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Finding the best Roulette online
Roulette is one of the oldest and most successful games in gaming
history. At the beginning of the 18th century various Roulette-like
games were introduced in Europe. At the end of the 18th century
the game had evolved into a version that had all the characteristics
of modern Roulette.
If you want to learn more about Roulette, please consult our Roulette
rules and strategy
sections. In this article we will assume you already have a basic
understanding of the rules and strategies associated with Roulette.
Building on that knowledge, we will offer you a detailed comparison
of the most important Roulette games found online today. We will
limit the discussion to the Roulette games developed by the five
biggest casino software providers: Playtech, Boss Media, Cryptologic,
Real Time Gaming and Microgaming.
Roulette variants
Standard American roulette
The standard version of American Roulette has a wheel with 38 pockets:
the numbers 1 to 36, plus the single ("0") and the double
zero ("00"). All inside and outside bets have an house edge
of 5.26%, except for the five number line bet (a bet on 0, 00, 1,
2 and 3), which has an house edge of 7.29%. This game is offered by
Real Time Gaming, Playtech,
Microgaming and Boss
Media.
Standard European roulette
The standard version of European Roulette has a wheel with 37 pockets:
the numbers 1 to 36, plus the single zero (the double zero is omitted).
All inside and outside bets have an house edge of 2.70%. The five
number line bet can't be made because this bet requires a double zero.
This game is offered by Real Time
Gaming, Cryptologic, Playtech,
Microgaming and Boss
Media.
American roulette with the "la partage" rule
Some versions of American roulette offer the "la partage"
rule. If you lose an even-money bet to a zero or a double zero, you
will receive half of your bet back. This reduces the house edge on
even-money bets from 5.26% to 2.63%. This game is only offered by
Cryptologic.
European roulette with the "la partage" rule
A "true" version of European Roulette also offers the "la
partage" rule. According to this rule, you'll receive half of
your even-money bet back if the ball lands in the single zero pocket.
This reduces the house edge on even-money bets from 2.70% to 1.35%.
This game is offered by Cryptologic
and Boss Media.
Comparison of online roulette games
| Brand |
Variant |
House edge |
Spin speed |
Skip turn |
Spin history |
Jackpot |
| RTG |
American |
5.26% |
9s |
No |
10 |
No |
| |
European |
2.70% |
9s |
No |
10 |
No |
| Cryptologic |
American |
2.63% |
15s |
Yes |
15 |
No |
| |
European |
2.70% |
15s |
Yes |
15 |
No |
| |
VIP (French) |
1.35% |
15s |
Yes |
15 |
No |
| Playtech |
American |
5.26% |
5s |
Yes |
13 |
No |
| |
European |
2.70% |
5s |
Yes |
13 |
No |
| Microgaming |
American |
5.26% |
8s |
No |
13 |
No |
| |
European |
2.70% |
8s |
No |
13 |
No |
| |
Roulette Royale |
2.70% |
8s |
No |
13 |
Yes |
| Boss Media |
American |
5.26% |
10s |
No |
17 |
No |
| |
European |
2.70% |
10s |
No |
17 |
No |
| |
French |
1.35% |
10s |
No |
17 |
No |
| Brand |
Variant |
Play for fun |
True felt |
Neighbors |
Announces |
Multi-player |
| RTG |
American |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
| |
European |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
| Cryptologic |
American |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
| |
European |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| |
VIP (French) |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Playtech |
American |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
| |
European |
Yes |
No |
Yes (2) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Microgaming |
American |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (8) |
No |
No |
| |
European |
Yes |
No |
Yes (8) |
No |
No |
| |
Roulette Royale |
No |
No |
Yes (8) |
No |
No |
| Boss Media |
American |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
| |
European |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| |
French |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (4) |
Yes |
Yes |
In Conclusion: the best Roulette online is offered by ...
In general European Roulette is preferred over American Roulette,
because it's roulette wheel has only 37 pockets (no double zero),
reducing the odds from 5.26% to 2.70% on all bets. All software providers
offer a variant of standard European roulette, so this criterion alone
doesn't help us in choosing the best Roulette game online. However,
some software brands also offer the "la partage" rule. According
to this rule you'll receive half of your bet back on even-money bets
if the ball lands in the single or double zero pocket.
If you generally only place even-money bets (Red/Black, Odd/Even
or High/Low), the American Roulette variant offered by Cryptologic
is preferred even over standard European Roulette, because it has
an house of 2.63% on even money bets (because of the "la partage"
rule).
It gets even better when you are able to play European Roulette
with the "la partage" rule. For these kind of games the
house edge on all bets is 2.70%, but for even-money bets the "la
partage" rule further reduces the house edge to 1.35%. This
game is offered both by Cryptologic
(VIP European Roulette) and Boss
Media (French Roulette).
If we would have to choose between these two we would recommend
Boss Media's French Roulette,
because it has faster game play, keeps more spin history, has a
true "French" table layout, and also offers the full range
of neighbor and announce bets. The only disadvantage of Boss Media's
version is that you can't skip a bet.
If you are only interested in progressive jackpot games, then Microgaming's
Roulette Royale would be your game of choice, because from all
Roulette variants discussed in this article, it's the only one offering
a progressive jackpot. Keep in mind though that this isn't the best
game in terms of odds.
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