How to play
The European wheel is the one most casinos outside the United States use, and the one other roulette games get measured against. It has 37 pockets: the numbers 1 to 36, eighteen red and eighteen black, and one green 0. The numbers are not in order around the wheel; they’re arranged so that reds and blacks alternate and high and low numbers are spread out.
A round goes like this:
- Choose a chip value from the tray: 10, 50, 100 or 500.
- Tap places on the betting layout. Each tap adds one chip, so tapping red three times with a 50 chip puts 150 on red. The small rings on the lines between numbers take split, street, corner and six-line bets; hovering or focusing one lights up the numbers it covers. You can cover as many spots as you like.
- Made a mistake? Undo lifts the last chip you placed, Clear removes everything.
- Press Spin. The ball settles in one pocket, winners are paid, losers are collected, and the number joins the strip of recent results at the top.
- Next round, Rebet puts the same layout back with one tap.
Each spot takes between 10 and 1,000 credits in multiples of 10, and the total on the table can’t go over 5,000 per spin.
Bets on this table
The layout has the full set of inside bets (single numbers and the bets on the lines between them) and the classic outside bets.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Pays | Chance to win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single number, 0 included | 1 | 35 to 1 | 1 in 37 (2.7%) |
| Split: ring on the line between two numbers, 0 included | 2 | 17 to 1 | 2 in 37 (5.4%) |
| Street: ring at the outer end of a row of three | 3 | 11 to 1 | 3 in 37 (8.1%) |
| Trio: 0-1-2 or 0-2-3 | 3 | 11 to 1 | 3 in 37 (8.1%) |
| Corner: ring where four numbers meet | 4 | 8 to 1 | 4 in 37 (10.8%) |
| Top line: 0-1-2-3 | 4 | 8 to 1 | 4 in 37 (10.8%) |
| Six line: ring at the outer end between two rows | 6 | 5 to 1 | 6 in 37 (16.2%) |
| 1st 12, 2nd 12, 3rd 12 | 12 | 2 to 1 | 12 in 37 (32.4%) |
| Column (“2 to 1” at the end of each row) | 12 | 2 to 1 | 12 in 37 (32.4%) |
| Red / Black | 18 | 1 to 1 | 18 in 37 (48.6%) |
| Odd / Even | 18 | 1 to 1 | 18 in 37 (48.6%) |
| 1–18 / 19–36 | 18 | 1 to 1 | 18 in 37 (48.6%) |
The zero belongs to none of the outside bets. It isn’t red or black, odd or even, low or high, and it’s in no dozen or column. When the ball drops into 0, every outside bet loses and only a chip sitting directly on 0 is paid.
Racetrack bets
Under the chips sit the classic announced bets, named after sections of the wheel rather than the layout. Each one places a fixed group of chips at the value you’ve selected, and Undo removes the whole group at once.
| Button | Numbers | Chips | What it places |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voisins (neighbours of zero) | 17 | 9 | 0-2-3 trio (2 chips), splits 4/7, 12/15, 18/21, 19/22, 32/35, corner 25-26-28-29 (2 chips) |
| Tiers (third of the wheel) | 12 | 6 | splits 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30, 33/36 |
| Orphelins (orphans) | 8 | 5 | number 1, splits 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, 31/34 |
| Zero game | 7 | 4 | splits 0/3, 12/15, 32/35, number 26 |
| Neighbours | 5 | 5 | tap the button, then a number: that number and the two on each side of it on the wheel |
Voisins, tiers and orphelins together cover the whole wheel exactly once. These are shortcuts, not special bets: every chip is an ordinary split, corner or straight bet with the usual payout and edge.
The house edge
The payouts are what a 36-pocket wheel would deserve, but the wheel has 37. That one extra pocket is where the house edge comes from, and on this wheel it’s the same for every bet: 1/37, about 2.70%.
Take a straight bet. In 37 spins you’d expect to hit once and collect 36 (35 winnings plus your stake back), having paid 37. You’re one unit short. Red works out the same way: 18 wins of 2 units back against 37 units staked is 36, again one short.
In practical terms, for every 1,000 credits pushed across the table, the expected cost is about 27 credits. Individual sessions will swing far above and below that. Over many spins the average closes in on it.
Strategy
There’s no way to beat the 2.70%, but you do choose the shape of your session.
Pick your volatility. Even-money bets win just under half the time, so your balance drifts slowly. Dozens and columns win about one spin in three. A single number can go 50 or 100 spins without landing and then pay 35 times the stake in one go. All three cost the same in the long run.
Spreading bets doesn’t help or hurt. Covering red and the 2nd dozen together still has a 2.70% edge on every credit. It only changes how often you see a win.
Ignore the history strip. It’s there because real tables have one, not because it predicts anything. Eight blacks in a row leave red at exactly 18 in 37 on the ninth spin.
Skip progressions. Doubling after each loss feels safe because it usually wins back a small amount. Then a run of seven or eight losses meets the 1,000 per-spot limit or your credit total, and the one big loss erases all the small wins.
Set a stopping point. Decide in advance when you’ll walk away, up or down. With virtual credits that’s practice for good habits rather than a necessity.
If you want the same wheel with a gentler rule on the even-money bets, try French Roulette; the American table shows what a second zero does.
If you enjoy European Roulette, try Exact Total Baccarat or Face Up 21 next.
