Roulette · Free tool
How to Play Roulette: Rules, Every Bet and a Free Roulette Simulator
Quick answer
To play roulette, place chips on numbers or groups of numbers, then the dealer spins the wheel and a ball lands in one pocket. A single number pays 35 to 1; red or black, odd or even and high or low pay 1 to 1; dozens and columns pay 2 to 1. Every bet has the same house edge: 2.70% on a single-zero European wheel and 5.26% on a double-zero American wheel.
| European wheel | 37 pockets (0, 1–36): 2.70% house edge |
|---|---|
| American wheel | 38 pockets (0, 00, 1–36): 5.26% house edge |
| Straight up (one number) | Pays 35 to 1, wins 2.70% of spins (European) |
| Red/black, odd/even, 1–18/19–36 | Pay 1 to 1, win 48.65% of spins (European) |
| Dozens and columns | Pay 2 to 1, win 32.43% of spins (European) |
| Ahead after 1,000 spins on red | 18.7% of players (European) in our simulation |
Roulette is the easiest casino game to learn: you bet on where a ball will land, the wheel spins, and the table pays by fixed odds. This guide explains how to play roulette, from the wheel and the table layout to every bet and what it pays. Then you can try it on our free roulette table, or run 10,000 sessions with the simulator to see how your bets would really go.
Free roulette table
Tap the table to place chips, then Spin.
Roulette simulator
Put a bet layout on the table, then run it. The simulator repeats that layout every spin for 10,000 sessions and shows how many finish ahead.
The roulette wheel
A European wheel has 37 pockets: the numbers 1 to 36, alternately red and black, plus a green 0. An American wheel adds a second green pocket, 00, for 38 in total. The extra zero is the only difference that matters, and it nearly doubles the house edge.
Payouts are set as if the zeros weren't there. A single number pays 35 to 1, which would be fair on a 36-pocket wheel. With 37 or 38 pockets, the house keeps the difference:
House edge = zeros ÷ pocketsEuropean: 1 ÷ 37 = 2.70%. American: 2 ÷ 38 = 5.26%. Triple-zero wheels: 3 ÷ 39 = 7.69%.
How to play roulette, step by step
- Get chips. At a real table, each player gets chips of their own colour so bets don't get mixed up.
- Place your bets on the layout while the dealer allows it.
- The dealer spins the wheel one way and the ball the other, then calls "no more bets".
- The ball lands in a pocket. The dealer puts a marker (the dolly) on the winning number.
- Losing bets are cleared and winners paid. Leave winning chips on the layout or take them back before the next spin.
Every roulette bet, with payouts and odds
Inside bets go on the numbered grid and pay more. Outside bets go around the edge and win more often.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Pays | Wins (European) | Wins (American) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35 to 1 | 2.70% | 2.63% |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | 5.41% | 5.26% |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | 8.11% | 7.89% |
| Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 | 10.81% | 10.53% |
| Six line | 6 | 5 to 1 | 16.22% | 15.79% |
| Dozen / column | 12 | 2 to 1 | 32.43% | 31.58% |
| Red/black, odd/even, high/low | 18 | 1 to 1 | 48.65% | 47.37% |
On an American wheel there's also the five-number bet (0, 00, 1, 2, 3), which pays 6 to 1. It's the only bet with a different edge: 7.89%, the worst on the table.
How the inside bets are placed:
- Straight up: a chip in the middle of one number.
- Split: on the line between two neighbouring numbers.
- Street: at the end of a row of three.
- Corner: where four numbers meet.
- Six line: at the end of two rows, on the line between them.
Our table above covers straight-up numbers and all outside bets, which is enough to try every payout level.
What the zero does to your bets
When the ball lands on 0 (or 00), every outside bet loses. Some tables soften this:
- La partage: you get half of an even-money bet back. That cuts those bets' edge to 1.35%.
- En prison: the even-money bet stays "in prison" for one more spin; if it wins, you get it back.
Both rules are common on French-style tables and some online games. They're worth looking for if you like red/black bets.
What roulette looks like over many spins
Roulette's edge is small per spin but adds up. Our simulation followed 100,000 players betting 1 unit on red for 1,000 spins on each type of wheel:
| Wheel | House edge | Expected loss over 1,000 units bet | Median result | Players ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| European (single zero) | 2.70% | 27.0 | -28 | 18.7% |
| American (double zero) | 5.26% | 52.6 | -52 | 4.3% |
| Triple zero | 7.69% | 76.9 | -76 | 0.7% |
On a European wheel, about one player in five is still ahead after 1,000 spins. On an American wheel it's fewer than one in twenty. The simulator in our free table lets you test shorter sessions and other layouts.
Roulette tips that actually help
- Choose European over American whenever you can. It halves the house edge.
- Look for la partage if you bet red/black, odd/even or high/low.
- Pick bets for the ride you want, not for better odds. Outside bets give steady small swings; straight-up numbers give long losing runs and rare big wins. The edge is the same.
- Set a stop-loss. Our stop-loss guide shows what different limits do.
- Skip systems. Our roulette strategy test ran Martingale, D'Alembert and Fibonacci against flat betting over 200,000 sessions and found none that beat the edge.
Common beginner mistakes
- Thinking a number is "due". The wheel has no memory, so red is no more likely after five blacks.
- Playing American roulette when a European table is available.
- Raising bets to win back losses. It makes big losses more likely without changing the odds.
- Forgetting that outside bets lose on zero.
More roulette guides and free games
- American roulette wheel: layout and every bet
- Free roulette games online: what demo play can teach you
- Free blackjack and free craps
Back to the roulette guides hub.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play roulette for beginners?
Buy chips, put them on the table layout to bet on where the ball will land, and wait for the dealer to spin. When the ball settles, the dealer marks the winning number, collects losing bets and pays winners. Start with outside bets like red or black: they win almost half the time and pay 1 to 1.
What is the best bet in roulette?
On a standard wheel, every bet has the same house edge, so no bet is better in the long run. The best choice is the wheel: European single-zero roulette at 2.70% instead of American at 5.26%. French roulette with la partage, which returns half of even-money bets when zero hits, cuts those bets to 1.35%.
How much does a single number pay in roulette?
35 to 1. A 1-chip bet that wins returns 36 chips: your chip plus 35. On a European wheel the number comes up once in 37 spins on average, which is where the 2.70% house edge comes from.
What happens to outside bets when the ball lands on 0?
They lose, unless the table uses la partage or en prison (common in French roulette). With la partage you get half your even-money bet back; with en prison the bet is held for the next spin.
Can you win at roulette with a strategy?
Not in the long run. Spins are independent, and every bet loses the same percentage on average. Systems like Martingale change how often you win and how much you can lose at once, but our test of Martingale, D'Alembert and Fibonacci against flat betting, over 200,000 sessions in total, found none that beat the house edge.
Is a free roulette simulator the same as real roulette?
The odds are the same if the simulator uses the same wheel and payouts, as ours does. What differs is the money. Simulators are useful for seeing how wide the swings are before you play for real.
Sources
- Roulette Basics — Wizard of Odds. House edge: double-zero 5.26%, five-number bet 7.89%; single-zero 2.70%; triple-zero 7.69%; la partage about 1.35% on even-money bets