American Roulette | Bovada
American Roulette consists of a wheel of 38 stops and a ball that can land with equal chance on any of the 38 stops. The stops are numbered in a non-sequential order of 0, 00, and then 1-36. The stops 1-36 are colored either black or red while the 0 and 00 stops are colored green. You can make wagers on where the ball will land on the wheel by placing chips on the Roulette table. Winnings are paid according to the paytable below.
How to Play American Roulette
Betting/Ranks/Payouts
- You can bet $1, $5, $25, $100 or $500. Choose the number of chips to bet per click.
- Place individual bets by clicking different spots on the table.
- You can bet a max of $1,000 on the table. You can bet up to $500 on Inside Bets and $500 for Outside Bets.
- Once your bet is placed, spin the wheel. If the ball lands on a number or color that you bet on, victory is yours.
- There are many types of bets in American Roulette. By placing the chips differently or choosing a neighbor or special bet, you can bet on 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, or 18 numbers.
The following table is a list of the bet types and their corresponding payouts:
Button Descriptions
- Spin: Used to get the ball spinning on the wheel.
- Rebet: Used to place the same bets that in the previous round.
- x2: Used to double the amount of bets after Rebet.
- Undo: Used to undo the previous action (Except for Spin).
- Clear: Used to remove bets placed.
Online Roulette Guide
Experience the thrill of the roulette wheel in our online casino. We’ve captured the sounds and motion of the game in our virtual versions, so you can play roulette from the comfort of home. And if you’re not at home, you can still get in a session of roulette on mobile because all of our roulette games are mobile-optimized. As long as you have an internet connection, you can play online casino roulette at Bovada.
How to Play
The goal of roulette is to correctly guess and bet on the number that the ball will land on when it’s spun around the moving wheel. It’s a two-part process. Part 1 consists of placing bets on the table. At Bovada Casino, you can bet between $1 and $500 per round on roulette. Numbers 0 to 36 are available for European Roulette, and 00-36 are available for American Roulette. Part 2 consists of hitting “Spin” and watching the ball get launched around a moving roulette wheel. The number that the ball lands on is the winner.
Roulette bets are categorized as either inside bets or outside bets. The inside bets cover small ranges of numbers, with the smallest being a single number. These bets win less frequently than their outside counterparts, but offer bigger payouts to compensate. The biggest payout in roulette (35:1) is from an inside bet called the single. When betting max, the single bet can get you a monster payout of $17,500—it’s rare, but some people like the thrill of trying to win it.
Outside bets can be found just beyond the primary betting rectangle. These bets cover vast ranges of numbers, up to a maximum of 18. As a result, outside bets produce more wins than inside bets, but the higher win frequency is moderated by lower payouts. Most of the outside bet payouts are even-money or 2:1.
Inside Bets
- Single: Any one number on the board.
- Split: Two numbers side by side on the board.
- Street: Three numbers in a row on the board.
- Corner: Four numbers that form a square on the board.
- Six Line: Two adjacent street bets.
- Top Line: Available only with American Roulette, the top line includes numbers 00, 0, 1, 2, 3.
Outside Bets
- Dozen: Numbers 1-12, 13-24, or 25-36.
- Column: The numbers on the roulette betting layout are organized into three columns.
- Bet on any of these columns.
- High/Low: Numbers 1-18 (Low), and 19-36 (High).
- Even/Odd: Bet on all the even or odd numbers on the board.
- Red/Black: Bet on all the red or black numbers on the board.
These are the standard bets offered in all roulette games. If you’re looking for something more, there’s one version of roulette in our casino that offers the rare “French” bets: European Roulette Classic. The first thing you’ll notice with this version is the racetrack with extra bets right beside the standard betting rectangle. The three bets inside the track are Voisins du Zéro, Orphans, and Tièrs du Cylindre—also known as call bets.
Voisins du Zéro (neighbors of zero) uses nine chips to cover 17 numbers through split, corner and trio bets. When playing online roulette, the bets are placed automatically when you tap “Voisins du Zéro;” this is far easier than trying to memorize the chip placement, which is expected in land-based casinos. This bet includes the numbers: 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25. The win probability for Voisins du Zéro is 45.9%. The payout depends on the number that hits.
