Roulette table layout and bets: payouts, chances and the shape of the risk
Nearly every bet costs the same over time, yet some feel like a stroll and others like a tightrope.
Roulette bets split into inside bets on numbers and outside bets on large groups. On a European wheel every standard bet carries a 2.70 per cent house edge. What changes is the shape of the risk: straight-up bets pay 35 to 1 but hit rarely, while red or black pays 1 to 1 and hits nearly half the time.
A roulette layout looks like a street-festival grid: numbers in rows, boxes at the edges and chips everywhere. Once the grid makes sense, every bet is just a different way of spreading the same cost. Our online casinos for Canadian players lays out the whole field in one sitting.
This note decodes the felt. Adults only: 19 in most provinces, 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec.
How do you read the grid?
The numbers sit in three columns and twelve rows. A chip placed squarely on one number is a straight-up bet. A chip on the line between two numbers is a split, and a chip on the edge of a row is a street. Boxes around the grid hold the large groups: dozens, columns and the even-money choices. Most online tables light up the numbers you cover when you hover, so look before you confirm.
What do the small bets on numbers pay?
Here are the inside bets, with the chance of success on a single spin of a European wheel.
| Name | Covers | Pays | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 number | 35 to 1 | 2.70% |
| Split | 2 numbers | 17 to 1 | 5.41% |
| Street | 3 numbers | 11 to 1 | 8.11% |
| Corner | 4 numbers | 8 to 1 | 10.81% |
| Six line | 6 numbers | 5 to 1 | 16.22% |
And the big, steady groups?
Outside bets cover more of the wheel, so they hit more often and pay less.
| Name | Covers | Pays | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dozen or column | 12 numbers | 2 to 1 | 32.43% |
| Red or black | 18 numbers | 1 to 1 | 48.65% |
| Odd or even | 18 numbers | 1 to 1 | 48.65% |
| 1 to 18 or 19 to 36 | 18 numbers | 1 to 1 | 48.65% |
Notice that 18 numbers out of 37 never reach one half. The zero is the reason, and it is where the house edge lives.
Is any bet cheaper than the rest?
On a European wheel the answer is no: all the standard bets cost 2.70 per cent. American wheels charge 5.26 per cent on most bets and a hefty 7.89 per cent on the five-number basket (0, 00, 1, 2, 3), which you can safely ignore. French tables add a courtesy. With La Partage or En Prison, an even-money stake is half returned, or held for another spin, when zero lands, and that trims those bets to about 1.35 per cent.
Which style fits your temperament?
Prefer a calm evening? Outside bets keep the swings gentle. Want a chance at a big payout? Inside bets offer it, along with long dry spells. Mixing them changes the texture of the night but not the long-run cost. Pick a flat stake that suits your budget and see the tips on the roulette page.
What are those bundled bets online?
Some tables offer Voisins du Zero, Tiers du Cylindre and Orphelins, ready-made bundles of chips on sections of the wheel. They save clicks and cost the same as the bets inside them. Live tables with multipliers can alter payouts on certain single numbers, so read the paytable. See live roulette tables for what to check.
What would 100 spins really cost?
Put CAD 2 on red every spin. You win about 48.65 per cent of the time and lose the rest, which averages out to a loss near CAD 0.054 a spin. A hundred spins therefore cost roughly CAD 5.40 on average, though a given evening can land far above or below. The spin session sandbox shows how wide the scatter can be.
Questions readers ask us
Is there a bet with better odds than the others?
Not on a European wheel, where every standard bet carries the same 2.70 per cent edge. Even-money bets win more often, and straight-up bets pay more. French tables with La Partage make even-money bets cheaper. On American wheels, stay away from the five-number bet.
What does 35 to 1 mean in money?
You collect CAD 35 for every CAD 1 on a winning number, and you keep your original stake too. A European wheel has 37 numbers, so fair odds would be 36 to 1. That one-unit gap between 35 and 36 is exactly where the house edge comes from.
Can you explain La Partage?
It is a French roulette rule: when the ball lands on zero, you get half of an even-money stake back. That lowers the cost of those bets to about 1.35 per cent. Check the table rules to see whether it applies, since not every online table uses it.