Table games guide
Michigan Online Roulette: Wheel Types, Bet Odds and How Each Bet Pays
A Michigan online roulette table is defined by its wheel, and a single-zero wheel roughly halves the house edge of the American double-zero wheel.
21+ and physically in Michigan. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-270-7117. Updated
Roulette: Roulette each operator states.
- European wheel:
- 37 pockets, 2.70% edge.
- American wheel:
- 38 pockets, 5.26% edge.
- Straight up:
- Pays 35 to 1.
- DraftKings: Since 2021;
- Horseshoe: 1 live;
Michigan online roulette comes in two main versions, and the wheel decides the house edge, which is worth more money than any betting pattern you will read about. Michigan’s online casinos run under the Lawful Internet Gaming Act, signed in December 2019, and the Michigan Gaming Control Board licenses every operator that spins a wheel, but that license does not say which wheel a given table uses.
How many green pockets does the Michigan wheel have?
An American wheel has 38 pockets: the numbers 1 through 36 plus a 0 and a 00. A European wheel has 37 pockets with a single 0. The green pockets are where the house gets its edge, because every bet pays as if they did not exist.
Take a straight-up bet on one number. It pays 35 to 1. On a European wheel the true odds of hitting are 36 to 1, and on an American wheel they are 37 to 1. The house edge is the gap between payout and true odds, which is 2.70 percent on the European wheel and 5.26 percent on the American one.
At $5 a spin, 100 spins means $500 in wagers. The expected loss is about $13.50 on a European wheel and about $26.30 on an American one. On the American wheel, the cost roughly doubles for the same bets and the same pace.
Most players never look at the wheel, though a quick check takes seconds and follows six steps in any app.
- The roulette table opens with the layout or the wheel graphic in view.
- One green 0 means European, and a 0 plus a 00 means American.
- The rules or info panel gives the table name, which often says “European” or “American”.
- The table header shows the minimum and maximum bet.
- A mention of “La Partage” or “En Prison” means even-money bets get half their stake back on a zero.
- The wheel with the fewest zeros carries the lowest house edge, and a session limit goes in before the first spin.
The rules panel of each table shows which wheel it spins. Nothing says that the first wheel in a lobby is the good one.
What does each bet pay?
Payouts are the same on both wheels, and only the odds of winning differ, so the chance column below has two figures.
| Bet | Pockets covered | Pays | Chance to win, American | Chance to win, European |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35 to 1 | 2.63% | 2.70% |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | 5.26% | 5.41% |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | 7.89% | 8.11% |
| Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 | 10.53% | 10.81% |
| Six line | 6 | 5 to 1 | 15.79% | 16.22% |
| Dozen or column | 12 | 2 to 1 | 31.58% | 32.43% |
| Red, black, odd, even, high, low | 18 | 1 to 1 | 47.37% | 48.65% |
The chance of winning falls as the payout grows, and the two balance out the same way on every bet. Betting on one number is no worse than betting on red, in terms of expected loss per dollar. The difference is how bumpy the ride is.
Outside bets win often and pay little, so a session on them drains slowly and rewards patience. Inside bets win rarely and pay a lot, so one lucky hit can cover many misses, and a cold stretch can be long. The right level of bumpiness is the one a player can live with.
Many apps also offer shortcut bets that cover several numbers in one tap, such as a neighbors bet or a preset pattern. Those shortcuts are just bundles of the bets in the table, so the house edge is the same as the pieces. The total stake the shortcut places is worth reading before a tap, because one press can spread several chips at once and the cost is easy to miss on a phone screen.
One bet deserves a warning. The American five-number line, which covers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3, pays 6 to 1 and carries a 7.89 percent house edge. It is the only roulette bet that costs more than the standard 5.26 percent, which makes it the costliest bet on an American layout.
What do the better wheels look like?
A French-style wheel with La Partage returns half your stake on even-money bets when the ball lands on zero. That rule cuts the house edge to 1.35 percent on those bets, the lowest in any version of roulette. A related rule, En Prison, holds your bet for the next spin instead and lands in a similar place.
A rules panel that lists it marks the lowest-edge table in a lobby. Without it, a single-zero European wheel is the next step down, and the double-zero wheel carries the highest edge.
Live wheels, spun by a real dealer on video, follow the same math, and the layout is the studio’s choice, so the zeros are worth counting there too. Caesars Palace Online Casino’s Michigan studio has a roulette table, and Horseshoe Online Casino lists 1 live wheel from the shared Caesars studio. The live dealer guide has the details.
Which casino apps list roulette?
DraftKings Casino launched in Michigan on January 22, 2021 with roulette alongside slots and blackjack, and Horseshoe Online Casino’s Michigan page lists roulette among its table games. Their offers appear here.
-
Rank 01
Rating: 8.7/10
Best for: Players who want 1,000 Flex Spins for a $5 wager
Roulette: Listed since January 22, 2021
Wager $5, get 1,000 Flex Spins incl. 100 on Lightning Link
21+ MI players only. T&Cs apply. Bet with your head, not over it. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-270-7117.
-
Rank 02
Rating: 7.8/10
Best for: Trying slots before the first deposit
Roulette: 1 live wheel, shared Caesars studio
Up to 500 spins in four drops of 125; the first 125 on sign-up, no deposit
21+ MI players only. T&Cs apply. Bet with your head, not over it. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-270-7117.
Offers are listed here for DraftKings and Horseshoe. The full Michigan ranking shows every welcome offer, and the DraftKings review covers the app with a documented launch lineup.
