European Roulette
As the name suggests, the European Roulette wheel is the one that you will find at casinos in Europe. The main difference between this and the American Roulette wheel is that the European wheel only has the single 0 space on the wheel. The 00 is only on the American wheel.
About European Roulette
In order to grasp what this means, you have to realize what the zero in roulette represents. When the ball lands on a zero in roulette, all of the outside bets will automatically lose. This means that the Odd/Even, Black/Red, 1st Half/2nd Half, and all third of the table bets will lose. The only bets that will win are inside bets that are placed on the zero or accompanying numbers.
The zero in roulette is the number(s) that give the house a slight advantage. This house advantage is doubled in American roulette because there is a 0 and 00.
The odds are for winning bets are almost identical to American roulette. The only difference is that there is no 5 number bet available.
1 number – 35 to 1 payout
2 numbers – 17 to 1 payout
3 numbers – 11 to 1 payout
4 numbers – 8 to 1 payout
6 numbers – 5 to 1 payout
Announce Bets
The second big difference that you can see with European roulette is the extra betting area on the table. This racetrack is the exact way that the numbers appear on the roulette wheel. These are called Announce bets.
If you want to place a bet on a number on this wheel, you are placing 5 inside bets on the table: the number that you are betting on and the 2 numbers to the left and right on the wheel. In essence, you are betting that the marble will land on a slice of the wheel.
If you want to place a bet on the 0, you will also be placing bets on the 3, 26, 32 and 15. If you win one of these announce bets, you will win a 7 to 1 payout overall. There is a 13.5% chance that you will win this bet.
If you look at the middle of the track, you will see three additional bets: Voisins du Zero, Orpahns, and Tiers du Cylindre.
Voisins du Zero means “cousins of zero”. This is a total of 9 bets that are made on 7 spots on the table. You will be betting that the marble will land somewhere between the 22 and the 25 on the wheel in the direction that includes the zero. It covers a total of 17 numbers on the wheel. You will win the most if the ball lands on 0, 2 or 3. You will win the least if the ball lands on 25, 26, 28 or 29.
Tiers du Cylindre means “third of the cylinder”. This is a total of 6 bets placed on 6 spots on the table. It includes the numbers that are between the 33 and the 27 on the wheel. All of the winning bets are the same amount. The payout for a winning bet is 17 to 6 or 2.8 to 1.
Orphans is the last bet. It refers to the numbers that were not covered by the first two bets described. This includes the 17, 34 and 6 group and the 9, 31, 14, 20 and 1 group. There is a total of 5 bets made on 8 numbers. The largest wins will occur if you receive a 1 or 17. This wager has the longest odds but also the highest payout on winning bets.
Where to Play European Roulette
Unfortunately, you will not be able to play this version of roulette at the casino if you live in the United States. The European roulette game is older than the version that is played in America. The 00 was added specifically to give the house a larger advantage.
However, most online gambling sites that offer a roulette game will offer both versions. Bovada Casino, for example, offers both the American and European version of roulette.
You must beware if you play roulette at an online casino. Many of the bonuses will not allow wagers to be placed on roulette if you have accepted the casino bonus. Most of the other casinos will not count wagers toward the wagering requirement of the bonus. If a casino bonus does include roulette, it will most often include American roulette, but not European roulette.
If you want to play European roulette online, the best practical advice is to not accept a casino bonus when you make a deposit.