When you play roulette at our Roulette USA online casino you have a wide variety of options that are unique to online gaming. Not only can you play free roulette demo games in the casino’s free mode but you have your choice of both free European AND free American roulette online gaming events. Learn the game, get good, and then move on to enjoy a no-table-limit roulette adventure where you can gamble at a VIP level, moderately or in a way that suits your personal wagering budget.
It’s easy to play online. Simply sign into your personal casino account and visit the games lobby. Choose the roulette variation that you prefer and then click the play button to play for free. We recommend free online American roulette game play as the best way to learn the game and gain your confidence - same could be said for free European roulette game play. Once you've had your fill of European or American roulette free online and are ready for the excitement of real money play, you're ready to place a wager to play for real money prizes. You can play for as long as you wish as you enjoy the atmosphere of a Las Vegas casino on your PC or mobile screen.
Roulette
French physicist Blaise Pascal’s effort to invent a perpetual motion machine resulted in the first roulette wheel in 1655. Pascal was trying to disprove the theory that a machine could exist that continues to operate perpetually without drawing energy from an external source.
The roulette wheel didn’t spin endlessly but it did inspire people in early casinos who created a game around the “little wheel”. In the mid-1800s, brothers Francois and Louis Blanc altered the wheel by adding a zero to it, thereby increasing the house edge.
The zero roulette wheel debuted in Monaco where Monaco’s King Charles III included it in his new French Riviera casino. Slowly, other casinos adopted the new zero-roulette wheel but the wheel remained a symbol of Monte Carlo’s gaming culture.
Roulette became a favored game among the Riviera casinos’ wealthy and royal patrons. Europe’s high society flocked to Monte Carlo and other Riviera casinos where roulette reigned supreme. New French immigrants brought the game to the United States where a second zero was added to increase the house edge.
The double zero roulette game became known as “American Roulette” to distinguish it from the single-zero “European Roulette”. When Las Vegas casinos started to open in the 1930s, most included the American roulette wheel though even today, you can find European roulette wheels at some casinos.
American and European Roulette
Some land-based casinos feature both American and European roulette but, due to the higher house edge of American Roulette, many brick-and-mortar casinos don’t have European roulette wheels at all. Online casinos generally give their patrons the option to play either version so if you’re looking for an option for a better house edge, you’re more likely to find it if you’re playing online.
Why is European roulette favored?
The two types of roulette each have their own betting tables and their own rules.
On an American wheel there are 38 pockets ranging from 1-36, a 0 pocket and a 00 slot. The numbered pockets are red and black (half and half) while the zero pockets are green. The numbers are mixed, with no adjacent numbers of the same color – it’s black, red, black, red, black……the green zero pockets are located in the midst of the other numbers – if there are both single zero and a double zero pockets, they are situated on opposite sides of the wheel.
The European wheel (which is also used for the French Roulette variation) is a better choice for players who want to enjoy the highest chance to achieve wins. Simply put, in European roulette there are 37 pockets for the ball to land it while in American roulette, there are 38 pockets. That means, the odds of the ball landing in a pocket of a number on which you bet are one in 37 in European roulette, the odds are one in 38 on the American wheel.
Some casinos have three-zero roulette wheels which, if you don’t understand the house odds, may sound intriguing. But it all comes down to the mathematical fact that the odds of the ball landing in the pocket on which you bet in a three-zero roulette wheel are one in 39 - worse odds ever.
Bets
Roulette isn’t a complicated game. You predict into which pocket a tossed ball will fall into a spinning wheel, throw the ball and if your prediction is correct, you collect your payout.
The interesting part of the game – and the part where your ability to strategize comes into play – is in the betting. There are different types of bets in roulette and the kind of wager that you place will determine how successful your win is. There are outside bets, which are bets on larger groupings of numbers. Outside bets are easier to hit but the payout is lower. Then, there are inside bets. Inside bets are bets on individual numbers or smaller number options. Those predictions are harder to hit so the bet is riskier, but the payout is more rewarding.
Like other casino games, roulette is mostly a game of chance. But there are some rules of basic strategy that, if you follow them, can help you increase your chances of success.
- Focus on the surer, more frequently-hit outside bets. Chances of winning an inside bet are slim but outside bets may be slower to hit but they come up more often.
- Focus on corner bets. Payouts for corner bets are about 1:8 and they’re safer than other bets.
So what do you say....ready for the roulette table at Grande Vegas? Remember: play free American roulette - or European for that matter - til you're ready for the big time. Now get ready for the thrill and adrenaline high of watching that ball go 'round and 'round the wheel until it drops and you...WIN!