Orphans uses five chips to cover eight numbers through single and split bets. The win probability is 21.6%, and the payout is 35:1 or 17:1 depending on which number hits.
Tièrs du Cylindre covers a range of 12 numbers using six chips. Since all the bets are splits, the payout will always be 17:1. The win probability is 32.4%.
Roulette Odds
There are two different ways to think about roulette odds: the house edge and win probability. The house edge is the amount of money casinos expect to make in the long run. For European Roulette, the house edge is 2.70%, meaning the casino expects a profit of $2.70 on $100 bet in the long run; this advantage is built into the game. With American Roulette, you have the extra double-zero (00) on the board; that increases the house edge from 2.70% to 5.26%. The house edge is the same for all the bets on the board except for the Top Line bet in American Roulette, which has a house edge of 7.89%.
Win probability is the likelihood of any given bet striking a payout. Although both versions of roulette offer the same types of bets, there will be a slight difference in percentages based on the version you’re playing (American vs. European). Check out the charts below in our online roulette guide for the payouts and win probability of each bet.
Keeping this information in mind, you’ll be able to make informed betting decisions at the roulette table.
Basic Strategy
There’s no way to influence the outcome of roulette, so basic strategy involves picking the right roulette game and selecting the bets that make the most sense for you. As mentioned, American Roulette, online casino versions or land-based ones, come with a bigger house edge than European Roulette. It also comes with a bet that has a 7.89% house edge (Top Line aka Basket bet). This bet should be avoided if you’re looking to make the most bang for your buck.
Apart from opting for European Roulette when possible, roulette strategy involves understanding how the different bets suit different gambling preferences. The inside bets are for those who like the thrill of winning big. This is where you’ll find the biggest payout in the game: a 35-1 behemoth for landing a successful single bet. But if accurately guessing a single number seems too daunting for you, you can moderate the risk by going for the inside bets that have a higher win probability. Corner bets provide a good balance between a big payout and mediated risk—at least when it comes to the inside bets.
The outside bets have even lower risk. This is where you’ll find conservative bettors going for the classic Even/Odd, Red/Black bets, which have close to a 50/50 chance of hitting every time. With a win probability that high, these bets have the lowest payouts (even money) out of all the possible wagers. When deciding between these two types of wagers, consider whether you like to win often, or win big.
Roulette Betting Systems
For centuries, people have been looking for the best ways to win roulette in casino settings. Betting systems were invented exactly for that purpose, and roulette is one of the most popular casino games for using these systems. Perhaps one of the most popular of all time is the Martingale system, which has players double bets after every loss. The idea is that during a losing streak, you’ll eventually hit a winning round, win back all your losses, and be ahead one unit. The risk is if you hit a losing streak that stretches beyond your bankroll, you’ll be wiped out, so use this system with caution. Bets that are close to 50/50 (Red/Black, Even/Odd, High/Low) are used for the Martingale.
Quick Tips
Instead of using betting systems, which only work for people with unlimited bankrolls, decide how much you want to spend on the roulette session ahead of time and divide that into equal betting units. If, for example, you want to bet $250 on a session of roulette, you could choose to bet $5 a round for 50 rounds. After 50 rounds, end your session and see how much you’ve won or lost. If you have a bad run, you’re protected by establishing a cut-off line. This will prevent you from chasing any losses.
Roulette is one of the few casino games that can be enjoyed by complete beginners and seasoned bettors alike. Novices can get a risk-free taste of casino roulette—free play is an option at Bovada. After a quick trial on Practice Play mode, it should be easy to transition to real money roulette, as there are no rules or strategy to learn. Simply toss a bet on your lucky number, or moderate the risk by going for an outside bet, and watch the ball spin.
Best Odds and Edges in American and European Roulette
The great game of Roulette has been captivating players of all shapes and sizes since the late 1700s. Kings and queens have played this game; countless novels and movies have been made about Roulette, and the iconic Roulette wheel (first developed by the famous mathematician Blaise Pascal) was the basis for what we know today as probability theory. We might still be in the Dark Ages had it not been for Roulette.
