Roulette Odds
Online Roulette Guide
Discover the odds of the different roulette bets
Bet probabilities, house edge, pay-outs
All roulette players need to know the roulette odds that they face before making a real money bet. This is why we always advise practising on some free roulette games first to make sure you have got the hang of the different betting options and have understood the payouts.
This is especially true if you are playing at a bricks and mortar casino. Have a test run online before you hit the real tables!
Roulette Odds- Individual Bets
Let’s take a look at the odds of some indidual bets.
On a mobile? The table below is best viewed in landscape- turn your phone or tablet sideways.
| BET | PAYOUT | ODDS (European) | ODDS (American) | House Edge (European) | House Edge (American) |
| Even Money (French)* | 1:1 | 48.7% | 1.3% | n/a | |
| Even Money Bet | 1:1 | 48.7% | 47.4% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
| Columns | 2:1 | 32.4% | 31.6% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
| Dozens | 2:1 | 32.4% | 31.6% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
| 6 Line Bet | 5:1 | 16.2% | 15.8% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
| 5 Number Bet | 6:1 | n/a | 13.2% | n/a | 7.89% |
| Corner Bet | 8:1 | 10.8% | 10.5% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
| Street Bet | 11:1 | 8.1% | 7.9% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
| Split Bet | 17:1 | 5.4% | 5.3% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
| Single Number | 35:1 | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 5.3% |
* Casinos with French Roulette that play La Partage Rule or En Prison rules.
Roulette Odds: The Basics
As a starting point, you need to understand that different variants of roulette will have different odds. And different bets will also have different odds (one of the reasons why, when we are thinking about European Roulette versus European Roulette, we always advise you to play the latter where possible).
This is because American Roulette has a wheel with an additional, ‘double zero’ pocket, which reduces your chances of winning and raises the house edge from 2.6% to 5.2%. If you are able to play on a European wheel (with a single zero pocket and a house edge of 2.7%), you should.
Casinos with French Roulette that offer ‘La Partage’ Rule or ‘En Prison’ have an even lower house edge of 1.3% on the even money bets as you get half of your bet back if the ball lands on zero, (or the bet rides for another spin in the “En Prison” rule.
Terminology
Let’s take a look at some of the terminology here, as this often gets confused. When we talk about Roulette Odds, we can mean the odds of you winning a particular bet. The roulette odds of you winning a single number bet are much lower than the odds of winning a bet on the red, as you are covering much less of the table. That much is obvious.
We can also talk about your overall roulette odds- more commonly referred to as the payout. This will depend on the house edge. The lower the house edge, the higher your overall odds and vice versa. On a European Roulette wheel the house edge is 2.6% and the payout is 97.4%. In American Roulette, the house edge is double and the payout is reduced to 94.8%.
Plan Your Bets
Regardless of which table you choose to play at, make sure that you match your betting strategy to your bankroll. If you want to place risky low probability (but high payout) bets like single number bets, you’ll need to have deep enough pockets to ride out the lean times. Playing these bets is like playing a higher volatility slot machine. You’ll get less wins, but they’ll be bigger wins.
If you have a smaller bankroll, you’ll need to smooth things out a bit by at least weighting your bets to the higher probability bets like the columns bets and even money bets. After a longer time at the table, the volatility should smooth out anyway- all of these bets have the same overall Return to Player (or house edge) except for the five number bet in American Roulette which you should avoid. Here’s why.
And Finally….
So there are ways of improving your roulette odds through the variant that you choose to play, the bet selection (or should we say the bet avoidance in the case of the 5 number bet). Remember, the lower the house edge, the better so try and minimise it!
FAQs
Questions
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Can you change the roulette odds that you get at the table?
You cannot change the overall odds that you get on a table (on average, over a period of time) which is a function of the design of the wheel. You can, however, maximise your chances by playing on a wheel with a lower house edge (eg European vs American). On individual bets, you can improve your odds of winning by covering more of the table (eg with an Even Money bet). The flipside is that the payout is lower on less risky bets.