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Roulette Wheel and Roulette Table Explained

roulette wheel explained

Roulette is the most popular casino game in the world. Everybody knows how to play this game but not everybody knows about the layout, number sequences or even different tables of the game. Things like the roulette wheel and the roulette table are the main elements of this casino game and only the best roulette players know the differences and the details of these elements.

In this article, we are looking at the ins and outs of the roulette table and the roulette wheel. Some of the main topics we are covering are:

  • The European and American Roulette, also known as the roulette board
  • Roulette wheel number sequences
  • Roulette tables layouts
  • Set Roulette Bet Sectors
  • Interesting facts
  • Frequently asked questions

European roulette wheel

European roulette is the most popular roulette table. The roulette wheel features 37 pockets, with red and black numbers from 1-36, and a single green zero pocket. Most UK live roulette tables are European roulette tables.

European Roulette wheel number sequence

The clockwise sequence of numbers on the wheel is:

0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25, 17, 34, 6, 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33, 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26

European roulette wheel
European roulette wheel

American roulette wheel

The American roulette wheel has a couple of differences from the European roulette wheel. The most obvious is the fact that the American roulette wheel has an additional pocket with a double zero also known as 00.

This additional pocket increases the casino house edge to 5.26%.

Another difference between European and American wheels is the order of numbers also known as the sequence of the numbers on the wheel.

The clockwise sequence of numbers on the American Wheel is:

0, 28, 9, 26, 30, 11, 7, 20, 32, 17, 5, 22, 34, 15, 3, 24, 36, 13, 1, 00, 27, 10, 25, 29, 12, 8, 19, 31, 18, 6, 21, 33, 16, 4, 23, 35, 14, 2

American roulette wheel
American roulette

American Roulette Table Layout

There are no actual differences between the American roulette table layout and the European. The only difference is the existence of the 00 on the table, next to the single 0. This makes a difference in the roulette odds.

 European roulette table layout
European roulette table layout

French roulette wheel

French roulette table on the other hand has a slightly different layout from the other two and different naming (French) on some of the bets.

For example, 1-18 is called Manque 1-18 and 19-36 is called Passe 19-36.

American roulette table layout
American roulette table layout

Bet Sectors available in European and French Roulette only

  • Neighbours of Zero – 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25
  • Thirds of the Wheel – 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33
  • Zero Game – 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15
  • The Orphans – 1, 20, 14, 9, 17, 34, 6
roulette table layout

Interesting Facts

  • Red and Black alternate completely regardless of the type of wheel.
  • Low and high numbers also alternate as much as possible in European Roulette but not in American Roulette.
  • Even and Odd numbers are evenly distributed
  • The sum of the roulette numbers is 666

Frequently asked questions

Here is a summary of the frequently asked questions about wheels and tables.

How many numbers are on a roulette table


There are 37 numbers on the European/French roulette table and 387 on the American Roulette table

Who invented the Roulette wheel?


The Roulette wheel was invented by a French physicist, inventor, and mathematician named Blaise Pascal.

Is there a hot number on a roulette table

Since the game is based on randomness, there are no best bets or hot numbers on a roulette table.

Different Roulette Wheel Manufacturers

There might be no visual differences between the two European Roulette tables, but there are differences in the way they get manufactured or even the materials that are used.

Not all wheels are made the same way and most official roulette setups that we find in big land-based or online casinos are made by some international manufacturers.

We have an article about roulette wheel manufacturers where you can find more details about this.