A bonus played through a table comes with terms worth reading first. Roulette often counts for little toward wagering, and some operators exclude it. The terms line under each offer links to the operator’s own rules, and the bonus guide shows how to read them.
What does a normal session look like at a $5 table?
Averages hide how uneven a session feels. Playing one number for 38 spins leaves a player without a single hit about 35 to 36 percent of the time, depending on the wheel. That is what a 35 to 1 payout on a long shot looks like, and no bad luck is involved. Nobody warns you at the table, and the cold run feels personal when it arrives.
The reverse holds on red. A $5 stake on red wins nearly half the time, and the balance moves in small steps. Even a lucky evening on outside bets rarely changes the balance much, so the expected-loss figures above are a decent guide to a full session. An evening of straight-up bets is the opposite, with wide swings in both directions and the same average price.
Some game providers add extra features to roulette, such as multipliers on random numbers or special side wagers. These usually trade a lower payout on the straight-up bet for the chance of a larger one. We have no operator statement showing which Michigan apps offer them. The paytable on any variant is worth reading before staking money, because the house edge on a feature table can differ from the 2.70 and 5.26 percent above.
Does an online wheel behave differently from a Detroit casino floor?
The odds do not change, but the delivery does. A random-number table picks the winning pocket with software, so each result is independent of the last, and the animated ball is decoration. A physical wheel in one of Detroit’s commercial casinos, MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity or Hollywood Casino at Greektown, uses a real ball and a real croupier, and spins at the pace of the room.
Online, you can also see what the table pays before you commit. A floor table posts its limits on a small placard, and an app shows them in the header, so comparing wheels takes one tap instead of a walk. That convenience is the reason to count zeros each time you sit down. A lobby can hold a single-zero wheel and a double-zero wheel one row apart, and the stakes look identical.
At any table, the wheel with fewer zeros carries the lower house edge, whatever the theme or the animation looks like.
Does any roulette system beat the house?
No, and the reasons are arithmetic, not opinion. A betting system changes how much you wager on a spin, but each spin is independent and carries the same house edge. Every wager has a negative expected value, and a system only reshapes how that loss arrives.
The Martingale
The Martingale doubles your bet after every loss, so one win recovers the lot. The flaw is the ceiling. Start at $5 and six losses in a row take the next bet to $320, and the table maximum or your balance stops you soon after. A long losing streak is rare, but it is what ends the system.
The Fibonacci and similar plans
These plans raise your stake more slowly after a loss. They shrink the size of the swings and lengthen the session, and they leave the long-run edge exactly where it was.
Hot and cold numbers
The wheel has no memory. A number that has not hit in 80 spins is exactly as likely to hit next spin as any other. Past results show a pattern only to a person looking for one.
Every system leaves the expected cost per spin where the wheel sets it: 2.70 percent of the wager on a European wheel and 5.26 percent on an American wheel.
How should I set limits at an online wheel?
Online random-number tables are fast, and a spin can finish in seconds, so the number of wagers per hour can far exceed what a casino floor allows. More spins mean more of the edge applied to the balance. The same 2.70 or 5.26 percent that sounds small in a table becomes a real figure over a long session.
A stake and a stop point set before the table opens, and kept, hold a session in check. Michigan’s Responsible Gaming Database takes self-exclusion requests for licensed casinos through the Michigan Gaming Control Board, and the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline answers at 1-800-270-7117. The helpline is there for when the wheel stops being a pastime. Our responsible gambling page covers deposit limits and time-outs.
An open table shows the table name, the minimum bet, any La Partage line and the number of zeros. A lobby with a double-zero wheel may hold a single-zero one as well.
FAQ
What is the difference between American and European roulette?
American wheels have 38 pockets, with both a 0 and a 00. European wheels have 37, with a single 0. That one extra green pocket lifts the house edge from 2.70 percent to 5.26 percent. Every bet pays the same on both wheels, so the European wheel costs less per spin.
What is the house edge on roulette?
It is 5.26 percent on an American wheel and 2.70 percent on a European one, except for the five-number basket on American tables, which is 7.89 percent. The edge is the long-run share of your total wagers the casino keeps. On $500 of bets it means an expected loss of about $26 or $13.
Does the Martingale system work?
No. Doubling after each loss does not change the odds of any spin, and it runs into the table maximum or your balance after a modest losing streak. A short run of losses can turn a $5 bet into a $320 bet in six steps. The house edge applies to each wager no matter how you size it.
What is La Partage?
La Partage is a rule on some French-style wheels. When the ball lands on zero, an even-money bet returns half its stake. That cuts the house edge on those bets to 1.35 percent, the lowest on any roulette table. The rules panel shows it where it exists.
Which roulette bet has the lowest house edge?
On a given wheel, every bet except the American five-number basket carries the same house edge, so no bet is better in the long run. Outside bets such as red or black win more often but pay less, and straight-up numbers win rarely but pay 35 to 1.
Can I play live roulette in Michigan?
Yes. Horseshoe Online Casino lists 1 live wheel from the shared Caesars studio, and the Caesars Palace Online Casino studio in Michigan has a roulette table. A live wheel is spun by a real dealer on video, and each round takes longer than a random-number table. The live dealer guide has the table counts.
How much should I bet per spin?
A fixed share of the session budget, commonly one to two percent per spin, keeps a session steady when it stays constant. At $5 a spin, 100 spins means $500 wagered and an expected loss of roughly $13 to $26 depending on the wheel. Fast online tables can reach that figure quickly, so a deposit limit helps.