| Updated: September 25, 2025The original roulette wheel consists of 37 pockets, numbered from 0 to 36. The French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the roulette wheel by accident while attempting to create a perpetual motion machine.
A little-known fact is that the zero pocket was added to the roulette wheel in the mid-19th century to give the house a greater edge. Louis and François Blanc introduced this idea as a favor to King Charles III of Monaco, whose kingdom was facing financial troubles. The game was soon introduced to the public, and it did not take long for it to generate sizable revenue for Monaco.
In the 1800s, French immigrants brought the game to the United States. However, casinos initially rejected it because of its relatively low house edge. The American gambling community later added an additional zero pocket to the European wheel, and that is how this variation of the game was created.
Today, most online and land-based casinos offer this version, as many players prefer it despite its higher house edge compared with its European and French counterparts.
How to Play American Roulette in a Land-Based Casino?
Roulette is the first choice of many casino fans because its rules are straightforward, and the only real skill involved is proper bankroll management. This does not make the game any less thrilling – quite the opposite. Roulette tables in land-based casinos are often packed with cheerful players eager to see which pocket the small metal ball will finally settle in.
If you enjoy the traditional brick-and-mortar gambling experience, visit a casino of your choice, purchase chips for the table you wish to join, and wait for an open seat. Be sure to pay attention to the table limits and ensure they fit within your bankroll.
Buying Roulette Chips
Placing a Bet Roulette EtiquetteBuying Roulette Chips
Each roulette table in a land-based casino uses unique chips, so you cannot take chips from one table to play another game. Every player’s stack is a different color, ensuring the dealer does not mix up the players’ bets. When you sit down at a roulette table, the croupier will exchange your casino chips for the table’s distinct roulette chips.
Placing a Bet
To place a bet at an American Roulette table in a land-based casino, first wait for the dealer to clear the chips from the previous round. Players may then place their wagers, and they typically have about a minute to do so. After the croupier announces “No more bets,” you cannot change, add, or remove your stake. The game begins when the dealer spins the wheel in one direction and rolls the ball in the other.
When the ball loses momentum, it will land in one of the wheel’s pockets, determining the result. The croupier will place a marker (the dolly) on the winning number, collect all losing bets, and pay out the winners.
Roulette Etiquette
If you decide to play American Roulette at a land-based casino, you must observe proper etiquette. Every casino has a dress code that you must follow.
It is also essential to keep your emotions in check. Shouting, screaming, or mocking other players is inappropriate. Be courteous to your fellow players and the dealer; it will serve you well.
Roulette players should touch their chips only when placing a bet, and touching another player’s chips is strictly prohibited.
- High Stakes Roulette
- Low Limit Roulette
- Fibonacci Roulette System
- Parlay Roulette System
- Martingale Roulette System
- Inside Bets
- Outside Bets
- Roulette Rules
- Roulette Strategies
- French Roulette
- European Roulette
- American and European Wheel Sequences
- Roulette – From a Perpetual Motion Machine to a Casino Landmark
- Roulette Basics and Rules of Table Conduct
- Roulette's Bet Types
- The French Roulette Layout
- Independent Trials, Odds, and Casino Edge in Roulette
- En Prison and La Partage
- Taking Your Roulette Game to the Next Level with Call Bets
- The Many Faces of Roulette – Interesting Variations to Try
- Progressive Roulette Systems
- Reading Biased Wheels and Other Predictive Methods
- The Master of the Wheel Gonzalo Garcia Pelayo
- Improving Your Roulette Game
- Dispelling Roulette Myths
- How to Protect a Roulette Bankroll
- Software Providers of Online Roulette
- Roulette Games with Progressive Jackpots
- Live Dealer Roulette
- Roulette Goes Mobile
- Roulette in Literature, Film, and Television
American Roulette at Online Casinos
If you’re a novice player, it might be better to start at an online casino to hone your skills. Many gambling sites offer various American Roulette variations that include a demo mode. Online American Roulette is a virtual representation of the roulette table: there is a wheel and a number grid for placing bets, but no croupier manages the game.
Instead, the outcome is determined by sophisticated software known as a random number generator (RNG). To ensure fairness, independent third parties regularly test the software for randomness.
How to Place a Bet Popular RNG-Based American Roulette Variations Common FeaturesHow to Place a Bet
After choosing a regulated online casino, create an account, fund it, and you’ll be ready to play American Roulette for real money. The biggest advantage of RNG-based roulette is that you can jump into the action immediately. Open the version that interests you, select a chip value from the display, hover your mouse over the betting table, and click the desired area to place your bet. You can increase the wager amount in the same way.
Chips come in different denominations, and every bet has minimum and maximum limits. Most online American-style roulette games also feature buttons that let you repeat, double, or clear your bet.
