Roulette Explained: Rules, Wheel, and How to Bet
Roulette is a spinning-wheel game with two wheel types, a full menu of bets, and one number that decides the house edge. Here's how it all works.
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Roulette Explained: Rules, Wheel, and How to Bet
The short answer
Roulette is a game of pure chance built around a spinning wheel and a numbered layout. A dealer spins the wheel and rolls a ball; wherever it lands decides every bet at the table. You can bet on a single number, a group of numbers, a color, or a range, and each option pays according to how unlikely it is to land (Wizard of Odds, Roulette Basics, retrieved 2026-07-24).
There are two wheels in wide use. European wheels have 37 pockets (1 through 36 plus a single 0). American wheels add a second green pocket, 00, for 38. That one extra pocket is the whole reason American roulette costs you more over time, a topic covered in full in house edge by wheel.
How does a hand of roulette actually work?
Players place chips on the betting layout while the dealer, often called the croupier, calls for bets. Once betting closes, the croupier spins the wheel and releases a small ball in the opposite direction. Gravity and the wheel's deflectors carry it into one of the numbered pockets, and that pocket is the winning number for the round.
The dealer marks the winning number, clears losing bets, and pays winners according to the odds for each bet type. Then the layout opens again for the next spin. There's no skill in the outcome itself. Every spin is an independent event, meaning the wheel doesn't "remember" past results (Wizard of Odds, retrieved 2026-07-24).
What can you actually bet on?
The layout splits into inside bets, which cover specific numbers, and outside bets, which cover broader groups. Both types exist on the same table at the same time.
- Straight up: a single number, the highest-paying single bet.
- Split: two adjacent numbers, chip placed on the line between them.
- Street: three numbers in a horizontal row.
- Corner: four numbers that meet at a shared corner.
- Six line: six numbers across two adjacent rows.
- Dozen: 12 numbers, grouped as 1-12, 13-24, or 25-36.
- Column: 12 numbers running down one of the three vertical columns.
- Red or black, odd or even, high or low (1-18/19-36): 18 numbers each, the broadest and most even-money-feeling bets on the table.
Every one of these has its own fixed payout, and every one carries the same underlying house edge on a given wheel. The full payout table breaks down the exact odds for each bet, and worked examples show the real math of wins and losses over repeated bets.
Why do the green pockets matter so much?
Zero and double-zero are green, and they don't belong to red, black, odd, even, high, or low. That's deliberate. If they were colored like every other number, red/black bets would pay even money on a true 50/50 shot, and the house would have no structural edge on that bet (Wizard of Odds, retrieved 2026-07-24).
Because the greens exist, red and black don't quite split the wheel in half. There are 18 red, 18 black, and 1 or 2 green pockets that belong to neither. That gap is exactly where the house edge lives, and red/black odds walks through the math in detail.
The house edge isn't hidden in the payouts. It's built into the pockets themselves, before a single bet is placed.
Does betting strategy change your odds?
No. Systems like Martingale, Fibonacci, and D'Alembert change how much you bet after a win or loss, but they can't change the odds of any individual spin or the house edge baked into the wheel. Each spin is independent of the last, so no sequencing of bet sizes turns a negative-expectation game into a positive one (bettingkingdom.co.uk, mathematics of roulette systems, retrieved 2026-07-24). The full breakdown, including why these systems still feel convincing, is in systems myth.
How much does the wheel choice cost you?
European wheels carry a 2.70% house edge; American wheels carry 5.26%, almost double, purely because of the extra 00 pocket (Wizard of Odds, retrieved 2026-07-24). If a casino offers both, the European wheel is the better seat every time, with identical payouts and a lower long-run cost.
Wheel | Pockets | Green pockets | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
European | 37 | 1 (0) | 2.70% |
American | 38 | 2 (0, 00) | 5.26% |
See house edge by wheel for the full comparison, including rarer triple-zero wheels and rules like la partage that cut the edge further.
What does the payout table look like at a glance?
Every standard bet has its own fixed payout, but on a given wheel they all share the same house edge. Here's the quick reference; the full payout table covers true odds for both wheel types in detail.
Bet | Numbers covered | Payout |
|---|---|---|
Straight up | 1 | 35:1 |
Split | 2 | 17:1 |
Street | 3 | 11:1 |
Corner | 4 | 8:1 |
Six line | 6 | 5:1 |
Dozen or column | 12 | 2:1 |
Red/black, odd/even, high/low | 18 | 1:1 |
Payout figures confirmed via Wizard of Odds and Vegas Aces, Roulette Payouts Explained (both retrieved 2026-07-24).
Getting started at the table
Buy in with cash or chips at the table, not at the cashier; roulette chips are usually unique to that table and get cashed out there too. Place bets before the dealer calls "no more bets," and don't touch the layout once the ball is rolling. Winning bets get paid where they sit, so wait for the dealer to clear the table before you reach in.
Set a budget before you sit down, and treat every session as entertainment you're paying a known price for. If a session stops feeling fun, Wild.io's responsible gambling tools let you set deposit limits, session timers, and self-exclusion options before you play again. You can browse roulette games at Wild.io once you're ready to put the rules to use.
Ready to see the numbers? Our roulette payout calculator shows the exact payout, odds, and expected loss for every bet.
Frequently asked questions
What is the house edge in roulette?
It depends on the wheel. European (single-zero) roulette carries a 2.70% house edge, while American (double-zero) roulette carries 5.26% (Wizard of Odds, retrieved 2026-07-24). Every bet on a given wheel shares that same edge.
What's the difference between inside and outside bets?
Inside bets cover specific numbers or small groups (straight, split, street, corner, six line) and pay higher odds for lower win probability. Outside bets cover broad groups like red/black or dozens, paying lower odds for a higher chance of winning. Both carry the same house edge on a given wheel.
Can a betting system beat roulette?
No. Systems like Martingale change your bet size, not the odds of any spin. Because spins are independent events, no sequencing of bets changes the wheel's built-in house edge (bettingkingdom.co.uk, retrieved 2026-07-24).
Why are there two green pockets on some wheels?
American wheels add a 00 pocket alongside the single 0. Both greens belong to neither red nor black, neither odd nor even, which is what creates the house's edge on every bet on the table.
Is roulette a game of skill?
No. The outcome is decided entirely by physics and chance once the ball is released. Your only real decisions are which bets to place and how much to wager, not how the wheel will land.
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About the author
Trust & Responsible Play Writer
Marcus focuses on judging casinos before you deposit — licensing checks, red flags, scam patterns — and the bankroll habits and limit tools that keep play under control.