Roulette looks simple on the surface: pick a number, watch the ball, collect 35 to 1 if it lands. But the payout list is only half the story. What those numbers really represent is a set of trade-offs between risk, frequency and long-term cost, and understanding them is the difference between choosing a table wisely and wondering where your bankroll went. This runs through what every roulette bet pays, why the same bet costs more at some wheels than others, and how to check the rules at a UK-licensed site before you put a chip down.
A roulette payout is quoted as a ratio against your stake. A straight-up bet paying 35 to 1 means you get 35 times your stake in winnings plus your stake back. Bet £1 on number 17 and it hits, you receive £36 in total. The payout is fixed regardless of which version of roulette you play — what changes is how often you get paid.
That second part is where players get caught out. On a European wheel there are 37 pockets, so your single number should, over the long run, come up once every 37 spins. The casino pays you as if it were once every 36. That gap is the house edge, and it is built into the payout structure rather than added on top of it.
True odds on a single number at European roulette are 36 to 1 (you lose 36 times for every win). The payout is 35 to 1. That one-unit difference is the entire business model of the game. Same idea for a dozen bet: there are 12 winning numbers and 25 losing ones, so true odds would be just over 2 to 1, but the table pays 2 to 1 flat. Nothing is hidden — the maths is simply skewed slightly in the house’s favour on every single wager.
Inside bets cover individual numbers or small groups of them. They win less often and pay more when they do.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Payout | True odds (single zero) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35:1 | 36:1 |
| Split | 2 | 17:1 | 35:1 |
| Street | 3 | 11:1 | 34:1 |
| Corner (square) | 4 | 8:1 | 32:1 |
| Six line | 6 | 5:1 | 31:1 |
| Trio (0, 1, 2 or 0, 2, 3) | 3 | 11:1 | 34:1 |
| Basket (0, 1, 2, 3) | 4 | 8:1 | 32:1 |
| Top line (0, 00, 1, 2, 3 — American only) | 5 | 6:1 | 31:1 |
A practical note on the top line bet: it is the worst value on any standard roulette table. Because it covers five numbers on a 38-pocket wheel and pays only 6 to 1, the house edge sits at nearly 8 per cent — roughly three times what you face betting on red. If you remember one thing from a payout chart, make it that.
Outside bets cover larger groups and pay far less, but they hit much more often. These are the bets most people mean when they say they are “playing safe”.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Red or black | 18 | 1:1 |
| Odd or even | 18 | 1:1 |
| High (19–36) or low (1–18) | 18 | 1:1 |
| Dozens (1–12, 13–24, 25–36) | 12 | 2:1 |
| Columns | 12 | 2:1 |
The zero is the reason even-money bets are not a coin flip. On a single-zero wheel you win 18 out of 37 spins, not 18 out of 36. Over hundreds of spins that tiny gap is exactly what grinds a bankroll down.
The payout table above is largely identical across versions of roulette. What differs is the wheel, and that changes the effective return on every bet you make.
These two French rules only affect even-money bets when zero lands, but they are worth knowing because they are the single biggest payout improvement available at the table.
With La Partage, losing even-money stakes are halved and the house keeps only the other half. With En Prison, your stake is “imprisoned” and gets one more spin; if it wins on that spin you get it back without additional winnings. Either rule cuts the house edge on red/black, odd/even and high/low from 2.70 per cent to roughly 1.35 per cent.
Scenario: you bet £20 on black for an hour of play. On a plain European wheel the long-run cost of that session is around 2.7 per cent of turnover. On a French table with La Partage it is closer to 1.35 per cent. Nothing about the payout changes — it is still 1 to 1 — but you are keeping materially more of your money.
A simple way to compare any roulette wager is to multiply the payout ratio by the chance of winning and subtract the chance of losing. For a straight-up bet on a single-zero wheel: (35 × 1/37) − (36/37) = roughly −0.027. In plain terms, every £1 staked costs you about 2.7p over the long run on European roulette.
Run the same calculation for a dozen bet: (2 × 12/37) − (25/37) = −0.027. Identical. That is why the old advice “outside bets are better value” is not strictly true — on a single-zero wheel nearly every bet carries the same 2.70 per cent edge. Outside bets simply reduce variance: you win more often in smaller amounts and your balance swings less violently.
The exceptions are the ones worth remembering:
Roulette does not have a skill component like blackjack, so there is no way to shift the edge through better decisions. Your only levers are which wheel you sit at, which bets you place and how long you play.
Covering the table with inside bets feels clever and it rarely is. Place chips on all 37 numbers and one of them wins at 35 to 1 — you get your stake back and lose the rest. Even partial coverage has the same problem: every chip you lay to “insure” a bet costs you edge without improving your expected return.
Betting systems do not change payouts either. Doubling after a loss (a Martingale-style approach on even-money bets) does not alter the 2.70 per cent edge; it just concentrates the risk of a long losing run into a catastrophic one, because table limits eventually block the progression. Progression staking can make a session feel more structured, but it cannot turn a negative expectation game positive.
Chasing a “due” number is another trap. Roulette has no memory. A wheel does not know red has come up five times in a row, and neither does the random number generator behind an online game. Each spin is an independent event, so the payout for red stays 1 to 1 no matter what history says.
UK-licensed casinos must make game rules and theoretical return figures available, and it pays to look before you deposit. Here is what to check:
Live dealer and RNG (video) roulette use the same payout tables. The difference is pace: automatic wheels and rapid-fire RNG games can settle far more spins per hour than a live table, which means more turnover and a faster expected cost against your bankroll. Slowing down is a legitimate bankroll strategy.
And as always with real-money play in the UK, stick to operators licensed by the Gambling Commission, use the deposit limits and session reminders that come with them, and never chase losses. If gambling stops being enjoyable, GamCare and GamStop can help — both are free to use.
Every standard roulette bet carries roughly the same 2.7 per cent edge on a single-zero wheel — inside bets simply trade frequency for size. Payouts stay fixed while the wheel you choose does the real work, so European beats American every time and French rules with La Partage beat both on even-money wagers. Avoid the five-number top line bet, ignore systems that claim to beat the maths, and check the rules panel before you play. Choose the wheel, know the paytable, and keep the pace sensible.
