel. Hence the name of the bet – literally “Le Tiers Du Cylindre” means “a third of the wheel”.

 Distribution

All the numbers on which this bet is planned are: 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23,10, 5, 24, 16 and 33 and one chip on each of these number combinations: 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30 and 33/36.

  1. Another popular French roulette bet is called “Orphelins”. This is a bet that covers those numbers not covered by the “Voisins du Zéro” and “Le Tiers Du Cylindre” bets. This bet covers 8 numbers with 4 chips

Distribution

A bet consisting of individual numbers 1, 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31 and 34 and these number combinations: 6/9, 14/17, 17/20 and 31/34.

  1. There is also the “Jeu Zéro” bet, also known as “Zero Game”. This bet covers 3 neighbors of the zero slot on each side of the wheel.

7 numbers are covered with 4 chips.

Distribution

A bet consisting of numbers 26 and 3 and their combinations 0/3, 12/15 and 32/35.

Where is the House Edge the Lowest?

After analyzing all three possible roulette variants, the differences in roulette and the player's choice are clear – French roulette is the best. When playing this variant, the house edge is the smallest, there is the most action (due to additional rules), and the most money is saved.