Roulette looks simple — pick a number, watch the ball land, collect 35 to 1. But the payout a casino advertises and the odds you actually face are two different things, and the gap between them is exactly where the house makes its money. Before you put a single chip down, it pays to know what each bet returns, what it really costs you over time, and why the version of the game you choose matters more than any betting system ever will.
This page breaks down every roulette payout, compares European, French and American wheels, and works through the maths in plain English so you can pick bets that suit your bankroll rather than your hopes.
What a roulette payout actually represents
A roulette payout is written as “X to 1”. A straight-up bet paying 35 to 1 means that for every £1 you stake, you get £35 in profit plus your original £1 back. So a £5 straight-up winner returns £180 in total.
Here is the catch: a European wheel has 37 pockets (0 to 36). The true odds of hitting one specific number are 36 to 1, but the casino only pays 35 to 1. That missing unit is the house edge — roughly 2.70% on every bet on a single-zero wheel, regardless of which bet you place.
On an American wheel with both 0 and 00, there are 38 pockets. The payout for a single number is still 35 to 1, but your true odds are now 37 to 1. The edge jumps to about 5.26%.
In other words, the payout table never changes. The number of pockets on the wheel does all the damage.
Roulette payout chart: every bet at a glance
All figures below assume a standard single-zero European wheel, which is the version most commonly offered at UK-facing online casinos.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Payout | Chance of winning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35 to 1 | 1 in 37 (2.70%) |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | 2 in 37 (5.41%) |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | 3 in 37 (8.11%) |
| Corner (square) | 4 | 8 to 1 | 4 in 37 (10.81%) |
| Six line (double street) | 6 | 5 to 1 | 6 in 37 (16.22%) |
| Trio (0-1-2 or 0-2-3) | 3 | 11 to 1 | 3 in 37 (8.11%) |
| First four (0-1-2-3) | 4 | 8 to 1 | 4 in 37 (10.81%) |
| Dozen (1-12, 13-24, 25-36) | 12 | 2 to 1 | 12 in 37 (32.43%) |
| Column | 12 | 2 to 1 | 12 in 37 (32.43%) |
| Red / Black | 18 | 1 to 1 | 18 in 37 (48.65%) |
| Odd / Even | 18 | 1 to 1 | 18 in 37 (48.65%) |
| High (19-36) / Low (1-18) | 18 | 1 to 1 | 18 in 37 (48.65%) |
Two numbers are worth highlighting. The five-number bet covering 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 exists only on American tables and pays 6 to 1 — the worst wager on the wheel, carrying a house edge close to 7.9%. Avoid it completely. On European and French wheels, the equivalent “first four” bet pays 8 to 1 and is far more reasonable.
Inside bets versus outside bets
Inside bets cover numbers on the inner section of the layout: straight ups, splits, streets, corners and lines. They pay well and rarely win. Outside bets — dozens, columns and the even-money options — pay modestly and win far more often.
Neither category is “better” in a mathematical sense, because the house edge is identical across almost all of them on a single-zero wheel. The difference is variance. A straight-up bettor will have long dry spells punctuated by big wins. A red-or-black bettor will see steady small swings. Choose based on how much volatility your bankroll can absorb, not on which feels luckier.
European, French and American roulette: same bets, different returns
The payout chart above holds for all three versions. What changes is the wheel, and that single difference reshapes your expected return.
- European roulette — one zero, 37 pockets, house edge around 2.70%. The standard at most UK online casinos.
- French roulette — same single-zero wheel, but with La Partage or En Prison rules on even-money bets, cutting the edge to roughly 1.35% on those wagers. This is the best value in the game.
- American roulette — a double zero added, 38 pockets, house edge around 5.26%. Some tables also offer the five-number bet at an even worse edge.
If a casino offers both European and American tables at the same stakes, there is no strategic reason to choose the American one. You are accepting double the house edge for an identical payout structure.
Even-money bets, La Partage and En Prison
French roulette’s special rules apply only to the even-money bets — red/black, odd/even, high/low — and only when the ball lands on zero.
La Partage
If zero comes up, half of your even-money stake is returned and half is lost. You are not betting again; the hand is settled immediately. Because you keep half instead of losing the lot, the effective house edge on those bets drops from about 2.70% to about 1.35%.
En Prison
If zero comes up, your even-money stake is “imprisoned” for the next spin. If that spin wins for your original bet, the stake is returned without additional winnings. If it loses, the stake is gone. Over the long run this works out to roughly the same value as La Partage, though the swings are slightly larger.
Both rules only help on even-money bets. Straight-ups and dozens pay and lose exactly as normal.
What the house edge actually costs you
The house edge is not a prediction for one session. It is a long-run average of how much of every pound wagered the casino expects to keep. On a 2.70% European wheel, £1,000 of total turnover carries an expected cost of about £27. On a 5.26% American wheel, the same turnover costs roughly £52.
When discussing new casinos not on gamstop, turnover is the key word. If you start with £100 and keep re-betting your winnings, your total turnover over an evening can be several times your starting stack. That is why players who sit at the table for hours tend to drift towards the expected loss even when they had a good start.
Short-term results are wildly different from the average. You can be well up after fifty spins and well down after five hundred. The edge grinds slowly and silently, which is exactly why roulette feels fairer than it is.
Betting systems do not change payouts
You will see plenty of talk about Martingale, Fibonacci, D’Alembert and James Bond-style spread betting. Most of these systems simply rearrange the same bets.
The Martingale — doubling after every loss on an even-money bet — is the most popular and the most misleading. It produces frequent small wins and rare catastrophic losses. Table limits cut the progression short at exactly the wrong moment, and a losing run of eight or nine spins is far more common than intuition suggests. The odds of the wheel do not change because your stake did.
Betting systems can be entertaining structure for your session, and they help some players manage their bankroll. They cannot alter a roulette payout or turn a negative-expectation game positive. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling something.
Choosing where to play in the UK
For players in the UK, the practical differences between casinos usually come down to the following:
- Wheel selection — look for French or European tables first. If a site pushes American roulette, that tells you something about its approach to value.
- Stake ranges — online roulette often starts around 10p to 50p on RNG tables, while live dealer tables commonly open at £1 or more. Check the maximum too, especially if you use progressive staking.
- Live versus RNG — live dealer roulette is slower and more social, with real wheels streamed from a studio. RNG versions run faster, which means more spins per hour and more turnover against your bankroll.
- Payment methods — UK players overwhelmingly fund accounts with debit cards or e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller. Check deposit and withdrawal times and any fees before signing up, since withdrawal processing varies a lot between operators.
- Licensing and safety — stick to sites licensed for UK customers, with clear terms and responsible gambling tools such as deposit limits, session reminders and self-exclusion. These are genuinely useful, not just box-ticking.
Bonus terms and roulette
If you are claiming a welcome bonus, read the wagering requirements before assuming roulette counts. In practice, roulette wagers frequently contribute a smaller percentage towards wagering than slots, and some bet types may be excluded entirely because the low house edge makes them unfavourable to the operator. Wagering contribution rules vary from site to site, so check the terms rather than relying on the headline offer.
Final advice
Choose single-zero European or French wheels whenever they are available, and take the La Partage or En Prison rules if offered — they are the only genuine value upgrade in roulette. Match your bet type to your bankroll: outside bets if you want longer sessions with smaller swings, inside bets if you can handle the variance. Set a loss limit and a time limit before you start, treat every spin as independent of the last, and never chase a payout you think is “due”. Roulette is a game with a fixed house edge and no skill component; the only decisions that improve your experience are which wheel you sit at, how much you stake, and when you walk away.