How to play roulette
Put chips on a number, or on a group of numbers, before the dealer calls "No more bets." The ball lands, and every bet covering that pocket wins. One number pays 35 to 1; red or black pays even money. Whatever you bet, a double-zero wheel keeps 5.26% of it on average, and a single-zero wheel 2.70%.
Count the green pockets before you sit. That's the only choice at this table that changes the price.
The wheel and the layout
The wheel has pockets numbered 1 to 36, half red and half black, plus the green ones. A single-zero wheel, sometimes called European, has one green: 0. A double-zero wheel, the American one, has 0 and 00. Most Las Vegas tables are double zero, and some cheap Strip tables now add a third green, 000. Look at the wheel itself, not the sign.
The felt in front of the wheel, the layout, has a box for every number in three long columns, with the greens at the top. Bets on the numbers themselves are inside bets. The boxes around the edge, for dozens, columns, red, black, odd, even, low and high, are outside bets.
What does each roulette bet pay?
Pays are "to 1": a winning $1 chip on a single number gets $35 and keeps its own $1. True odds are what a fair bet would pay, with nothing kept for the house. The gap between the two columns is the house's cut.
| Bet | Pays | True odds, single zero | True odds, double zero |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight upOne number. | 35 to 1 | 36 to 1 | 37 to 1 |
| SplitTwo numbers side by side. | 17 to 1 | 17.5 to 1 | 18 to 1 |
| StreetA row of three. | 11 to 1 | 11.33 to 1 | 11.67 to 1 |
| CornerFour numbers that meet at a point. | 8 to 1 | 8.25 to 1 | 8.5 to 1 |
| First four0, 1, 2 and 3. Single zero only. | 8 to 1 | 8.25 to 1 | – |
| Five-number0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. Double zero only. | 6 to 1 | – | 6.6 to 1 |
| Six lineTwo rows of three. | 5 to 1 | 5.17 to 1 | 5.33 to 1 |
| Dozen1–12, 13–24 or 25–36. | 2 to 1 | 2.08 to 1 | 2.17 to 1 |
| ColumnOne of the three long columns. | 2 to 1 | 2.08 to 1 | 2.17 to 1 |
| Even moneyRed or black, odd or even, 1–18 or 19–36. | 1 to 1 | 1.06 to 1 | 1.11 to 1 |
The pays are the same on every wheel. Only the number of greens changes, and the greens are the whole of the house edge: every pay is set as if the wheel had 36 pockets, so each green is a pocket nobody is paid for.
Chips go where the bet says. A split sits on the line between two numbers, a street on the outer edge of its row, a corner on the point where four numbers meet, a six line on the outer edge where two rows meet. If you can't reach, hand the dealer your chips and say the bet.
What are the odds in roulette?
On a given wheel, nearly every bet carries the same house edge. A single number wins 1 in 38 spins on a double-zero wheel; red wins 47.4% of spins there and 48.6% on a single zero. The edge is the same either way.
| Wheel | Pockets | House edge | Kept per $100 bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single zero | 37 | 2.70% | $2.70 |
| Double zero | 38 | 5.26% | $5.26 |
| Triple zero | 39 | 7.69% | $7.69 |
The one exception is the five-number bet on a double-zero layout, 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. It pays 6 to 1 when a fair price would be 6.6 to 1, so the house keeps 7.89%. It's the worst bet on the table.
Some single-zero tables, mostly in high-limit rooms, play la partage: when the ball lands on zero, even-money bets lose only half. That cuts the edge on those bets to 1.35%, the best price in roulette. En prison is a close cousin: the bet is held for one more spin instead.
Pick the wheel, not the bet. The wheel sets the price, and no bet on it does better.
How do roulette chips work?
At most tables you don't bet with the casino's regular chips. Buy in and the dealer gives you color chips, also called wheel chips, in a color nobody else at the table has, so the dealer can tell whose bets are whose.
- You say what they're worth. The dealer asks what you'd like each chip to be: $1, $5, whatever the table allows. A marker on the wheel's rim keeps track of it. Chips come in stacks of 20.
