What Online Roulette Variants are Available in Canada?

Roulette is one of the most popular casino games in Canada. It is easy to see why. The game is straightforward. If you want to double your money, all you need is to place a 50/50 bet like black/red. 

If you have a big appetite for risk, roulette gives you the chance to earn 35x your stake by betting on a straight number. Roulette has many more bet types. And depending on the variant, the rules can differ.

In this article, we’ll explain the most popular roulette variants to play online in Canada.

1—European Roulette

European roulette is the most popular roulette variant in the world. It is also one of the best roulette variations online. It uses the standard black/red colored wheel. It has 37 number pokers: 0 to 36.

In some parts of the world, European roulette is also known as single-zero roulette. That’s because it has one pocket with the number zero. The name also helps distinguish European roulette from American roulette, which has an extra pocket with two zeroes in it.

With a house advantage of 2.7%, European roulette is a high-paying online casino game. And as such, it’s available at nearly all online roulette sites for Canadian players. Importantly, most of these casinos have welcome bonuses you can use to boost your bankroll.

2—American Roulette

American roulette is incredibly popular at Las Vegas casinos and some brick-and-mortar casinos in Canada. As already stated, this variant resembles European roulette.

However, it has 38 number pockets. The extra slot contains two zeroes (00). Because of this slight difference, American roulette has a house edge of 5.2%. In fact, it has lower odds for all bet types when compared to European roulette.

So, why should you play American roulette? The short answer is that you shouldn’t. It makes no sense to play a game with lower odds of winning when there’s a better alternative.

That said, some casinos offer bigger bonuses to American roulette players. In that case, you can choose the game to take advantage of its bonuses. Sometimes it could be the only roulette game at a casino. As such, you might not have an alternative.

3—French Roulette

French roulette has a single zero pocket. But it differs from the European variant when it comes to rules. Here’s what we mean. When you place an even money bet, say even/odd or black/red, you’re faced with two unique rules:

• En Prison

En prison (in prison) is a rule that allows the casino to hold your money if you place an outside bet and the wheel stops spinning at the number zero. This means you don’t automatically lose your wager.

Instead, the casino’s croupier spins the wheel once more. Now, if your bet is a winner, the house returns your stake plus profits.

If the wheel stops at zero again, the casino might count it as a loss for you or might put your stake in prison for a second time. Some casinos also have a rule that you need to win two bets in a row after en prison is applied.

All the same, en prison lowers the house advantage to a measly 1.38%. This in turn increases the game’s payout rate to more than 98%.

• La Partage

The La Partage rules offers to return half of your stake if you place a bet and the wheel stops spinning at zero. This is a favorable rule that also lowers the house edge from 2.6% to 1.35%.

4—Mini Roulette

Mini roulette is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a smaller version of the standard European wheel. It has a single-zero pocket and 12 more numbers ranging from 1 to 12.

Although mini roulette has 13 numbers, it has a house edge of 7.89%. Surprised? Mini roulette isn’t a great roulette version, at least if you want to maximize your profits.

If you’re lucky, though, you can find a Canadian casino that enforces the ‘La Partage’ rule in mini roulette. In that case, the game’s house edge reduces from 7.89% to 3.85%. It’s still not great, but it’s lower than the 5.2% house advantage in American roulette.

5—Lightning Roulette

Lightning roulette is a game created by leading software provider, Evolution Gaming. It’s a live casino game that often works like a TV gameshow. It has a host, a giant LED wall and an audience—the players.

Similar to European roulette, lightning roulette has a single-zero pocket. You can place regular roulette bet types. For example, you can bet on a specific number. If you win, the payout is 30 to 1.

The payout is relatively lower than the 35 to 1 rate European and America roulette versions pay. However, lightning roulette offers an alternative way of earning up to 500x your stake.

Here’s how it works. When a live roulette game starts, everyone places their bets. The croupier or game host then presses a button that highlights five numbers on the LED wall at random—the wall contains all numbers of a roulette wheel.

Each highlighted number has a multiplier: 50x, 100x, 200x, 300x or 500x. Let’s say you placed a straight number bet on number 17. Out of luck, this number was highlighted with a x500 multiplier. If the wheel stops spinning on number 17, you would earn 500x your stake.

6—Multi-wheel Roulette

Playing multi-wheel roulette is like betting on a parlay/accumulator. You place one bet across multiple roulette wheels. The game has 2 to 8 wheels. However, you decide the number of wheels you want to remain active.

Let’s say you want to bet $10 on black in five wheels. If three wheels stop at black-pockets, then your profit is multiplied three times. On the downside, multi-wheel roulette has higher betting limits than other variants of the game.

Conclusion

Leading online casinos in Canada offer several variants of roulette. Many of these games derive their rules and formats from European roulette. French roulette has the lowest house edge, but only if you place an outside bet. Some roulette variants offer poor odds of winning. But they have high payouts.

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