One of our mottos is that before betting our money on any game it is essential to know it thoroughly, and European roulette is no exception. It's easy to confuse with French roulette, it bears some similarities to the American one but has its own characteristics. That's why we offer you an extensive guide with everything you need to know about European roulette before playing, from its features to the best online casinos or the accepted bets.
Table of contents
European Roulette Features
The European roulette has certain similarities with French roulette, as it has 37 numbers, from 1 to 36 in red and black and the 0 in green, and shares some special rules, but that's where the similarities end. We have a table layout similar to American roulette but with only one 0, so we can only place our bets on one side of the table.
One of the identifying features of European roulette is that colored chips are used, rather than chips of value like in other casino games. This way, each player in a physical casino has chips of a certain color, allowing for differentiation between the bets of different players. Of course, these chips cannot be used in other casino games. One last notable characteristic is that European roulette has an RTP of 97.3%, making it one of the games with the best return for the player.
European roulette rules
The objective of the European roulette player is to predict the number on which the ball will stop, so that their bet is a winner. To do this, we have different types of bets, among which stand out the announced bets, which are bets on certain groups of numbers that allow Philippines to diversify our bets. We can also make the so-called simple bets (red/black, even/odd, high/low), which require a special rule when the ball lands on 0.
In European roulette, this special rule is called "en prison" and consists of blocking simple bets. The chips are marked by the croupier on the table, and the bet will be resolved in the next spin. If the bet is correct on the second spin, the player retrieves their chips, but if the bet is a loser, they will lose them. In case of a win, the player does not receive any gain, only the chips are returned. It is a rule that allows Philippines to play a "free" round and offers Philippines a certain advantage over the house.
Where to play European roulette
If we focus on online gaming, it won't cost you anything to enter the "roulette" section of your trusted casino and find the European roulette. "European roulette" is the most common denomination in America for this type of roulette, and it is the one chosen by software developers for online casinos and game rooms; but in physical casinos, it has other names. For example, in Philippines and the United Kingdom it is known as "American roulette with one zero", while the French call it "English roulette."
As you can see, there are plenty of online casinos that allow Philippines to enjoy European roulette. It's always worth noting that there be small differences in the betting amounts for European roulette, European premium roulette, or European multiplayer roulette, where we share the table with other players, adding a bit more excitement to the game, but in all cases the mechanics of the game and the bets are always the same. The key is to make the most of your bets.
Differences between European roulette and French and American roulette
Although we have already outlined the main differences between European and French roulette, it is important to highlight them to eliminate any confusion that arise. At first glance, the most obvious change is that European roulette uses the American-style layout without the 00 and allows bets on only one side of the table, while French roulette allows bets on both sides. European roulette also uses colored chips as opposed to the value chips in French roulette, where the customary rule is to apply Le Partage in situations where European roulette applies the en prison rule.
On the other hand, the most evident difference between European and American roulette is that the latter has one more number, the 00, which decreases its RTP. They use a similar betting layout, with the only difference being the 00, and the same color chips to identify each player's bets. The other major difference is that American roulette does not include the rule of imprisonment, making the European version more favorable to the player and the American version more favorable to the house. Finally, it should be noted that American roulette does not have announced bets, but it does have the nonexistent 5 number bet found in European roulette.
Types of European roulette bets
There are several methods to classify bets, but in this case, we decided to do it according to the number of covered numbers in the bet, which will also determine the payout we'll receive if the bet wins. So, we have up to 7 different types of bets:
- 18 covered numbers (pays 1 to 1): also known as simple bets, and are those in which we cover half of the table. They can be on red or black, even or odd, and high or low -from 1 to 18 or from 19 to 36-. The 0 is not included in these bets, so if the ball lands on green the imprisonment rule applies.
- 12 covered numbers (pays 2 to 1): multiple bets that cover a third of the dozen. They can be dozen bets (on the first, from 1 to 12; on the second, from 13 to 24; or on the third, from 25 to 36) or column bets (the first covers 1 to 34, the second covers 2 to 35, and the third covers 3 to 36).
- 6 covered numbers (pays 5 to 1): known as the "sixline", we bet on the six numbers of two adjacent lines. In physical casinos, the chip is placed on the common outer corner of both lines. For example, to bet on the sixline between 22 and 27, place the chip on the outer corner shared between 22 and 25.
- 4 covered numbers (pays 8 to 1): here we have two options, betting on the first four -0, 1, 2, and 3- and betting on a corner or “square”, which covers four adjacent numbers. To do this, in physical casinos the chip is placed on the common vertex of the four numbers (for example, 19, 20, 22, and 23).
- 3 covered numbers (pays 11 to 1): this is the well-known transversal or street bet, in which three numbers of a row are covered by placing the chip on the outside line of the row. For example, to cover 34, 35 and 36, we would place the chip on the outside line of 34.
- 2 covered numbers (pays 17 to 1): this is a split or horse bet on two adjacent numbers on the table. To place this bet, we put our chip on the line separating the two numbers, for example between 8 and 9 (adjacent in the same row) or 8 and 11 (adjacent in the same column).
- 1 covered number (pays 35 to 1): this is a straight-up bet, where you simply place a chip on the number where you believe the ball will land.
Logically, the fewer numbers you cover, the harder it will be to win but the higher the payout, which is always the same based on the amount of numbers covered. In addition to these bets, in European roulette we can also make called bets - more common in French roulette - including neighbors of 0 - covering the 15 numbers from 22 to 25, the thirds of the cylinder - covering 12 numbers between 27 and 33 - or zero game, covering the 7 numbers from 35 to 19.
Neighbors also come in here, covering a number chosen by the player and the two neighbors on each side in the roulette (for example, 8 and its neighbors 11 and 30 on one side and 23 and 10 on the other). You can choose up to 4 neighbors. Another bet is the finals - bets on the last digit, for example on all numbers ending in 3. You can also combine bets as you like, since we usually don't find limits beyond the maximum bet. Some online casinos will even let you save your European roulette patterns for use in future sessions.
Strategies and tricks to play European roulette
Like in other game modes, strategies such as the Martingale or d'Alembert method are the most common, but they share the handicap of needing a large bank and it's relatively easy to lose a lot of money. A more accurate strategy be to take advantage of the advantage of having a rule such as in prison to make simple bets and benefit from the high RTP of this roulette, even though the prizes will be smaller. Still, we can find interesting profits by covering a significant part of the table.
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