Best Roulette Wheel Guide 2026

To the player who has never played the famous game before, a roulette wheel can seem very intimidating. This is particularly true when players take into account the fact that the wheel changes on the basis of which variation of the game they are playing.

Although most players should be familiar with the general layout of a roulette wheel, for those who aren’t, the wheel is a round spinning device that is divided into numbered slots. The ball that is thrust onto the spinning wheel determines whether wagers are successful or unsuccessful with where it decides to land when it stops spinning.

If you would like to learn more about roulette wheels, their layout and more, make sure to keep reading below. Down below we get into how roulette wheels work, how they change according to variations and provide a list of United States casino sites with the best roulette games. So, read on and start making better roulette bets today with new-found knowledge!

Best Roulette Casinos 2026

Looking to practice your betting strategy on some virtual roulette wheels? Well, have all the casinos listed below give players the chance to play roulette for real money or free online. So, start playing today!

How Roulette Wheels Work– Table and Wheel Layout

So, as previously mentioned, roulette is a game in which players bet on an outcome (it could be a single number, group of numbers or a color), and then a wheel is spun with a ball’s landing place determining whether or not the bet is successful.

While roulette wheels of every variation of the game generally look very similar, there are a handful of differences.  The first is that American roulette wheels generally tend to feature 38 compartments whereas European roulette wheels feature 37 compartments. The difference comes in the fact that an American roulette wheel features a double zero compartment, where a European compartment does not.

The extra compartment means that players compete against a higher house edge when playing American roulette than when playing European roulette. The other important thing to note is that although payouts on both tables remain the same, the odds of players getting a single bet right decrease. Most gambling experts will always recommend that gamblers stick to playing European roulette games instead of American for this reason.

Some players believe that American roulette wheels also vary slightly in the fact that there tends to be a larger number of red pockets around the single zero, and a larger number of black pockets around the double zero. However, the difference is not significant enough to warrant a change in the betting strategy.

In addition, the positioning of numbers differs on the two wheels, although this should not really impact your bets as if the wheel is fair, results will be completely random anyway.

Best Roulette Bets for Payouts

If you are looking to get paid big real money prizes for your roulette bets, you need to make sure you try your luck at one of the options listed below. Make sure that you don’t do it too often though as these are some of the hardest bets to win too!

• Single number bets payout 35/1
• Split bets (two numbers) payout 17/1
• Street bets (three numbers) payout 11/1
• Corner bets (four numbers) payout 8/1

As previously mentioned, we wouldn’t recommend making these bets a regular part of your overall roulette betting strategy. Remember that single number (or straight bets) payout well because they are so difficult to win.

Instead, we suggest that players stick to outside even money bets. This means betting on odds or evens or red or black. These bets payout 1/1, but give you a higher chance of winning a payout.

Check out our other roulette pages:

• American Roulette
• European Roulette
• Online French Roulette
• Flash Roulette
• How To Play
• Roulette FAQ
• Cheats
• Roulette Simulator
• American Roulette vs European Roulette 
• Roulette Expected Value 
• Can You Beat Roulette?
• How to make money in Roulette
• Is Roulette all Luck
• High Stakes Roulette
• Real Money Roulette Apps
• Best Roulette Lessons