Popular RNG-Based American Roulette Variations
Reputable online casinos partner with first-class software providers to power their game portfolios. In the American Roulette category, experienced players often recommend titles such as Microgaming’s American Roulette Gold, NetEnt’s American Roulette, and Playtech’s Premium American Roulette, among others. These games feature crystal-clear graphics that deliver a realistic experience. Additionally, players can customize various settings to suit their preferences.
Common Features
Online American Roulette variations include several tools to help players maximize each round. The Statistics feature is especially useful for those whose strategies rely on hot numbers (those that appear more frequently) and cold numbers (those that appear less often).
Players should also pay attention to the bar charts, which display the percentage of rounds resulting in Red/Black and Odd/Even. Moreover, you can save your favorite betting patterns and reapply them with a single click whenever you wish.
Types of Bets and Payouts
Roulette is a classic game with easy-to-understand rules and numerous betting options. When playing American Roulette, you’ll encounter the same bets and payouts found in the European and French versions of the game. Roulette wagers fall into two categories: inside and outside bets. Inside bets are placed within the number grid; they usually have lower odds of winning, but their payouts are higher to compensate for the risk.
As the name suggests, outside bets are made outside the number grid. Because they cover larger groups of numbers, the chances of winning are greater, and the payouts are correspondingly lower.
Inside Bets Outside BetsInside Bets
- Straight-Up Bet – Place a wager on any single number, including zero. The payout is 35:1.
- Split Bet – A wager on two adjacent numbers. Place your chips on the vertical or horizontal line between the chosen numbers. Winning bets pay 17:1.
- Street Bet – Place your chips at the end of a row of three numbers. A winning street bet pays 11:1.
- Corner Bet – A wager on four numbers that form a square on the grid. Chips are placed in the center of the square, and the payout is 8:1.
- Six Line – A bet on two adjacent streets, covering six numbers in total. Place the chips at the intersection of the selected streets. Winning bets pay 5:1.
- Basket Bet – A wager on five numbers: 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3. Place your chips on the edge of the line connecting these numbers. The payout is 6:1.
Outside Bets
- Column Bet – A wager on 12 numbers in a single column (e.g., 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34). Place your chips at the end of the chosen column. The payout is 2:1.
- Dozen Bet – The number grid is divided into three dozens. The first covers numbers 1–12, the second 13–24, and the third 25–36. Place your chips on the “1st 12,” “2nd 12,” or “3rd 12” box outside the grid. This bet pays 2:1.
- Red/Black Bet – A wager on all red or all black numbers, covering 18 numbers – nearly half of the wheel. The payout is 1:1.
- Odd/Even Bet – Bet on all odd (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc.) or all even (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc.) numbers. The payout is 1:1, and the bet includes 18 numbers.
- Low/High Bet – Numbers on the roulette wheel are split into low (1–18) and high (19–36). Winning bets pay 1:1.
American Roulette vs European Roulette
There is a slight difference between European and American Roulette. Designwise, the two tables are alike. Due to the extra double zero pocket on the American Roulette wheel, there is an additional box on the number grid. In the table below, we would like to present the biggest differences between these two popular roulette variations.
The European Roulette wheel has 37 pockets, covering the numbers from 0 to 36;
The American Roulette wheel features a total of 38 pockets, including the numbers from 0 to 36 and an extra double zero pocket;
European Roulette’s house edge is 2.70%;
The house edge of American Roulette is 5.26%;
The sequence of the numbers on the wheel are as follows: 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25, 17, 34, 6, 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33, 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26;
The numbers on the American Roulette wheel are arranged in the following way: 0, 28, 9, 26, 30, 11, 7, 20, 32, 17, 5, 22, 34, 15, 3, 24, 36, 13, 1, 00, 27, 10, 25, 29, 12, 8, 19, 31, 18, 6, 21, 33, 16, 4, 23, 35, 14, 2;
European Roulette does not offer the so-called basket bet;
When playing American Roulette, you can place a basket bet. However, it is better to avoid it.
Some European Roulette variations feature the “En Prison” and “La Partage” rules that reduce the house edge on even-money bets to 1.35%.
Some American Roulette tables feature the “surrender” rule that reduces the house edge to 2.63% on even-money bets.
The Surrender Rule
If you happen to be in Atlantic City and play American Roulette, there’s a good chance you’ll find a table that features the surrender rule. If the ball lands in the zero or double-zero pocket and you have placed an even-money bet, the surrender rule comes into play.
As some of you may have already noticed, it is quite similar to the “La Partage” rule in French Roulette. The surrender rule lowers the house edge to 2.63% for even-money bets. Players whose outside bets lose automatically receive half of their stakes back.