American Roulette – BGaming

This is the same game as European Roulette with one extra pocket, and that pocket costs you 2.56% of your return. We are not going to bury that at the bottom of the page.

How it works

Thirty-eight pockets: 1 to 36, a zero and a double zero. Bets, layout and payouts are identical to the European wheel — a straight number still pays 35 to 1 — but there is one more way to lose.

The arithmetic is not subtle. European: 97.3% RTP. American: 94.74%. Over a hundred spins at the same stake, this wheel keeps roughly twice as much of your money.

Is it rigged?

No more than any other roulette, and it does not need to be — the double zero already does the work. The outcome comes from a certified random number generator, and the animation plays a result that was decided before the ball moved.

The question worth asking is not whether the wheel is honest but whether the casino is. That is a licence-and-complaints question, and our comparison answers it site by site.

The one bet you should never make

The five-number bet — 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 — exists only on this wheel and carries a 7.89% house edge, nearly a third worse than everything else on the table. Every other bet here returns the same 94.74%.

So if you are playing this wheel, the only decision that changes your return is avoiding that one basket. Everything else is a choice about volatility, not value.

Demo or real money

If you are going to compare wheels, do it in demo mode with both open. Watch a hundred spins on each and read the difference in the balance rather than in the percentage — 2.56% is abstract until you see it as a number of chips.

Then why play it at all

Usually because it is the table that was open, and honestly that is fine at small stakes: the difference is a few cents an hour and the layout is the one most people know from films. Some players also like the basket bet, which we have just told you not to make.

If you are playing seriously, there is no argument for this wheel. Switch to European Roulette at the same stake and you get the same game with a better return, or to French Roulette if the table offers La Partage.