Roulette odds and payouts for every bet come down to one figure per wheel: the house edge is 2.70% on a single-zero wheel and 5.26% on a double-zero wheel. That edge is the same for every standard bet on the layout.
| Bet | Pays | Numbers | Chance, single zero | Chance, double zero | House edge, single zero | House edge, double zero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 35 to 1 | 1 | 2.70% | 2.63% | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Split | 17 to 1 | 2 | 5.41% | 5.26% | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Street | 11 to 1 | 3 | 8.11% | 7.89% | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Corner | 8 to 1 | 4 | 10.81% | 10.53% | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Six line | 5 to 1 | 6 | 16.22% | 15.79% | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Dozen or column | 2 to 1 | 12 | 32.43% | 31.58% | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Red/black, odd/even, 1-18/19-36 | 1 to 1 | 18 | 48.65% | 47.37% | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Five-number (0, 00, 1, 2, 3) | 6 to 1 | 5 | not offered | 13.16% | not offered | 7.89% |
How the house edge is built into roulette payouts
The casino pays every bet as if the zeros were not on the wheel. A straight bet on one number pays 35 to 1. With 37 pockets the fair price would be 36 to 1, and with 38 pockets it would be 37 to 1. The pockets the payout ignores are the casino’s margin.
The house edge is one minus (the chance of winning x the full return on a win, stake included), as a share of the stake. Each chance is counted exactly: the numbers a bet covers divided by the pockets on the wheel. That method gives an edge of 1/37 on the single-zero wheel and 2/38 on the double-zero wheel. A split, a dozen and a bet on red all have the same edge as a straight bet, because every standard payout is set the same way against the numbered pockets.
In money, the edge is an expected loss of $2.70 per $100 bet on a single-zero wheel and $5.26 per $100 on a double-zero wheel. The expected result of playing is a loss, on every bet, each time it is placed. No pattern of bets changes that. The edge belongs to each bet, and a sum of bets that each lose on average also loses on average. A player who stakes $100 a spin on a double-zero wheel should expect to lose $5.26 a spin, whatever the order of the bets.
| Bet | True odds against, single zero | True odds against, double zero | Casino pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 36 to 1 | 37 to 1 | 35 to 1 |
| Split | 35 to 2 | 18 to 1 | 17 to 1 |
| Street | 34 to 3 | 35 to 3 | 11 to 1 |
| Corner | 33 to 4 | 17 to 2 | 8 to 1 |
| Six line | 31 to 6 | 16 to 3 | 5 to 1 |
| Dozen or column | 25 to 12 | 13 to 6 | 2 to 1 |
| Red/black, odd/even, 1-18/19-36 | 19 to 18 | 10 to 9 | 1 to 1 |
The two exceptions
The five-number bet covers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 on the double-zero wheel and pays 6 to 1. It wins 5 times in 38, and a win returns 7 units, stake included. The expected return is 0.9211 per unit staked. That leaves an edge of 7.89%, or 3/38, the worst bet on that wheel, against 5.26% for every other bet there.
The second exception runs the other way and applies only to even-money bets: red or black, odd or even, 1-18 or 19-36. Under the half-back rule on a single-zero wheel, a zero returns half the even-money stake, and the edge falls to 1.35%, a fraction of 1/74. The double-zero version, called surrender, returns half the stake on 0 or 00 and brings the edge to 2.63%, or 1/38. A table that uses either rule posts it. Without the rule, a red bet carries 2.70% or 5.26%, like every other standard bet.
How far results stray from the house edge
The test is $1 on red, every spin. The exact chance of being ahead after 100 spins is 35.5% on a single-zero wheel and 26.5% on a double-zero wheel. After 1,000 spins it falls to 18.8% and 4.5%.
A computer also played the double-zero wheel: 10,000 sessions of 100 spins, 10,000 sessions of 1,000 spins and 100 sessions of 100,000 spins. After 100 spins, the top of the middle 90% of sessions was +$12, and the best session finished $32 up. At that length the 5.26% edge is buried in noise.
After 1,000 spins, the top of the middle 90% was $0, and 4.5% of sessions were ahead, the same share as the exact count. After 100,000 spins, results still spread: the middle 90% ran from -$5,616 to -$4,754. Every one of the 100 sessions finished behind. The average result was -5.22% per spin, close to the 5.26% edge.
| Spins at $1 on red | Chance of being ahead, single zero | Chance of being ahead, double zero | Expected result, double zero | Middle 90% of simulated sessions, double zero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 35.5% | 26.5% | -$5.26 | -$22 to $12 |
| 1,000 | 18.8% | 4.5% | -$52.63 | -$104 to $0 |
| 100,000 | below 0.1% | below 0.1% | -$5,263.16 | -$5,616 to -$4,754 |
Counted exactly, after 100,000 spins the chance of being ahead is below 1 in 1,000,000,000 on either wheel.
Playing within limits
The 2.70% and 5.26% figures are a cost per bet, and they do not shrink with more time at the table. Set a budget before play and a time limit, and stop at whichever comes first. Our responsible gambling guide covers time limits, deposit and loss limits and self-exclusion.
Treat the edge as the price of the game. Every $100 staked has an expected loss of $2.70 on a single-zero wheel and $5.26 on a double-zero wheel.
*Odds and house edges computed by Scores and Stats from the wheel layouts (37 and 38 pockets) and the standard payout table; exact binomial chances and a simulation of $1 red bets, November 2026.*