How to Play Roulette: A Guide to Rules and Odds

Learning how to play roulette means reading the wheel, the layout, and the chip limits before a single spin. You choose a bet size, pick inside or outside spots, then watch the ball land on one pocket.

But several different factors—house edge, posted payouts, and table rules—decide how much each wager costs over time. Knowing which wheels push that edge above 5% and which keep it closer to 2–3% will help your long-term strategy.

How to Play Roulette: Step-by-Step

Roulette runs on a simple cycle. Players buy chips, place bets within table limits, the dealer spins the wheel, and then winning spots get paid. 

Low-limit tables often use $1–$5 minimums, so a starting stack of 20–50 betting units suits shorter sessions. The steps are as follows:

1. Join the table and confirm posted limits match your bankroll. A typical low-limit American wheel might show $5 minimum inside, $10 minimum outside, and $500 maximum per layout.
2. Place cash or chips on the layout; the dealer converts them into color-coded roulette chips tied to your seat number and records the total.
3. When the dealer announces “place your bets,” stack chips on inside numbers or outside sections within the posted minimums and maximums.
4. Watch the spin; betting stays open until the dealer waves a hand over the layout and calls “no more bets,” which locks the action for that round.
5. After the ball lands, the dealer places a marker on the winning pocket, clears losing chips, and then pays winners in order from highest-odds bets (such as straight-ups) down to even-money wagers.
6. Once payouts finish, the dealer removes the marker, and players can either press the same positions, rebalance coverage for the next spin, or color out and leave.

Roulette Rules and Basic Table Structure

Live roulette tables show printed minimums and maximums for inside and outside wagers, while online casino layouts display the same limits in on-screen menus, so one setup might allow $5 inside bets but ask for $10 or more on outside sections.

Players place chips, the dealer spins, then calls “no more bets” before the ball drops. Winning spots get paid, losing chips come off the felt, and the next round opens.

• Inside area: Numbered grid from 1 to 36 plus zero pockets, used for straight, split, street, corner, and line bets.
• Outside area: Dozens, columns, red/black, odd/even, and high/low boxes that cover larger sets of numbers.
• Digital and stadium panels: On-screen racetracks or shortcut buttons for neighbors, call-style bets, and quick repeats.

How Many Numbers Are in Roulette Tables?

A single-zero wheel has 37 pockets, numbered 0 and 1–36. A standard American wheel adds 00 for 38, and triple-zero layouts add 000 for 39 total slots. 

Each extra green pocket shifts more outcomes to the house while payouts stay the same, so long-run cost rises even though the felt looks unchanged, and triple-zero roulette sits among the highest house edges for mainstream casino table games.

European single-zero games sit near a 2.70% house edge, classic American double-zero tables near 5.26%, and triple-zero versions around 7.69%. In practical terms, $100 in even-money bets on a single-zero wheel carries an expected loss of around $2.70, the same stake on a double-zero wheel loses about $5.26, and triple-zero pushes that loss close to $7.70 over the long run.

On a double-zero wheel, an even-money wager such as red has 18 winning pockets and 20 losing pockets, so the win probability is 18/38. The expected return on a $10 bet is 18/38 × $10 – 20/38 × $10 ≈ –$0.53 per spin, which is a 5.26% edge to the house. Remove one green pocket on a single-zero wheel, and the same bet drops to a 2.70% edge.

Inside Bets: Roulette Payouts on Straight, Split, and More

Inside wagers sit on the numbered grid and chase higher returns at a lower hit rate. Players stack chips directly on numbers or lines between them, trading frequent wins for bigger jumps in chip count when a pocket lands. Understanding roulette payouts on these bets helps set expectations before the ball starts spinning.

• Straight-up bet (35:1): One number only. On an American wheel, a straight wins on 1 out of 38 pockets, or roughly 2.63% of spins.
• Split bet (17:1): Chip straddles two neighboring numbers. The chance rises to 2 out of 38, around 5.26% per spin.
• Street bet (11:1): One chip covering a row of three numbers. That equals 3 winning pockets out of 38, near 7.89%.
• Corner bet (8:1): Chip in the cross between four numbers. American layouts give 4 winning pockets out of 38, near 10.53%.
• Six-line bet (5:1): Two adjacent streets for six numbers total. That covers 6 out of 38 pockets on an American wheel, roughly 15.79%, with a lower payout than tighter inside bets. Most standard single-zero and double-zero games use the same 5:1 return here.

