No matter how unsophisticated roulette may appear to you, you can rest assured that it has much more nuances than the shell game. To better understand those, most first-time or inexperienced players start with playing free roulette game. It turns out not all roulettes are quite the same and you should know what to look out for and what to take advantage of when playing each of them.

You have probably heard about how European and American Roulettes are different. There's also a French roulette, a version which is most close to the original roulette game invented by Pascal. American roulette wheel has 2 pockets with zeros – 0 and 00. If you think that it's just another number to place your bet on and it might as well be a picture of an apple, you are very naïve. The house edge on a single number bet on the American wheel with 38 different numbers is 2/38 - or 5.26%. Compare this to the house edge on the European wheel with only a single zero: 1/37 - or 2.70%. As the house advantage is literally cut in half, the odds are more in your favor with the European Wheel. It turns out adding another pocket to the wheel makes huge difference.

You may also find it amusing to learn that the numbers on the European wheel are placed randomly, while on the American roulette wheel they are placed in pairs opposite each other. Not sure what it changes, but probably some strategy adherents rely on the sequence of numbers.

If you go online to play free roulette game and come across the French roulette, don't be put off by the fact that this roulette seems to be less widespread. Everything is pretty much the same as in the European one. The main difference is the layout of the table. Normally, odd/even and red/black bets are placed close to each other. The French layout will appeal to those who favour symmetry – these pairs are located on either sides of the field with numbers. You will also see the additional ring of numbers placed in the same sequence as numbers on the wheel. Here you can bet on the different combinations of numbers (so-called "Announce Bets").

The French roulette has 2 nice rules called La Partage and En Prison. They lower the house edge to 1.35 per cent and allow punters to get half of their original stake and to place their bet again (accordingly) when zero is spun.