How to play roulette

Roulette is the purest maths in the casino. There is no strategy that changes the odds, no decision after the ball is released, and the house edge comes straight from counting pockets. That makes it easy to understand exactly what each bet costs, and easy to see through systems that promise otherwise. This guide covers the wheels, every standard bet with its payout and odds, and the numbers behind the most popular betting system. Play roulette on our table games page.

The three wheels

Where it comes from: every bet pays as if there were 36 pockets. On a European wheel there are 37, so for each C$1 bet the expected return is 36/37 = C$0.973, an edge of 1/37 = 2.70%. On an American wheel it is 36/38 = C$0.947, an edge of 2/38 = 5.26%. Some casinos now run triple-zero wheels: 39 pockets, an edge of 3/39 = 7.69%.

La partage and en prison. On French tables, when zero hits, even-money bets either return half the stake (la partage) or are held for the next spin (en prison). That halves the edge on those bets to 1/74 = 1.35%.

Inside and outside bets

The layout splits into two zones:

• Inside bets sit on the numbers themselves: a single number, a pair, a row of three, a block of four or two rows of six. They pay more and hit less often.
• Outside bets sit around the edge: red or black, odd or even, 1-18 or 19-36, dozens and columns. They hit more often and pay less.

Zero is green and belongs to none of the outside groups. That is the whole source of the house edge: when the ball lands on zero, every outside bet loses (or, on French tables with la partage, loses half).

Every bet, European wheel

Check on the split: 2/37 = 5.41%; a win returns 18 (17 plus the stake), so 18 x 2/37 = 36/37 = 0.973. Every row gives the same answer. On a European wheel the bet you choose changes how often you win and how much, not the price.

The worst standard bet in roulette is the American five-number bet (0, 00, 1, 2, 3), which pays 6 to 1 on 5 of 38 pockets: 7 x 5/38 = 0.921, an edge of 7.89%. Skip it.

What a session costs

The cost of roulette is the edge times what you wager.

Choosing the wheel is the only decision that changes the price. If a casino offers both, pick European or French.

The doubling system (Martingale)

The best-known roulette system says: bet on red, double after every loss, return to the base stake after a win. Each "cycle" ends with a win of one base stake. The catch is the rare long losing run.

On a European wheel an even-money bet loses 19 times in 37 (18 losing colours plus zero). The chance of seven losses in a row is (19/37)^7 = 0.94%, about once in 106 cycles. Over 100 cycles, the chance of hitting at least one such run is roughly 61%. So the system typically wins C$5 a cycle for dozens of cycles, then loses C$635 in one run, and table maximums often stop the doubling before that point anyway. The expected result is the same 2.70% of everything wagered; the system only changes the shape of the losses. No betting system changes the house edge in roulette.

The same goes for watching for "hot" or "due" numbers. Each spin is independent of the last; a wheel has no memory.

Live and digital roulette

Live roulette uses a physical wheel on camera; digital roulette uses a random number generator. The maths is identical. Provincially, PlayNow Manitoba lists roulette and live dealer roulette. Game-show variants with random multipliers change the payouts on straight-up bets, so check the RTP in the game's help screen. The live casino guide covers how studios run.

Roulette and bonuses

Even-money bets on roulette are also commonly listed as "irregular play" while a bonus is active, which can void the bonus. Play roulette with cash. The game weighting guide and the wagering calculator show the cost of trying otherwise.

Play it for what it is

Roulette is a fixed-price game: 2.70% on a European wheel, whatever you bet on. Set a budget and a time limit, choose the single-zero wheel, and leave the systems alone. The Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines suggest no more than 1% of household income a month on gambling; our responsible gambling page lists free help in your province. For the other classic table games, see the blackjack guide and the baccarat guide.