Roulette Wheel

Roulette wheels are central to the game of roulette, but not all wheels are identical in appearance, size or even layout. When online roulette wheels are also factored into the comparison, the range of possibilities grows even larger.

A regulation casino roulette wheel is 80cm (32 inches) in diameter, but there are plenty of smaller ones (45 to 70cm) that are sometimes used in social clubs, and some really small ones (40cm or less) that are used in home games. Regulation wheels are typically made of wood, but non-regulation wheels can be made partly or wholly of plastic and similar man-made materials.

The layout of a roulette wheel varies according to the type of roulette game it is intended for. An American Roulette wheel has the red and black numbers 1 to 36 and two green wells marked 0 and 00. A European Roulette wheel has the same numbers 1 to 36 but just one green well marked 0. It is this key difference in the layout of the wheels that gives casinos a bigger house edge in American Roulette than it enjoys in the European version of the game.

Online roulette wheels are even more diverse. Some have added wells (for example, the wheel used in Double Bonus Spin Roulette has an extra yellow bonus well that is one and a half times wider than a standard well) and others have sections of numbers marked for specific types of bets. As more and more unique roulette variations are created for online players, we can only expect this diversity of layout and appearance to increase in the future.

Just as roulette wheels differ in appearance and size, so do roulette layouts. Some follow a standard template that almost all players will be familiar with, whilst others have an additional “race track” section that allows players to make bets that aren’t available otherwise.

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