European Roulette Guide

Introducing European Roulette – The Player’s Choice

European Roulette is a centuries-old casino game that was invented by Blaise Pascal, the notable French mathematician, philosopher, and scientist. Indeed, the French origins of roulette feature prominently in the eponymous name of the game – ‘Little Wheel’.

The eclectic nature of roulette’s origins spans across several European countries including France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. An Italian roulette variant known as Reiner, Ace, and a UK game known as Roly-Poly, contributed towards the game we know so well today.

Casinofy’s European Roulette guide provides fascinating insights into this unique variant of the game, complete with detailed insights into the differences between European Roulette, American Roulette, and French Roulette. This variant of roulette bears striking similarities to French Roulette, with subtle differences in design, rules, and the attendant payouts.

Players will be well served by carefully reading through our roulette strategy guide, roulette odds guide, and roulette tips guide. This European Roulette guide is designed to supplement your understanding of the nuances of the game, and the rules of play.

What is European Roulette?

European Roulette is a casino table game featuring a spinning wheel, and a roulette betting deck. Players place bets on their preferred selections such as inside bets and outside bets. The bets on the outside of the betting deck are known as outside bets, including 1 to 12, 13 to 24, 25 to 36, 2 to 1, 1 to 18, 19 to 36, even & odd, red & black. The outside bets typically have a lower payout ratio than the inside bets, because there is a much greater probability of outside bets coming good.

The inside bets are wagers on individual numbers, or groups of numbers. On the European Roulette deck and wheel, the majority of the numbers are either red or black. The red numbers are the odd numbers and the black numbers are the even numbers. There is a single green zero which is neither even nor odd.

All in all, the European Roulette wheel features 37 numbers and 37 pockets. The whole numbers include 0, and numbers 1-36. The presentation of the European Roulette wheel is intentionally designed to obfuscate any potential pattern recognition. Indeed, the layout of the European Roulette wheel is interspersed with a combination of even and odd numbers around the green 0. The sequence of numbers in this single 0 game is characterized as follows:

• The Orphans – 1-20-14-9-17-34-6
• Zero Game – 12-35-3-26-0-32-15
• Thirds of the Wheel – 27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33
• Neighbors of Zero – 22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26-0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25

Why are European Roulette Numbers Placed the Way they Are?

A cursory glimpse of the European Roulette wheel tends to suggest that the numbers are randomly placed, but this is a misconception. In fact, if you look carefully at the European Roulette wheel, you will notice that there are alternating low and high numbers around the wheel.

This is intentionally designed to prevent logical combinations of numbers on sectors of the wheel, since this would limit the profitability for casinos by restricting bets to specific sections of the roulette betting felt.

A closer inspection of European Roulette wheel reveals several interesting design elements. Alternating red (even) and black (odd) colors are displayed around the wheel. Starting with the green 0, the number to the right is 32 red and a number to the left is 26 black. As you move clockwise or anticlockwise around the roulette wheel, there are substantial differences between each successive number.

When each of these numbers is viewed on the greater roulette betting felt, it is clear that these numbers are positioned all over the betting track, to ensure that players don’t concentrate bets in any specific section.

If one were to divide the European Roulette wheel into 4 quadrants comprising 25% of all potential numbers in each quadrant, players would theoretically have a 25% chance of hitting a winning number by focusing their bets on a specific quadrant, since a sequential order would allow you to pick first 12, second 12, or third 12, as well as a combination of inside bets and outside bets to match. The strategic placement of numbers is designed to mix things up as much as possible.

Luckily, there are some patterns that are relatively easy to spot. For example, on the right-hand side of the zero pocket there are 18 numbers – 9 red and 9 black. All the red numbers on this side of the wheel are high (19-21-23-25-27-30-32-34-36), while the black numbers are low (2-4-6-8-10-11-13-15-17).  On the other side of the roulette wheel – left of the zero pocket – the opposite holds true. The red pockets feature low numbers (1-3-5-7-9-12-14-16-18) and the black numbers are high (20-22-24-26-28-29-31-33-35). Once the croupier is ready to spin the roulette wheel – the wheel moves in an anti-clockwise fashion and the ball spins in a clockwise fashion.

The House Advantage in European Roulette

In European Roulette, the house edge is 2.70%. This is substantially better than the house edge in American Roulette at 5.26%, but less impressive than the house edge in French Roulette at 1.35%. With 37 numbers on the European Roulette wheel, the odds of any single number coming up are 1/37 or 2.70%.

If, on the rare occasion, the ‘La Partage’ and ‘En Prison’ rules are put into effect in European Roulette (these are invariably reserved for French Roulette) the house edge is reduced to 1.35%. This occurs because players will only lose 50% of their bet on an even-money wager if 0 lands.

The house edge or house advantage is calculated by deducting the RTP from 100. If the return to player is 97.30% in European Roulette, it stands to reason that the house edge is 100 – 97.30 = 2.70%.

Payouts and Odds for European Roulette

European Roulette wheel, the betting options, payout possibilities, and mechanics of the game. Feel free to reerence this Casinofy European Roulette guide at your leisure.

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