Roulette is the casino’s most recognisable game — a spinning wheel, a bouncing ball and a board full of numbers — and it’s one of the easiest to learn. To play roulette you place chips on the numbers or colours you think the ball will land on, the dealer spins the wheel, and you’re paid according to the odds of the bet you made. That simplicity is why it’s so many players’ starting point. This guide covers the rules, every bet type and its payout, the all-important difference between European and American wheels, and an honest look at the betting systems people swear by.
A quick history of roulette
Roulette is French for “little wheel,” and it was born in 17th-century France — reportedly a happy accident by the mathematician Blaise Pascal, who was actually trying to build a perpetual-motion machine. Early wheels carried both a single and a double zero. In 1842, Louis and François Blanc introduced a single-zero wheel, which became known as European roulette, while American casinos kept the double zero. That one design choice still shapes the odds today.
How roulette works: the basic rules
A roulette wheel has 37 pockets on a European wheel (numbers 1–36 in red and black, plus a single green zero) or 38 on an American wheel (with an extra green double zero). A round goes like this:
- Players place chips on the betting layout while the wheel is open.
- The dealer calls “no more bets” and spins the wheel, sending the ball the opposite way.
- The ball settles into a numbered pocket — that’s the winning number.
- The dealer marks the winner, clears the losing bets, and pays the winners.
A couple of etiquette rules: only the dealer handles the chips and the winning marker, and every bet must sit within the table’s minimum and maximum limits.
Roulette bet types and payouts
Your payout depends entirely on how likely your bet is. Bets split into inside bets (on specific numbers, higher payouts) and outside bets (on big groups, lower payouts but a better chance of hitting). Here are the standard payouts on a single-zero wheel:
| Bet | What it covers | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 number | 35:1 |
| Split | 2 adjacent numbers | 17:1 |
| Street | 3 numbers in a row | 11:1 |
| Corner | 4 numbers | 8:1 |
| Six line | 6 numbers | 5:1 |
| Column / Dozen | 12 numbers | 2:1 |
| Red/Black, Odd/Even, 1–18/19–36 | 18 numbers | 1:1 |
Even-money outside bets (red/black, odd/even, high/low) give you close to a coin flip and are where most beginners start. The full payout maths is laid out in Wizard of Odds’ roulette analysis.
European vs American roulette: why the wheel matters
This is the single most important choice you’ll make, and it has nothing to do with luck. The European wheel’s one zero gives the house a 2.70% edge. The American wheel’s extra double zero nearly doubles it to 5.26% — for the exact same bets and payouts. Always choose a single-zero (European or French) table when you can. French tables go further with rules like La Partage, which returns half your even-money bet when the ball lands on zero, cutting that edge to roughly 1.35%. For how roulette compares with everything else on the floor, see our guide to casino games with the best and worst odds, and our breakdown of the American roulette wheel for the variation in detail.
Roulette betting systems — and their limits
You’ll see endless “systems” promising to beat roulette. They’re worth understanding, but be clear on what they actually do: no betting system changes the house edge. They only reshape how your wins and losses are distributed.
- Martingale — double your stake after every loss so one win recovers everything. It feels logical, but you’re risking a lot to win a little, and a short losing streak hits the table limit (or empties your bankroll) fast.
- Fibonacci — raise stakes along the 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8… sequence after losses. Gentler than Martingale, but the same flaw remains: the maths still favours the house.
- D’Alembert — increase your stake by one unit after a loss and drop one after a win. Slower and safer-feeling, but it doesn’t create an edge either.
As Wizard of Odds explains about betting systems, every one of them eventually meets the same wall: the house edge is built into the wheel. Use a system for structure if you enjoy it — never as a guarantee.
Beginner tips
A few habits make roulette more fun and your money go further:
- Play the European wheel — it’s the easiest way to halve the house edge.
- Start with outside bets — even-money bets win often and teach you the flow of the game.
- Decide your budget before you sit down and pick a table whose minimums fit it.
- Set a point to walk away, on a win or a loss, and hold to it.
Once roulette clicks, our guide to the best odds at the casino shows which games are worth trying next.
Conclusion
Roulette is simple to learn and genuinely fun, and a little knowledge goes a long way: understand the bets and their payouts, always pick the single-zero wheel, and treat betting systems as structure rather than a shortcut. Do that and you’ll be playing roulette the smart way — with your eyes open and the odds as good as the game allows.
