Roulette Wheels: How Many Numbers They Have
Roulette is one of the most popular and widely played casino games. It works in a simple way: all you’re doing is predicting which numbered pocket the ball lands in. The numbers on roulette wheels can vary; we’ll explain more in this article.
A Ball on a Roulette Wheel
Roulette Wheels
Roulette is a well-known casino game that doesn’t require any skill or strategy. Instead, it’s all about luck. When playing roulette, you can win just by having some luck on your side.
So what’s it all about? Each round of roulette involves a ball and a large wheel with numbered pockets running around it. The wheel is spun, and the ball is dropped onto it.
Whichever pocket the ball lands in is the winner. If you’ve placed a bet covering the pocket’s number, that bet wins, and you get paid. The thing is, not all roulette wheels have the same numbers.
Different Wheel Layouts
So how many numbers are there on a roulette wheel? The answer is straightforward. There are two main versions of the roulette wheel: European, which has 37 pockets; and American, which has 38 pockets.
Both European and American Roulette wheels have the numbers 1-36 (red or black) and 0 (green). On American Roulette wheels, there’s an extra 00 (double zero) pocket that’s also green.
But what about the French version? The French Roulette wheel has 37 pockets, the same as the European one.
European and French versions differ slightly when it comes to bets because of the latter’s racetrack layout. If you’re wondering how many numbers on a roulette wheel are red and how many are black, the answer is that there are 18 of each colour. However, it’s not an exact split.
In other words, it’s not the case that numbers 1-18 are one colour and numbers 19-36 are of the other colour. For the ranges 1-10 and 19-28, the even numbers are black and the odd numbers red.
As for the ranges 11-18 and 29-36, the opposite is true: the even numbers are red and the odd numbers are black. The colour of numbered pockets is the same across both main versions of roulette.
What does differ is the line-up of numbers on the wheel. On a typical European Roulette wheel, numbers go like this: 0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26.
American roulette wheels have a slightly different layout of numbers, which is as follows: 0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2.
It’s important to point out that on every type of roulette wheel, all pockets are of the same size. Therefore, no number has a greater or lower chance of winning than any other number.
What Does This Mean for Playing Roulette?
Whether you play at your local land-based casino or one of the many top online roulette sites, you should think about which version of the game you play. This is because the number of pockets matters.
When playing European roulette, each number has a 1/37 chance of winning. For American roulette, the chance of each pocket winning increases to 1/38 because of the extra 00 pocket.
Therefore, your bets have a slightly better chance of winning when you play European Roulette as opposed to the American version. If you’re trying to make money from roulette, it’s best to play European.
There’s also RTP to think about. This figure, which stands for ‘return to player’, is a percentage that indicates roughly how much you’ll be paid back by a game over long-term play.
The higher it is, the better. It’s the opposite of house edge, which is how much the house (casino) should take on average. If a roulette game has an RTP of 97%, for example, its house edge (the advantage of the casino) would be 3%.
European Roulette has an RTP of 97.3%, whereas for American Roulette, the RTP is 94.74%. The addition of the 38th pocket (00) reduces the payout rate by a significant amount.
Having said this, it’s still possible to win a decent amount of money from playing American roulette. After all, it offers all the same bets and odds as the European version; it’s just the chances of winning are a bit lower.
Which Roulette Game is Best to Play?
Now you know how many numbers are on a roulette wheel and how this affects your win rates. If you want to play this classic live game, the European version is strongly recommended, especially if you’re on a budget.
Even though this version has good chances of winning, some players still enjoy the American counterpart. They find it more exciting, and when they win, they think they’ve been extra lucky because of the lower win rate.
Most land-based casinos and nearly all online casinos have both main versions of roulette available to play. Many casino sites also offer live dealer roulette games. These are real-life games you can play through your casino account.
There’s no shortage of options for playing in the real world or online. Going on the internet is a lot more convenient and easily accessible than visiting your nearest casino, which could be a long distance away.
However you plan on playing roulette, it’s a good idea to head online and play free roulette games first. Most online casinos offer free play, though they require registering first.
With demo games, you can practise whenever you want without paying. Learn the ropes, practise betting strategies and see for yourself how European and American Roulette differ.
