I usually don't play roulette in Vegas as I'm used to single zero roulette here in the UK on all tables, and you can start with 25p chips and no minimum bet (so in theory, 25p = 35c per spin!)

Because the house pays 36 to 1 (including your stake chip), 38 numbers (double zero table) means that on average each number should fall once in 38 spins, and you win $36 including your stake. This means you will win 36/38 of your $38 (assuming you stake only $1 per spin), and so the house edge is $2/$38 = 5.26%. With single zero, the payouts are the same, so the house edge is only 1/37 = 2.71%. This means the house edge is almost double for the double zero tables.

If you play a lot of roulette, then it makes a big difference. If you only stay long enough to harvest a few roulette chips, then it's probably not worth playing with the $5 chips that single roulette tables in the US seem to require

Most important rule though, is have fun whatever you play!

Jason

p.s. Going to Vegas next week - anyone want any Strip-hotel roulettes???