Roulette Wheel Numbers

Take a closer look at roulette wheel numbers.

The layout of the Roulette Wheel Numbers

A newbie to the roulette wheel may assume that the table numbers run sequentially around the circumference. This is wrong! With a more focused glance, we can come to the conclusion that numbers are scattered in a random pattern. But this is also wrong!

Even though numbers aren't arranged in a consecutive sequence there is still a systematic layout. But of course, there are different types of roulette and this will have an effect on how the wheel looks:

American Roulette

American roulette is less commonly played among Canadian players. It is played on a wheel that has 38 pockets. The red and black split of the numbers is done in an odd fashion, but in addition to having the green “0”, the American wheel also has a “00”. Because the “0” and “00” pockets represent the house edge it makes it harder to win at this wheel.

European/French Roulette

European Roulette is the more popular type of roulette found in casinos and is played on a wheel which has 37 pockets. These are split evenly between black and red, with the sole exception of the single green “0”.

The third type of roulette is French roulette. This is played on the European wheel but has two additional rules: En Prison and La Partage. Both of these rules relate to when the ball lands in the green 0 pocket. In En Prison, the bet isn’t taken by the casino but remains on the board, with the roulette wheel being spun again. The bet is “imprisoned” – as the name suggests. La Partage is less generous, the croupier will take half of any even bets placed, but will return the other half to the player.

The type of roulette wheel you decide to play will influence your chances of winning. With the extra house pocket, American roulette has the lowest win rate. European roulette is in the middle, but with the En Prison and La Partage rules, it’s French roulette which offers the maximum chances of winning.

Sequence of Numbers

One of the reasons that the numbers aren’t ordered sequentially is that it’s confusing for players. It’s much harder to keep track of what numbers come up when they’re scattered all over the board. Players who want to bet on a particular section of numbers may be interested in how often the numbers win, but the scattered design makes it more difficult to follow.

The spread of the roulette wheel table numbers is identical on the same types of roulette wheel; it’s not up to individual manufacturers or game developers to decide on the sequence. American and European roulette wheels have a different layout to each other, but that’s the only difference. Once you have seen one American roulette wheel, all others will look identical, and the same applies to the European roulette wheel.

On both types of the roulette wheel, the numbers are split evenly between red and black and these alternate around the wheel. However, there’s more to the distribution than just red and black. The wheel has been designed to carry a balance of high, low, odd and even all around the board. In addition, high and low numbers should alternate wherever possible. This isn’t managed completely, but it’s better on the European wheel. Overall, the European roulette wheel is considered to be more balanced, but it’s no less challenging for newbies to learn!

More Information?

We cover the different bet types and pay-outs in our how to play roulette guide if you would like to find out more about the rules of roulette. However, if you feel like playing, we have a large selection of roulette games for you to choose from and an article on roulette strategies.