Live Roulette: Bets, Wheel Layouts and Sensible Limits

How the wheel is laid out

A roulette wheel has numbered pockets, plus one zero on a European-style wheel or a zero and a double zero on an American-style wheel. The extra zero raises the house edge, so the single-zero table is the better choice if both are offered. The table's rules panel or wheel graphic shows which you are at.

Inside and outside bets

Inside bets cover specific numbers or small groups. Outside bets cover large groups of numbers. The more numbers you cover, the smaller the payout per win.

• Straight-up: one number, the highest payout, the lowest chance.
• Split, street, corner: two, three or four numbers.
• Red or black, odd or even, high or low: nearly half the board, even money.
• Dozens and columns: twelve numbers each, paying more than even money.

The zero and the house edge

Every bet on the board has the same underlying disadvantage. The zero is why even-money bets lose a little more than half the time. Some European-style tables return half of an even-money stake when the ball lands on zero; others do not. Read the rules panel for that detail rather than assuming.

No combination of bets removes the edge. Covering many numbers just spreads the same cost over more outcomes.

Chip size matters more than layout. Choose a unit you can lose forty times without regret, and keep to it. A table that lets you bet small is more useful than one with a flashy layout, so read the minimum before you sit down, and keep an eye on the countdown, since a bet placed after the timer ends is not accepted.

Systems and streaks

Doubling after each loss is the best-known roulette system, and it fails when you hit the table maximum or your own balance first. Reading the history of past numbers is also meaningless, because the wheel is not affected by earlier results. For more table choices, see the live casino hub; a dice alternative is Sic Bo.