Outside Bets

Outside bets cover larger groups of numbers and usually move in smaller steps, which suits longer, calmer sessions. 

Red/black, odd/even, and high/low boxes sit near the edge of the layout, while dozens and columns stretch across the grid for medium-range coverage, yet on a given wheel, every standard outside option carries the same house edge, even though hit rates differ.

Even-money bets, such as red or black on an American wheel hit on 18 pockets out of 38, roughly 47.37% of spins, yet still lose to 0 and 00. Dozens and columns pay 2:1 and cover 12 numbers each, so 12 out of 38 pockets, around 31.58%. Practical habits help keep these wagers in line with a session budget:

• Use a base chip size that lets a bankroll survive at least 40–60 spins.
• Mix even-money bets with occasional inside wagers only when the extra risk fits session limits.
• Pause or walk away after a preset loss cap or time window instead of chasing a particular result.

Comparison: Different Roulette Wheel Formats and House Edge

House edge in roulette shifts with wheel design and local casino roulette rules. A single-zero European layout uses 37 pockets and normally sits near a 2.70% edge on most standard bets. American double-zero wheels add the 00 pocket and raise the edge to roughly 5.26%. 

Some properties now offer triple-zero formats, where the extra pocket pushes long-run cost higher again, and those wheels often appear on lower-limit pits while single-zero tables sit in high-paying casinos.

Different variants and venues present noticeably different long-term percentages. The table below groups common wheel formats and a representative single-zero live game so readers can see how one extra green pocket or an even-money rule changes the underlying edge.

*House edge can vary according to operator and specific table rules. Figures in the table combine published house edge ranges from Cherokee Casino in Oklahoma (last updated July 2025) with standard math for single-zero, double-zero, triple-zero, and partage layouts used in regulated casinos and live studios.

How Does Roulette Work Online?

In a live casino, the dealer spins a physical wheel one way and a ball the other, then reads the winning pocket. In online roulette tables, the ball is replaced by a random number generator that selects one pocket per spin from the wheel’s layout.

Regulated US platforms must expose rules and RTP for each roulette title inside help or paytable panels, and independent labs such as GLI and eCOGRA certify that the RNG and long-run returns match those figures before state regulators approve a game for use in live lobbies.

Single-zero RNG tables often post RTP around 97.3%, while triple-zero formats sit closer to 92–94%, so $5 spins on triple-zero bleed about twice as much EV as single-zero.

Live studios stream single-zero wheels into regulated states and pair standard 2.70% house edge with real dealers and on-screen chip controls. Higher-return options combine a single-zero wheel with rules that soften the edge on even-money bets, such as partage or surrender on zero. 

Mega Roulette 3000, a 2025 Pragmatic Play single-zero release, lists a 97.50% maximum RTP (2.50% house edge) in its product sheet, so it sits closer to French-style returns than to a standard American double-zero wheel.

Lobby tiles that flag “single zero” with RTP near 97–98%, or “triple zero” with RTP in the low 90s, flag which wheels sit closer to 2.70% or to ~7% house edge.

Playing Roulette Responsibly

A structured session plan, such as 40–60 spins at a fixed chip size, lets players translate the posted house edge and the earlier –$0.53 per $10-spin example into an expected loss band before they sit down.

Using the earlier example, a $5 even-money stake on 40 spins at an American table exposes about $200 to a 5.26% edge, so the long-run loss expectation sits around $10–$11; the same block on a single-zero table with partage cuts that expectation to a few dollars.

Betting patterns stay secondary to choices about when to sit down, how much to risk, and when to cash out. A firm loss ceiling or time limit keeps those expectations in check and stops a short session from drifting into a much larger one.

Always play responsibly. Contact the National Council on Problem Gambling helpline at 1-800-522-4700 if you think you have a problem.