Roulette game is very ancient, and it's only natural that many different versions should exist as of now. Roulette2000 examines here the two most famous versions of roulette game: French roulette (or eurpean roulette) and American roulette (we don't even consider mini-roulette a proper roulette variant, as it has only 13 numbers, and one 0, for a ridiculously high house advantage). Every online roulette casino offers these two types of roulette game.
The French roulette is the first roulette version, popular in 18th century, while American roulette came after French immigrants brought roulette game to America.The French, or European, roulette has 37 numbers (numbers 1-36 plus one 0), which are randomly placed along the roulette wheel, and alternates red and balck sockets.
In contrast, American roulette wheel has 38 numbers (1-36, plus a 0 and a 00), and the numbers are placed somewhat symmetrically along the wheel: two odd numbers alternate with two even numbers, all red numbers are opposite to black numbers, and most numbers are part of a pair (with another number placed in between), the sum of which is either 37 or 39. The American roulette table layout is simpler, easier to understand than the Frenc roulette layout, so online roulette beginner players woudl choose AMerican roulette over Frencdh roulette.
However, Roulette2000 suggests you don't choose your online roulette judging by the roulette table layout; you should consider the house edge, first. When ti comes to the house advantage, French rolette has only 2.70%, as opposed to the higher 5.26% of American roulette.
Apart from the house edge, another reason why you should prefer French roulette over American roulette are the optional rules, which further lower the online casino edge: the En prison rule and the La partage rules, both of which apply to even money bets.
The En prison rule states that if 0 comes up, instead of losing your money, you leave your bet "in prison", thus repeating your bet: if you win the next bet, you can have your money back (but no winnings!), otherwise, you loose your wagered money.
The La partage rule states that if a 0 comes up on an even money bet, you only loose half of your bet.
These rules actually reduce the house advantage by half, so are very convenient when playing online roulette for money. However, you should always pile up some experience by playing free online roulette, before playing with real money.