Difference between American roulette and European roulette: Single Zero vs. Double Zero Roulette

 If you have visited an online casino before, you have probably seen the two types of roulette available at every internet casino – the European roulette and American roulette – and you are probably wondering what's the difference between the two.

 The difference between American and European roulette is very small and simple, yet it affects the odds quite a bit. In American roulette there is an extra “0” (zero) on the table. While in European roulette there are 37 number spots (the numbers from 1 to 36 and a zero), in the American version of the game there are 38 slots, two of them being zeros. And as a matter of fact, one of the zero spots in American roulette is a single zero, the other one – a double zero. Because of this, American roulette is often referred to as double zero roulette and European roulette as single zero roulette.

	American Roulette (double zero)		European Roulette (single zero)

 This is pretty much the only difference between the European and American roulette (and of course the table layout would be different), but as you can imagine the odds of winning when betting at an American roulette table are considerably smaller. When playing European roulette the house advantage is just 2.7%, but when you add the extra zero on the American roulette, the house advantage jumps all the way to ~5.25%. You can see the payouts and odds of winning playing roulette here. Thus while you many not have the option of choosing which version of this table game you can play at the local casino, you almost always have both available at the online casinos. Choosing to play European roulette over American roulette will significantly improve your chances of coming out a winner.

 In European roulette (mostly in Europe's casinos, but also at some online casinos), players also have the chance to “imprison” their bet, when wagering on the outside, i.e. anything but number bets, and the ball stops on a zero. For example, if a player bets on Red (outside bet) and the ball lands on zero, they can choose to get half of their bet back, effectively losing half their wager or they can choose to “imprison” their bet (the chips remain on the outside bet for one more spin) and if the next spin of the wheel is a winner, the player gets their wager back, but no winnings. It's just a small option to protect your outside bet from the dreadful zero, but not all online casinos offer this option, so make sure you check the specific casino rules before placing any hopes for an imprison when playing European roulette.