People have been trying to figure out how to win at Roulette for centuries. There have been all sorts of attempts to beat Roulette using betting systems like the Martingale, where you double your bet after every loss. People still use these systems, hoping to gain an edge on the Roulette wheel, but unless you get a biased wheel – which almost never happens with modern technology – all the outcomes are completely random. What you can do to become a better Roulette player is understand the odds and make the smartest bets, which is what this comprehensive Roulette guide is all about.
The Difference Between American and European Roulette
If you want the best Roulette odds, you need to know the two different versions that you can play at Bovada Casino: American Roulette, and European Roulette. The European version is still the most popular across the pond, using a wheel with the numbers 1 through 36 in Red and Black colors, plus the single zero (0) marked in green. The American version, which was actually the original version of Roulette – imported by settlers from France – has an added double zero (00) on the wheel, also in green.
This extra green space makes quite a difference. It changes the odds for all the different possible outcomes in Roulette, which changes the house edge (the casino’s advantage, represented as a percentage) in return. By understanding the relationship between the odds and the house edge, you can manage your Roulette bankroll more easily. As we’ll explain shortly, there’s no point in changing your bet size between the even-money outside bets (like Red/Black) and the long-shot inside bets (like the Single bet). But you might want to bet smaller when playing American Roulette compared to European Roulette.
House Edges Between American and European Roulette
The most important thing to remember about Roulette is the different house edges for American Roulette (5.26%) and European Roulette (2.70%). There’s no skill involved in either form of Roulette, so with average luck, you can expect to lose $5.26 dollars for every $100 you bet playing the American version (not including the Top Line bet, which has a 7.89% house edge), and $2.70 playing the European version.
We can calculate these house edges by looking at the odds that both wheels offer. Again, the European wheel contains the numbers 1 through 36, plus the single zero, making 37 spaces in total for the ball to land. That extra space is where the house edge comes from. If you place a Single bet of $5 on Black 20, you will win 35X ($175) your bet once every 37 spins (that’s 1-in-37 odds, or 36-to-1), and lose your bet the other 36 times. Here’s how the math looks:
(35 units)(1/37) – (1 unit)(36/37) = –1/37 unit = –0.0270 units
That final result still holds true when you make any other bet on the European wheel. Let’s say you wager $5 on Black instead of Black 20. You will be paid out, at even money, 18 times every 37 spins, and lose your bet the other 19 times:
(1 unit)(18/37) – (1 unit)(19/37) = –1/37 unit = –0.0270 units
With American Roulette and the double zero added to the wheel, you’ll win 35X your Single bet on Black 20 once every 38 spins, and lose your bet the other 37 spins, which works out like this:
(35 units)(1/38) – (1 unit)(37/38) = –2/38 unit = –0.0526 units
Once again, the house edge stays the same for every bet you make on the American wheel – except for the Top Line bet that we mentioned earlier. The Top Line bet covers the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3, and it pays out at 6-to-1. That means you’ll win 6X your bet five times out of 38, and lose the other 33 spins:
(6 units)(5/38) – (1 unit)(33/38) = –3/38 unit = –0.0789 units
This is why we recommend making smaller bets when you play American Roulette compared to its European cousin – and sizing down even more when you make the Top Line bet. You still won’t generate a profit in the long run, but you’ll get the most value out of your entertainment dollar this way.
Betting Systems in Roulette
The math doesn’t lie, but people still try to use betting systems as a Roulette strategy, hoping to stave off potential losses while maximizing immediate returns. This is a tempting strategy. Consider the Martingale; if you double your even-money bet (say, Red/Black) every time you lose, at some point you’d expect the ball to land in your favor, allowing you to recoup your losses and show a profit.
The problem with that idea is your bankroll, which is not infinite. If you try the Martingale, at some point, you’ll go on a losing streak that’s so long, you won’t have enough money left in your account to place the next bet. Other Roulette systems like the Fibonacci, where your bets increase in size based on the Fibonacci series (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…) rather than doubling every time, will keep those bet sizes from growing so quickly, but the issue with a finite bankroll remains.
Best Bets in Roulette
In the end, your best Roulette bets are the ones you enjoy making the most. For the lowest house edge possible, play European Roulette and make any of the bets that are on the layout. If you enjoy having the double-zero on the wheel, and/or you want to make the Top Line bet, play American Roulette. Either way, Roulette should be played for entertainment, so enjoy the games, and we’ll see you at the tables.
