Understanding Roulette Odds: A Comprehensive Guide
One of the oldest casino games, Roulette is a game of chance whereby the odds dictate how likely you are to win, and the payouts determine how much you stand to win. Before you start playing, you must understand the odds in roulette for each bet you place. With a strong knowledge of all the roulette betting odds, you'll have a better idea of which are the best to place and give yourself a better chance of consistent profits.
What are Roulette Odds?
The odds you'll find at roulette tables tell you your chances of winning a specific bet. For instance, the longest odds you will come across are the straight-up bet on an American Roulette table. If you place a single number bet, you have a 1 in 37 chance of winning as there are 38 numbers (1-36, the 0, and 00). However, because of the roulette house edge, you will only win 35:1 if your number comes in. The house edge is the percentage of all bets the casino will take and will ensure that the house (casino) earns money over the long term. American Roulette is considered the worst variant of roulette to play, but we will get into that later.
You're not only able to place straight-up bets, as many roulette bet types offer varying payout odds. The outside bets, particularly money bets such as odd or even, will give you better roulette odds and lower payouts.
How to Calculate Roulette Table Payouts
Before you jump in and play roulette for the first time, it is really important you first understand the odds and roulette payouts for all the bets you can place. You also may not even know the names of the bets or where to place your chips. So rather than facing confusion, take the time to familiarise yourself with the different bet types on a roulette betting table.
When you sit at roulette games, whether at a land-based or online casino, the payout odds are usually displayed as a (number):1. The number displayed is how many units you will win for every unit placed on that bet. For example, a four-number bet will pay 8:1, which means you get back your original 1 unit bet plus 8 winning units.
Our American and European Roulette Payout Guide
The best way to become more familiar with the payout odds is to use our roulette payout chart below. It will give you the odds for each bet on American and European roulette tables. Also, do note that French roulette has the same odds as European roulette, so we have lumped both variations in the same section.
Roulette Bet Description and Example Payout French and European Roulette Odds (%) American Roulette Odds (%) Straight Up Bet Bet on a single number 35:1 2.70% 2.63% Split Bet Bet on 2 adjacent numbers 17:1 5.41% 5.26% Street Bet Bet on 3 numbers in a row 11:1 8.11% 7.89% Square Bet Bet on 4 numbers forming a square 8:1 10.81% 10.53% Line Bet Bet on 6 numbers of 2 adjacent rows 5:1 16.22% 15.79% Column Bet Bet on 12 numbers in a column 2:1 32.43% 31.58% Dozen Bet Bet on 1st, 2nd, or 3rd set of 12 numbers 2:1 32.43% 31.58% Even/Odd Bet Bet on all even or all odd numbers 1:1 48.65% 47.37% Red/Black Bet Bet on all red or all black numbers 1:1 48.65% 47.37% 1-18/19-36 Bet Bet on the first or last 18 numbers 1:1 48.65% 47.37%
Note: These odds are calculated by dividing the number of winning outcomes by the total possible outcomes. The presence of the '00' in American Roulette decreases the odds of winning compared to French and European Roulette.
Roulette Payouts & The Roulette Betting Table
You may find the roulette table layout confusing when you first start playing roulette. After all, you're greeted with many numbers and betting sections you might know little about. However, we have broken down the betting layout so you'll never get confused again.
The easiest way to understand the betting table (or overlay online) is to break it down into two sections. The middle section contains all the 'Inside bets' and is the section with all single numbers. On the outside of this section, to the right and bottom, is where you will find the 'Outside Bets' such as red or black and odd or even.
Outside Roulette Bets - Low Risk, Low Payouts, and More Chance of Winning
As mentioned, outside bets are on the outside of the numbers, so they're called outside bets in the first place. These are the bets with the best roulette odds and the lowest roulette payouts. You will win more frequently when compared with inside bets, but you should not expect big payouts. When placing even money roulette bets, such as odd or even, winning bets will only return 1:1. This is because your bet covers half the table and is close to 50/50, whether you win or lose.
The best payouts from outside bets are the 2:1 paid by Column and Dozen bets. These only cover roughly 1/3rd of the roulette wheel and thus have slightly better payouts.
Bet Type Bet Description Payout Column Bet Bet on 12 numbers in a column 2:1 Dozen Bet Bet on 1st, 2nd, or 3rd set of 12 numbers 2:1 Even/Odd Bet Bet on all even or all odd numbers 1:1 Red/Black Bet Bet on all red or all black numbers 1:1 1-18/19-36 Bet Bet on the first or last 18 numbers 1:1
Note: The 'Payout' column describes the ratio of the winnings to the original bet. For example, with a 'Column Bet', if you bet $1 and win, you will receive $2 plus your original $1, for a total of $3.
Inside Bets: High Risk but with Bigger Payouts
If you prefer to take bigger risks when playing online roulette, you can use the casino game's many inside bets. Using the main roulette betting grid, you can place wagers on any number, a group of numbers, or as many numbers as you like.
When the ball lands on a number you have covered, it can make your night at the roulette tables. Winning bets will often carry great payouts. However, the roulette odds for these bets are long for a reason. You're going to experience losing bets more often than not.
Bet Type Bet Description Payout Straight Up Bet Bet on a single number 35:1 Split Bet Bet on 2 adjacent numbers 17:1 Street Bet Bet on 3 numbers in a row 11:1 Trio Bet Bet on 3 numbers, including at least one zero (0 or 00) 11:1 Corner Bet Bet on 4 numbers forming a square 8:1 Five Number Bet (Basket) Bet on 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3 (only in American Roulette) 6:1 Line Bet Bet on 6 numbers of 2 adjacent rows 5:1
Note: The Five Number Bet (Basket) is available only in American Roulette and includes both the 0 and 00.
