Roulette payouts run from 1 to 1 on the even-money outside bets up to 35 to 1 on a single number. On a European single-zero wheel every one of those bets carries the same 2.70% house edge, which is the most useful fact about the game.
That uniformity surprises people. It means the choice between a straight-up number and red-or-black is a choice about volatility, not about value. You are picking how wild you want the ride, not how much the game costs you.
What are the roulette payouts for every bet?
The table covers a European wheel: 37 pockets, numbers 1 to 36 plus a single zero.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Payout | Win chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35 to 1 | 2.70% |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | 5.41% |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | 8.11% |
| Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 | 10.81% |
| Line | 6 | 5 to 1 | 16.22% |
| Column | 12 | 2 to 1 | 32.43% |
| Dozen | 12 | 2 to 1 | 32.43% |
| Red or black | 18 | 1 to 1 | 48.65% |
| Odd or even | 18 | 1 to 1 | 48.65% |
| High or low | 18 | 1 to 1 | 48.65% |
Notice that no even-money bet wins half the time. Red covers 18 of 37 pockets, not 18 of 36. That single green zero is the entire house edge.
Why do all European roulette payouts have the same house edge?
Because every payout is calculated against 36 rather than 37. The wheel has 37 pockets; the payouts behave as though it had 36.
A straight-up bet should pay 36 to 1 to be fair. It pays 35. A dozen should pay 2.083 to 1. It pays 2. Work through any row in the table and the shortfall is proportionally identical, which is why they all land on 1 ÷ 37 = 2.70%.
One exception: the five-number bet on an American wheel — 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 — pays 6 to 1 and carries a 7.89% edge, worse than every other American bet. It does not exist on a European wheel.
How much worse are American roulette payouts?
Exactly twice as bad. The payouts are the same numbers, but the wheel has 38 pockets because of the double zero, so the edge doubles to 5.26%.
This is the cheapest improvement available anywhere in a casino. Same game, same bets, same payouts printed on the felt — and half the long-run cost simply by choosing the wheel with one zero. If both are offered, there is no argument for the double-zero table.
In hourly terms, a player staking ₱6,000 an hour pays about ₱162 on a European wheel and about ₱316 on an American one. The framework behind that calculation is in house edge explained.
What about French roulette and the half-back rules?
French roulette uses the same single-zero wheel but adds a rule that softens even-money bets when zero lands. Two versions exist.
La partage returns half your even-money stake when the ball lands on zero. En prison holds the stake for one more spin instead, returning it in full if the next spin wins.
Either rule cuts the house edge on even-money bets from 2.70% to about 1.35% — putting roulette in the same territory as baccarat's banker bet. It applies only to red/black, odd/even and high/low. Inside bets stay at 2.70%.
If the edge is identical, how should you choose between roulette payouts?
By how you want the session to feel. The maths is settled; what varies is the distribution.
- Even-money bets — win nearly half the time, small swings, long sessions from a modest bankroll
- Dozens and columns — win about a third of the time at 2 to 1, a middle setting
- Corners and streets — occasional meaningful hits, noticeably choppier
- Straight up — long droughts, then 35 units at once
Covering more numbers does not reduce the edge. Placing chips on twenty different numbers still costs 2.70% of everything staked, and staking more per spin raises the absolute cost even as it feels safer.
Do betting systems change roulette payouts?
They change nothing about the payouts or the edge. Doubling after a loss, waiting for a colour to repeat, or following a hot number all reshape the distribution of results without touching the underlying arithmetic.
The wheel has no memory. Six reds in a row leaves the seventh spin at 48.65% for red, unchanged. This is the gambler's fallacy, which we take apart in whether slots are due to hit — the reasoning transfers to any independent-outcome game.
What a progression does do is concentrate risk. A Martingale converts many small wins into one eventual very large loss, and table maximums guarantee the sequence gets cut off before it can recover.
What are the called bets you see on the racetrack?
Many live tables show an oval racetrack alongside the main layout. It lets you place bets on sections of the wheel rather than the grid, using names that come from the French game.
- Voisins du zéro — the seventeen numbers around zero, placed as nine chips
- Tiers du cylindre — the twelve numbers opposite zero, six chips
- Orphelins — the eight numbers left over, five chips
- Jeu zéro — the seven numbers closest to zero, four chips
These are shortcuts for placing several splits and straight-ups at once, not distinct bet types. The roulette payouts are whatever the underlying splits and straights pay, and the house edge is the same 2.70%. The racetrack saves you clicks; it does not change the odds.
Where do you check that the wheel is fair?
Live wheels and RNG roulette are both tested by independent laboratories before deployment, then monitored. Gaming Laboratories International publishes the standards used for wheel bias and RNG certification.
For a player the practical check is the operator's licence. In the Philippines that means PAGCOR, and verifying it takes a minute — see how to check if an online casino is PAGCOR-licensed. Certified games make published roulette payouts a commitment rather than a claim.