After dominating Monte Carlo and European casinos, roulette moved to the USA in the XVIII century, where it started its casino conquest from New Orleans.
Bit by bit, roulette moved West along the Mississippi River, becoming a great hit in American casinos. Instead of following European rules, however, the American version had a total of 38 pockets by adding a double zero on the wheel. This increased the house edge of the American wheel to double (5.26%) and even though it was abandoned for a short period of time, gamblers just couldn’t stop playing American roulette, and it remains like that to this day.
How Do You Play Americain Roulette?
If you ever played one roulette version, you’ve played them all. Well, with a few exceptions. For example, the addition of the double zero pocket in American roulette significantly raises the house edge, but that and the few different bets don’t change the way the action flows.
After placing your casino chips or money on your bets on the layout, the croupier spins the wheel. Until he announces “No more bets”, you can alter your bet. After the croupier announces that he’s taking no more bets, players are unable to bet until the spin ends and all the losing and winning bets have been removed and paid out.
When it comes to American roulette, there are a few different bets that involve the double zero pocket on the wheel which are specific to this variant.
Types of Bets
The types of inside and outside bets in American roulette are the same as in European roulette. You can place a Straight up Bet, a Dozen bet, a split or a corner bet. Additionally, there’s another inside bet available in American roulette called a basket bet, which involves betting on five numbers including the bank pockets 0 and 00 (as well as 1, 2, and 3). The basket bet has a theoretical edge of 7.89%, which makes it the worst roulette bet of all and therefore not a favorite of many people.
The outside bets are far more favorable for the player, even with the higher house edge of American roulette. You can bet on a larger group of numbers and there’s more flexibility for the player with outside bets, as you can place your chips on lines between two boxes. This will give you better chances to win the next spin, but it will also drastically reduce the potential winnings, which isn’t exactly ideal.
The popular street bet is among the most popular outside bets and involves placing the chips (or cash) on the vertical line between inside and outside bets. It pays out 11:1 which makes it pretty enticing for new players and more experience roulette players.