Bets on American and European Roulette Wheels
We touched on this earlier in this roulette odds guide, but American roulette has a bigger house advantage when compared to French and European roulette. American Roulette's 5.26% house edge is almost double the 2.7% of the other variants.
As you may know, the house edge is a casino's advantage over roulette players at the table. It determines how much money, on average, a roulette table will win from all bets. Another way to look at the house edge is to flip it around so it is RTP (return to player percentage). French and European roulette offers a 97.3% RTP. That is how much, on average, players will get back from their bets over an extended period.
So, on average, players will receive 97.3% of their bets back. This is not an exact science, as some players get luckier than others. One might have doubled their bankroll during a session, while others could have lost the lot.
Why does American Roulette have a Higher House Edge?
In short, it comes down to the greed of casinos in America that felt the house edge of traditional roulette was not high enough to make decent money. When roulette made its way to America, the casinos quickly found an easy way to increase the house edge by adding another green section on the American roulette wheel.
European and French roulette has a single zero wheel, the single green zero pocket. This pocket is where the roulette game gains its house edge. While you can bet on the single zero and win the same payouts as any other number when it comes in, this pocket essentially nullifies many of the other roulette bets placed. The zero is not odd or even, red or black, or classed as a high or low number. Most of the bets on the table do not cover it. The casino will make money when the green zero lands on the European wheel.
However, while the payouts remain the same as in European Roulette, the American Roulette odds of winning are higher. That is because the American double-zero wheel has an additional green zero (00). That extra pocket doubles the house edge, as the double zero is another pocket that will nullify most bets placed when it lands.
Avoid American roulette: Because of the higher American roulette odds, we recommend you play on a single zero wheel variant of roulette such as European or French. If you see that the roulette game you have opened has a double zero wheel, move to another table. There is no benefit to playing American roulette over the other two variants.
French and European Roulette Section & Neighbour Bets (Racetrack Bets)
A distinct feature known as the 'racetrack' frequently emerges in the European and French iterations of roulette. This is a separate betting overlay that usually features along the outer edge of the betting table.
This racetrack visualizes sections on the roulette wheel where adjacent numbers lie in proximity, thus earning the designations 'section bets' and 'neighbor' bets. Such bets amalgamate elements of straight bets, split bets, and corner bets.
In French Roulette, these wagers are often presented under their original French language, while their European Roulette counterparts receive English translations for each cluster of contiguous numbers. Despite a consistent house edge of 2.7% across all neighbor bets, they offer different odds of winning.
- Tiers du Cylindre (Third of the Wheel): This wager affords a 45.9% potential for victory. It necessitates six split bets, each carrying an equal-value chip. These bets are placed on the pairs: 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30, and 33/36. A glance at the roulette wheel reveals these numbers situated close together. This covers the section of the wheel segment 27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33 (comprising 12 numbers).
- Orphelins (Orphans): With a 24.3% chance of winning, this bet requires one straight bet and five instances of a split bet, all valued equally. The configuration includes a straight bet on the numeral 1 and split bets on 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, and 31/34. This unique bet constitutes two discrete sets of neighboring numbers within close proximity. The term 'Orphans' signifies their absence from the other enumerated section bets. Specifically, these numbers are 1-20-14-31-9 within one segment and 17-34-6 within another (encompassing eight numbers).
- Voisins du Zéro (Neighbors of Zero): This roulette bet entails five split bets and two corner bets, all employing chips of equal value. The allocation entails placing two chips on 0, 2, and 3 while reserving two chips for the corner spanning 25 to 29. Furthermore, one chip suffices for the following split bets: 4/7, 12/15, 18/21, 19/22, and 32/35. The contiguous numbers within this wheel segment comprise 22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26-0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25 (encompassing 17 numbers). There is a 32.4% chance of winning this wager.
- Jeu Zéro (Zero Game): Designed for a cluster of neighboring numbers encircling the '0', this wager necessitates investing one chip in a straight-up bet (26) and one chip each in three split bets (0-3, 12-15, and 32-35). A variant known as 'zero spiel naca' in German roulette incorporates an additional chip for a straight bet on number 19, thus culminating in a 5-chip wager.
Roulette with Multipliers Odds
Those of you that have played online roulette may have come across popular multiplier roulette casino games. These have all the different roulette bet types of traditional tables, such as even money bets, call bets, and the five-number bet, but there is a major difference. They will randomly assign multiplier values to certain straight-up numbers. These can be up to 500x the stake or more, depending on the particular title.
Now, with the addition of these multipliers, the developers have had to make changes to the core payouts in order to cover those increased potential wins. This usually happens by reducing the payouts earned by players on non-multiplied straight-up bets. For example, in Evolution's Lightning Roulette, that payout is reduced to 29:1.
Maximum and Minimum Bets in Roulette
Another factor to consider, other than the roulette bet or bets you want to place, is the maximum and minimum bets of a roulette table at a land-based or online casino. All tables will have their betting limits, so the idea is to find a table that suits your bankroll. If the minimum bet is too high, you will likely burn through your bankroll far too quickly. If it is too low, this will limit you if you prefer playing higher stakes.
You want a table with a minimum bet that allows you to stretch out your bankroll across many bets. Ideally, you want to enjoy a minimum of betting rounds, no more than 5% of your bankroll each time.
Take Your Roulette Odds Knowledge to the Tables
Now that you better understand the many different roulette bets, odds, and payouts, it is time to hit the roulette games at online casinos. You can start placing your combination of inside and outside bets and hope the winning number comes up more often than not.
If you're wondering where to go to play online roulette, you're in the right place. At PlayCasino, we have reviewed hundreds of the best online casinos. Have a read-through, and you will quickly establish a platform that offers a great selection of virtual and live roulette games and a variety of other online games.