- They're only good at that table. They carry no printed value, and the cage won't take them.
- Color up before you leave. Push your chips to the dealer between spins. The dealer counts them and gives you regular casino chips, and those are what you cash at the cage.
Regular casino chips are allowed on the layout too, usually on outside bets, and big wins are often paid in them.
How does the dealer run a roulette table?
- Buy in between spins. Lay your cash flat on the layout. The dealer can't take it from your hand.
- "Place your bets." Bets go down while the wheel turns, and keep going after the dealer launches the ball. It runs the other way around the wheel's rim.
- "No more bets." As the ball slows, the dealer says it and waves a hand over the layout. From here, hands off. A chip placed after the wave is pushed back.
- The dolly. The ball drops into a pocket. The dealer calls the number and color and sets a marker, the dolly, on the winning number. Nothing goes on or comes off the layout while it stands.
- Losers first. The dealer sweeps every losing bet off the layout, then pays the winners. Winnings are set beside your chips, and your original bet stays where it is. Leave it there and it rides on the next spin.
- The dolly lifts. Pick up what's yours, and it's "Place your bets" again.
The dealer pays by multiplication: thirty-five times the chips on a number, seventeen on a split. Count your payout before you pick it up. Mistakes happen, and the time to say so is before the next spin.
How do roulette table minimums work?
The sign shows two minimums. The inside minimum is for your inside chips added together: at a $10 table, ten $1 chips on ten different numbers will do. The outside minimum applies to each outside bet on its own: at a $10 table that means $10 on red and another $10 on a dozen, not the same money split between them.
Tipping is never required. If you'd like to, hand the dealer a chip, or place one for the dealer beside your own bet.
Do roulette betting systems work?
No. No pattern of bet sizes changes the house edge, because every spin is a fresh spin. Over enough spins you lose the edge on everything you bet, however you bet it.
The Martingale
Double your bet after every loss, and the first win gets it all back plus one unit. Here's the catch. At a $10 table with a $1,000 limit on outside bets, you can double six times. On a double-zero wheel, the chance of losing seven spins running on red is about 1 in 89. When it comes, you're down $1,270, and the table won't take the $1,280 you need next. Lots of small wins, then one large loss, and over time the total lands right on the house edge.
"Red is due"
The wheel has no memory. At Monte Carlo on 18 August 1913, black came up 26 times in a row. The players piling onto red because it was due lost a fortune. After the first black, the next 25 matching it was about 1 in 67 million, and it still happened. The board of recent numbers by the wheel is a record, not a forecast.
Covering the table
Betting more numbers changes how often you win, never what you lose. Put a chip on 35 of the 38 numbers and you'll win most spins, but you still lose 5.26% of the money you put down.
Common questions
What is the best bet in roulette?
On a given wheel, every bet costs the same, 5.26% of what you bet on a double zero, except the five-number bet, which costs 7.89%. The best thing you can do is find a single-zero wheel, at 2.70%, or one with la partage, at 1.35% on even-money bets.
What does a single number pay in roulette?
A straight-up bet on one number pays 35 to 1. A $5 chip wins $175 and keeps its own $5.
What happens to red and black bets when the ball lands on 0?
At most American tables they lose, like every bet that doesn't cover the green. Where the table plays la partage, even-money bets lose only half.
Can you take your roulette chips to another table?
No. Color chips are only good at the table that issued them. Color up with the dealer before you leave, and take the regular casino chips to the cage.
When can you place bets in roulette?
From "Place your bets," once the dolly is off the last winning number, until the dealer calls "No more bets" and waves a hand over the layout. You can keep betting after the ball is spinning.
How we know: the pays are Ridotto's roulette engine, read from the bet catalogs its tables use; the odds and house edges are worked out from the pocket counts and agree with the engine's own figures and with the Wizard of Odds. Procedure is from Ridotto's casino research, written from the published rules of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, Michigan's rule on non-value chips, and casino rack cards. House rules vary, so read the sign and ask the dealer.
The wheel's honest about its price. Learn where the chips go, and the rest is watching the ball.
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