Which Roulette Version Has the Best Odds?
Three roulette variants show up across most casinos, and they don’t offer equal odds – the difference between the best and worst option is roughly double the house edge. Here’s how they actually rank, and why.
The Ranking
| Rank | Variant | House Edge | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French Roulette | 1.35% (even-money bets) | Single zero, plus the La Partage rule refunding half an even-money bet on zero |
| 2 | European Roulette | 2.7% | Single zero, no La Partage protection |
| 3 | American Roulette | 5.26% | Both a single and double zero, nearly doubling the edge |
Why French Roulette Wins
French roulette uses the same single-zero wheel as European roulette, but adds one or both of two rules: La Partage (half your even-money bet is returned if the ball lands on zero) and En Prison (the bet is “imprisoned” and carried to the next spin instead of lost outright). Either rule cuts the effective house edge on even-money bets roughly in half again, down to about 1.35% – among the best odds available on any standard casino game, not just among roulette variants.
The catch: these rules only apply to even-money bets (Red/Black, Odd/Even, High/Low). Straight-up and other inside bets on a French table carry the same 2.7% edge as standard European roulette.
What La Partage and En Prison Actually Do to Your Bet
These are two different rules that happen to produce the same result, and it’s worth knowing exactly how each one treats your wager rather than just their names.
| Rule | What Happens on Zero | Effective Edge on Even-Money Bets |
|---|---|---|
| La Partage | Half your stake is returned immediately; the other half is lost. The hand ends there. | ~1.35% |
| En Prison | Your full stake stays on the table for one more spin. If that next spin wins, you get your original stake back with no profit. If it loses (or lands on zero again), the full stake is lost. | ~1.35% |
Say you have $10 on red and the ball lands on zero. Under La Partage, you immediately get $5 back and the hand is over – a fixed, known outcome. Under En Prison, your $10 stays in play: if the next spin is red, you get the full $10 back (no winnings, just your stake); if it’s black or zero again, you lose all $10. These feel different at the table, but worked out over many spins they land on the same effective house edge of about 1.35% on even-money bets – it’s the same underlying math wearing two different procedures.
Why American Roulette Ranks Last
The extra double-zero pocket adds a losing outcome without adjusting any payout to compensate, pushing the edge to 5.26% – see our full breakdown of the underlying math for exactly how that calculation works.
Lower House Edge Is Not the Same as Positive Odds
It’s worth being precise about what “French roulette has the best odds” actually means. A lower house edge means the game takes your money more slowly, not that it stops taking it. At 1.35%, French roulette is still a negative-expectation game – over a large enough number of spins, the house is still mathematically favoured to come out ahead. Choosing French over American roulette doesn’t create a positive expected value; it reduces how quickly a negative one plays out. That distinction matters because no rule change, bet selection or table choice turns roulette into a game you’d expect to profit from in the long run.
What to Actually Check Before You Sit Down
The variant name printed on a table isn’t a reliable guide to its actual rules. A table can be labelled “European” and still lack La Partage or En Prison entirely, since neither rule is universal to the single-zero wheel – they’re specific rule additions a casino chooses to offer or not. Before you commit to a table, it’s worth confirming a few things directly rather than assuming from branding or visual style:
- How many zero pockets the wheel actually has – check the table layout itself, not just the name.
- Whether La Partage or En Prison is explicitly posted as available, and which one – some tables state this directly in the rules panel.
- Whether that rule applies only to even-money bets, since it typically doesn’t extend to inside bets or the outside dozens/columns bets.
- Whether the platform states the game’s RTP or house edge directly, which is worth comparing against the figures here rather than assuming they match.
A visually polished “French Roulette” table with no La Partage offered is, mathematically, just European roulette with different branding – worth knowing before you assume the name alone guarantees the better rule set.
The Practical Recommendation
- French roulette, if it’s available – especially for even-money betting.
- European roulette as a very close second, and the most commonly available option online.
- American roulette only when neither of the above is offered.
Online, this is rarely a hard choice – most platforms offer European or French tables alongside American ones, so there’s usually no real reason to default to the worse-odds version.
