In San Diego, USA, roulette is played a little differently to most other places in the world. The roulette layout looks the same – but not all of the tables use a roulette wheel to determine the outcome of the game. The reason is the “California Constitution” which states that “the ball and wheel alone may not determine the outcome in roulette”. I’m guessing they’ve had issues with rigged wheels or similar in the past. In any case, the casinos there won’t be beaten into submission by the State of California. Here are some of the ingenious ways the San Diego casinos get around the rule:

At the Pauma and Sycuan casinos, the dealer simply pulls a card from a 38-card deck (includes 0, 00 and all numbers 1-36), simulating a roulette wheel spin. At the Viejas casino, a 38-card deck is also used, but each card is placed on a spinning wheel (a bit like a big six wheel). Where the wheel stops, the card is pulled out and used as the draw result. Pala Casino uses a 38-card deck broken into colours as follows: 12 green, 12 blue, 12 red, and 2 green, and a roulette wheel which has colours only, not values. A card is dealt for each colour. The wheel is spun. When the ball comes to land, the card of that colour is turned over, giving the result.

Harrahs uses a bingo hopper with 76 balls (two each of 0, 00 and each number 1-36) and draws a single number to simulate the draw.

Barona Casino is the only casino to have just 37 results available in its card deck – simulating a SINGLE ZERO roulette wheel. Three cards are dealt from the deck and placed in regions on the table identified as “1-12”, “13-24”, and “25-36”. The roulette wheel is spun. The range the ball lands in (0-12, 13-24, or 25-36) determines which card is flipped over, giving the roulette result.

At the time of writing, Santa Ysabel, Pechanga, La Posta, Valley View and Golden Acorn casino do not offer the game of roulette.

So, the best odds in San Diego are at Barona Casino, with 2.63% odds against the player. The other casinos here have an edge of 5.26% on roulette, due to the DOUBLE ZERO roulette games they offer. (My personal advice: avoid ANY casino game with an edge of 3% or higher – you simply can’t beat those kind of odds in the long term).

Luckily, online players get even better value. Whether you live in the USA or not, whether you can make it to San Diego or not, you’ll still be much better off playing roulette online. Visit Betfair Casino and play their revolutionary ZERO HOUSE EDGE ROULETTE giving you true odds and payouts. Visit Virgin Casino and play their three-wheel roulette: It has a single zero (so 2.63% edge), but allows you to bet on three roulette wheels at once – so you may get a more even game. Or visit any of the other reputable online casinos we promote.

Have fun playing roulette wherever you play: spin to win!