Roulette is one of the oldest and most popular casino games both in land based casinos as well as online casinos and indeed we do not believe that a casino exists that does not have a roulette wheel but despite this popularity many people still think that there are some bets which are better than others so we thought it was time we put this discussion to bed. There are two basic versions of the roulette game which are European and American, the European (French as well) roulette game has 36 numbers and a zero making 37 in total, the American roulette game has 36 numbers but has a zero and a double zero making 38 numbers in total; the payout odds are the same so if you have the choice never play American roulette. The secret however lies in the fact that the number 36 is divisible by many other numbers and in particular any number on which you can place a single roulette bet. Bets at online roulette can be placed on a single number, a pair of numbers (2), a row of numbers (3), two rows including the zero (4), a corner bet (4), two rows (6), a column or a high, middle, lower third bet (12) and red/black or odd/even (18). The number 36 is divisible by all of these and the odds at which you are paid in roulette is a function of 36. The other point that many forget is to take account of the fact that your stake is returned on a winning bet at roulette and it is this which makes it confusing for some. If for example you wanted to place bets on the numbers 17 and 20 you could either place a single chip on each number or as the two numbers are adjacent on the board you could place both chips on the line straddling the two numbers. In case 1 you would have one winning bet paying 35:1 plus your original chip on the winning number which would leave you with 36 chips. In the second case you have two chips on the winning number which pays out at 17:1 giving you 34 chips but your original bet of two chips is returned leaving you with 36 chips or exactly the same. There are no roulette bets which are better than others so play this great casino game and relax it is all down to luck..