Not to be confused with the roulette wheel itself (the physical device) or roulette wheel numbers (the numbered pockets).
Casino & Table Games
Roulette wheel gambling
Roulette wheel gambling is any form of betting on where a ball will land on a spinning roulette wheel, covering wagers on individual numbers, groups of numbers, colours, or other wheel-based outcomes.
Key points
- The croupier spins the wheel and a ball in opposite directions; the ball lands in a numbered pocket to determine the outcome.12
- European roulette has 37 pockets (1–36 plus 0), while American roulette adds a 00 pocket for 38 total.34
- A winning single-number bet pays 35 to 1, but the true odds are 36 to 1 (European) or 37 to 1 (American), giving the house its edge.56
- Outside bets such as red/black or odd/even cover nearly half the wheel but pay even money, preserving the same house edge.
European vs American roulette wheel
| Feature | European | American |
|---|---|---|
| Pockets | 37 | 38 |
| Zero slots | 1 (0) | 2 (0, 00) |
| House edge (single-number bet) | 2.7% | 5.26% |
Where this term is used
Not the same as
- 0 on roulette wheel payout — a specific payout rule for the zero slot, not the broader gambling activity
Related terms
Casino games
Roulette wheel
The physical spinning device used in roulette wheel gambling.
Casino games
Roulette table
The layout where bets are placed in roulette wheel gambling.
Casino games
Roulette odds
Probabilities and payouts for different roulette bets.
Casino games
Roulette bets
Types of wagers available in roulette wheel gambling.
Casino games
En prison roulette
A rule that can reduce the house edge on even-money bets.
Casino games
Craps bets explained
Craps bets are the wagers players place on the outcome of dice rolls in the game of craps
Sources
- Roulette en.wikipedia.org Provides the definition and basic rules of roulette.
- arXiv:1602.06943v1 [q-fin.GN] 19 Jan 2016 arxiv.org Supports the 37-pocket European wheel and house edge calculation.
- Roulette Basics – Rules, Bets, and Game Variations ... wizardofodds.com Details the 38-pocket American wheel and its rules.
- Play Online Roulette for Real Money or Free wizardofodds.com Confirms pocket counts for both wheel types.
- Biased roulette wheel: A Quantitative Trading Strategy Approach ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org States the 35-to-1 payout for single-number bets.
- [1204.6412] Predicting the outcome of roulette ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org Reinforces the payout and describes the ball-drop mechanism.
Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.