Roulette Roulette
A casino game where a ball is rolled around a numbered wheel and you guess which pocket it stops in. The single zero European version has a 2.70% house edge, and the American version with 0 and 00 has 5.26%.
| English | Roulette |
|---|---|
| Classification | Basics & Betting Terms |
| Category | Wheel table game (house bank) |
| Numbers | 1-36 + 0 (00 added on American) |
| Earliest record of current form | 1796, Paris |
| Single zero introduced | 1843, Bad Homburg, Germany |
| House edge | European 2.70%, American 5.26%, triple zero 7.69% |
| Top payout | Straight up 35:1 |
Overview
Roulette is a game where a ball is rolled around a spinning wheel with numbered pockets, and you try to guess which pocket it will land in. The name means “little wheel” in French. The bet range is wide, from a single number to half the table like red or black, and a key feature is that the house edge is almost the same on every bet.
Three Types of Wheels
Numbers 1-36 are split between red and black, while 0 (and 00 on the American wheel) is green. The house edge comes from these green pockets. A single number pays 35:1, but the wheel has more than 36 pockets.
| Type | Pockets | House Edge |
|---|---|---|
| European (Single Zero) | 37 pockets (0-36) | 2.70% |
| American (Double Zero) | 38 pockets (0, 00, 1-36) | 5.26% |
| Triple Zero | 39 pockets (0, 00, 000, 1-36) | 7.69% |
On an American wheel, the “five number” bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 is an exception, with an expected loss of about $0.079 per $1 (7.9%), which is worse than other bets.
Bet Types and Payouts
| Category | Bet | Numbers Covered | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside | Straight Up | 1 | 35:1 |
| Split | 2 adjacent numbers | 17:1 | |
| Street | 3 in a row | 11:1 | |
| Corner | 4 in a square | 8:1 | |
| Six Line | 6 across two rows | 5:1 | |
| Outside | Dozen (1-12, etc.) | 12 numbers | 2:1 |
| Column | 12 numbers vertically | 2:1 | |
| Red/Black, Odd/Even, 1-18/19-36 | 18 numbers | 1:1 |
The payouts differ, but on the same wheel most bets have the same house edge. Bets that hit often are not better; only the balance between hit frequency and payout changes.
En Prison and La Partage
Some single zero tables have protection rules for 1:1 bets.
- La Partage: If 0 comes up, you lose only half of your 1:1 bet.
- En Prison: If 0 comes up, your bet is locked “in prison,” and if it wins on the next spin, you get your original stake back.
With En Prison, the house edge on 1:1 bets drops to about 1.35-1.38% on a single zero wheel and 2.63% on a double zero wheel.
History
It is widely said that the 17th-century mathematician Blaise Pascal created a primitive roulette while researching a perpetual motion machine. The modern form was recorded in Paris in 1796, and a novel published in 1801 describes a roulette wheel at the Palais-Royal. In 1843, the brothers François and Louis Blanc introduced a wheel with just a single zero in Bad Homburg, Germany, while the wheel with 00 spread to the United States via New Orleans. The idea that earlier results affect the next one is explained in Gambler’s Fallacy, and methods of increasing your stake are covered in Betting Systems.