If you’re thinking of trying your luck at the roulette table, there’s a lot to learn – not so much about playing the game (that part is pretty simple), but about which bets to place. There’s more to the game than simply picking red or black and keeping your fingers crossed. While roulette is a game of chance, there are many different bets you can place, so read on to learn more about how roulette bets work, and which bets offer the best odds.

The first thing to know is that roulette odds always appear as fractional odds. This means that they look something like this: 5/1. Fractional odds are actually very easy to understand. The first number is how much you can win if you wager the second number. So, in the example 5/1, if you stake £1, you can win £5.

The odds of winning in roulette depend on the number of pockets on the wheel, but here is where things start to get a bit tricky because, believe it or not, this can be different in different versions. When you play roulette, you can choose to play either European roulette or French roulette. Within these games, there is only one 0 on the wheel. However, on an American roulette wheel, there are multiple zeroes on offer which changes the odds.

Both European versions have 36 numbers, plus the 0 space. In roulette, 0 odds (the chances of landing on 0) are not good, but it’s always possible. If you bet on a single number in American roulette, your chances of winning are 1 in 37, but in European roulette, they are 1 in 36. This may not seem like much of a difference (and it really isn’t), but you still have the best chance of winning in European roulette, so why not play it, when you get the chance?

Roulette table odds for every type of bet

Each bet in roulette comes with different payout odds. Here are some common roulette bets, along with the odds payout you would expect, if you’re lucky enough to win:

• Black or red: 1/1
• Odd or even: 1/1
• High or low: 1/1
• Column: 2/1
• Dozen: 2/1
• Six numbers: 5/1
• Five numbers: 6/1
• Four numbers: 8/1
• Three numbers: 11/1
• Two numbers: 17/1
• Single number: 35/1

Roulette odds payouts for different bet types

It’s understandable that players like to go for a ‘safe bet’ such as red or black, odd or even, or high or low (low as in numbers 1 to 18, and high as in numbers 9 to 36, also sometimes known as ‘first half’ or ‘second half’ bets). There’s nothing wrong with that, of course – it’s just that the payout is going to be pretty low. Betting on a single number is a much riskier choice, but look at the payout odds! If you’re somehow lucky enough to pick the right number, the payout is 35/1, so some players jump right in and place a bet on their lucky number or a random number that means something to them. Doing this means you have a very small chance of winning though, so keep that in mind.

Always remember that the likelihood of winning is impacted by that 0 space (and the 00 space in American roulette). Even when you bet on red or black, you never quite have a 50/50 chance of winning. Casinos have to work in that house edge somehow, and in roulette, the 0 spaces are how they do it. The house edge on roulette is lower than on lots of games. In fact, with a 1/1 bet, the house edge is only 2.7% in European roulette, and 5.26% in American roulette.

Roulette wheel odds on the most popular bets

While there are plenty of bet types to choose from, the most popular roulette bets in any online casino (and also in real-life ones) are the so-called 50/50 bets. Players just really like the relatively low house edge, and, therefore, the fairly high chance of winning – and who can blame them?

The only problem with these bets is that low risk equals low reward. There’s a pretty high likelihood of winning, but if you do, the bet will only pay out at 1/1. Nevertheless, you’ll find that red/black and odd/even bets are really popular in casinos, especially with less experienced players. It’s just an easy way to get a win or two under your belt, no matter how small that win may be.

Roulette odds on column and dozen bets

The safer bets in roulette (such as those that we’ve discussed above) are known as outside bets. Other outside bets are column and dozens, which both offer a payout of 2/1. In each of these bet types, you bet on a total of 12 numbers, but they are just slightly different.

Dozens bets are placed on the first, second or third section of the table (so, the first dozen is 1 to 12, the second 13 to 24 and the third 25 to 36). A column bet is placed on any one of the three columns in which the roulette table is arranged. There are still 12 numbers in each column – they just won’t be consecutive.

Your chances of success are pretty good with these bets, as you still have close to a 33.3% chance of success (but not quite, because of those pesky zero spaces again). Some players love these bets, as they’re happy to take a little extra risk for the chance of a higher payout.

Roulette odds on inside bets

Inside bets are the higher-risk bets on the roulette table. They include:

• Split bets: When a player splits their bet between two adjacent numbers on the table by placing a chip between them.
• Street bets: Also known as line or row bets, this is when you bet on three numbers in a row on the table by placing your chip at the beginning of the row.
• Corner bets: Also known as square bets, this is when you bet on four numbers in a square by placing your chip on the ‘corner’ where they meet.

These bets are less likely to win, but this, of course, means that they pay out more when they do, with corner bets paying out at 8/1, street bets at 11/1, and split bets at 17/1.

Roulette wheel odds on less common inside bets

While split, street and corner bets may be the most popular inside bets in roulette, others are a lot less common. These include five-number bets, also known as basket bets. They are only possible when playing American roulette, and they allow you to bet on 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3. As you may remember, American roulette odds are already worse than European or French roulette odds, and this is quite a risky bet with odds of 6/1. However, if you want to take it, you simply place your chip on the table where the first line (1, 2, 3) meets the two zero spaces.

There’s also a snake bet, where you place a winding line of bets down the table from the top to the bottom (that is, from 1 to 34), covering a total of 12 numbers. The odds are the same as on any 12 number bet (2/1), so it’s just a bit of a novelty bet. You place your chips across the board in a snake shape, or on some tables, you can place your chips on snake head symbols next to 1 and 34.

Roulette odds on other bets

There are some more complicated bet types in roulette that you’ll see from time to time:

• Voisins du zéro: This translates as ‘neighbours of zero’ and involves betting on the 16 numbers closest to zero.
• Jeu zero: This is a similar but smaller bet, which involves betting on the six closest numbers to zero.
• Neighbours: This also involves betting on a specific number and its closest neighbours.
• Tiers du cylindre: This involves betting on 12 numbers, across six specific split bets.
• Orphelins: In this bet, five chips are placed across eight numbers.

These bets are less popular than the standard bets simply because they’re more complicated. If you’re a complete beginner, you might want to avoid them.

Play roulette table games at LeoVegas

At LeoVegas, there’s a choice of roulette games for any and all types of players. If you want to place a basket bet, we have American Roulette. For other bets, you might prefer European Roulette or European Roulette Pro.