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American Roulette Guide: Rules, Strategies & Expert Tips
How to Play American Roulette
American Roulette is amongst the most popular games in casinos in America. Unlike its European counterpart, the American Roulette wheel has 38 holes as opposed to 37.
Both variations have numbers 1 to 36 and single 0, whilst the American version has a 00 as well.
Therefore, the odds for the player doing any bets other than Straight Up bets are worse as 2 numbers will ensure all bets lose – 0 and 00 – as opposed to just 1, 0, in European Roulette.
Rules Of American Roulette
The main aim of American Roulette, as with all other versions, is to guess what number will be spun in the next game.
A wheel is spun and a small ball dropped in which comes to rest in one of the 38 slots. Payouts are then made for all bets that guessed correctly.
A version of an American Roulette wheel can be found below:
There are many different bets you can place in American Roulette which are essentially the same as in all other forms of the game.
Before this, you need to choose the value of your chips, this is easily done when playing online by clicking on the chip value that you wish to play with. You can then click on different sections of the play area to place your bets.
You can put more than one chip on each bet up to the table limit for that type of bet, those with a higher payout will generally have a smaller maximum bet.
Types of American Roulette Bets
• Inside Bets
• Straight Up Bet
• Placed on a single number on the board, including 0 and 00.
• Split Bet
• Placed between 2 separate numbers, a win if either of these numbers comes in.
• Street Bet
• Placed between 3 numbers on the end of a row of 3 or a combination of 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. If any of the 3 numbers come in, the bet is a winner.
• Corner Bet
• Covering 4 different numbers, this bet pays out if any of the 4 come in.
• Line Bet
• Covering 6 numbers, this is the same as a Street Bet but covers 2 rows of 3 numbers instead of just: If any of the 6 come in, you are a winner!
• Outside Bets
• Column Bet
• This is a bet on a whole column of numbers, so a third of the main play area less 0 and 00. If any of these 12 numbers are the winning number, the bet pays out.
• Dozen Bet
• Also featuring 12 numbers, this is a bet on the low dozen – 1 to 12-, 2nd dozen – 13 to 24 – or a high dozen – 25 to 36. If you bet on the right column, you win.
• Colour Bet
• Bet on whether the number will be Red or Black. As with the majority of bets, if the ball lands in 0 or 00 it will be a loser.
• Odd/Even bet
• Bet on whether the winning number will be odd or even.
• High/Low – Low numbers are 1 to 18, High 19 to 36.
An example of each type of bet can be seen in the image below.
American Roulette Payouts
The amount won on each type of bet depends on the likelihood of it coming in. This American Roulette payout chart shows an idea of the payouts for each type of bet, some sites will vary slightly from the odds given so be sure to check the odds of your favoured bets before you start playing at a site…
| Bet Type | Returns |
|---|---|
| The Straight Up bet | 35 to 1 |
| The Split Bet | 17 to 1 |
| The Street Bet | 11 to 1 |
| The Corner Bet | 8 to 1 |
| The Line Bet | 5 to 1 |
| The Column Bet | 2 to 1 |
| The Dozen Bet | 2 to 1 |
| The Colour Bet | 1 to 1 |
| The Odd/Even Bet | 1 to 1 |
| The High/Low Bet | 1 to 1 |
American Roulette Strategy
Roulette is a game of chance, pure and simple. There is no strategy that will give you an edge over the house despite the many attempts people have made over the years.
We would recommend that if you are interested in playing for a while you look at the lower odds bets that are much more likely to come in but offer lower returns such as color, odd/even, high/low, column and dozen.
Many players like to bet on Straight Up numbers to get the 35 to 1 returns which are high for many players – understandably – but just betting on this can lead to losses quickly without the excitement of winning given the low odds of the bets coming in.
Remember to bet within your budget and enjoy the game, if the enjoyment goes then it is time to leave.
Summary
Roulette is one of the 2 most popular table games in a casino – along with blackjack – for a reason. There are many different types of betting options available and there is nothing quite like the excitement of watching and listening to the ball spin round the wheel waiting to see where it lands.
If you like fast-paced games with the ability to win big and often, roulette could be the game of choice for you!
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