Why American and European Roulette?

There are two versions of roulette games, American and European roulette. In the American roulette wheel, there are 2 zeros: 0 and 00 and all together 38 numbers. While the European roulette offers only 1 zero and only 37 numbers, which means that the European casino has lower house edge. This fact may explain its popularity in Europe.

In both the European and the American version of roulette, it has fixed odds. In American roulette, the house edge is 5.26 percent and in European roulette it is about 2.7 percent. The En Prison rule used in European casinos can lower the house edge to 1.35 percent. In the Surrender rule, which is mainly used in Atlantic City casinos, the house edge can be as lower as 2.63 percent.

In European roulette, when the wheel lands on the zero, all the even bets are put En Prison, which means frozen until a nonzero number comes up. If the bet wins, it goes back to the player and if not, the player loses. The American casinos Surrender rule is similar to the En Prison rule. The main difference is that in case the American wheel lands on a zero or a double zero, the player automatically gets half of his even bet.