EUROPEAN ROULETTE

European Roulette online plays the same way as its land-based cousin: select the inside bets - the numbers 1-36 or the green 0 spot - or the outer bets - odd/even, red/black, 1-18 and 19-36 - or the column bets for different groups of numbers.

Once you have dragged and dropped your chips onto the spaces, get ready for the computer to spin the wheel.

As in a land casino you will be paid out on all winning bets straight away. The outer bets of Odd/Even, Red/Black and 1-18/19-36 pay even-money (1/1). The column bets pay 2/1 while a single number pays 35/1.

But wait - there aren't 35 spaces on a European Roulette online layout, there are 37. Well, that's where the house edge comes in, taking a percentage of all bets. The key is how to take advantage of the odds as much as possible.

If you've been into a land-based casino in France, Spain or the UK chances are you'll have seen plenty of European tables.

If you're used to American Roulette you may have noticed one distinct omission - one of the zero pockets.

European Roulette games have just the one green zero slot. There are still the same numbers 1-36, of course, as in the American version, but you won't get a 00 spot on the European wheel.

So, why should you care as a gambler? Well, with just the single zero slot, the house edge on real-money European Roulette games is reduced from 5.26% to 2.7% - that's a huge difference.

One of the best European Roulette tips is not to use strategy at all. OK, that might seem weird, but then there are plenty of betting systems around for the getting the most out of your real-money European Roulette games.

The most famous roulette system is the Martingale, which has generally been disproved as not working over the short-term.

Essentially, you start with normal stakes, say $5 a spin. If you lose you double the bet, and so on until you win. Then, you take your profits and revert back to the $5 bets again.

That's fine, but the problem comes when you hit a losing streak. Pretty soon you will find those losses stacking up big-time.

The Martingale can work, but only if you have the time - and the bankroll - to really do it justice. And most gamblers have neither.

Meanwhile, there is the d'Alembert system, which advocates sticking to more sure even-money bets and adjusting your stakes according to how you're faring, while the Andrucci system puts its faith in mysterious patterns emerging from the numbers that come up on a European wheel.

There's one problem with that - roulette wheels are totally random. Casinos like to display the previous numbers that have hit on the wheel. Don't try to find a pattern; if 20 black numbers have come up in a row, there's no reason why another 20 won't come up straight after.

There is no winning European Roulette strategy other than to bet a sensible percentage of your bankroll on each spin, never bet more than you can afford to lose, and most importantly - HAVE FUN.

But knowing how to play is just the start - finding a good betting website is just as important.

That's why at OnlineRoulette.com you will find top gaming rooms offering European Roulette online in 2024. Our experts compare a whole range of sites that provide real-money European Roulette games so that with minimum fuss you can get your hands on top software, the best customer support, and a range of stakes to suit you.

So, if you're into the best odds roulette on the web and want to employ a little European Roulette strategy, check out our links on these pages.