Probability · Dice & games
Roulette Payout & House Edge Calculator
What each roulette bet pays, what it truly costs, and why the casino always comes out ahead. Pick a wheel and a bet to see the payout, the real chance of winning, and the house edge — the small, permanent gap between the odds you're paid and the odds that would be fair.
Result
In plain English
Roulette pays out as if the zero (and on an American wheel, the double zero) weren't there. A straight-up number has 1 chance in 37 or 38 of landing, but the table pays only 35 to 1 — the odds you'd be paid if there were 36 numbers. That missing slice is the house edge: a fixed tax on every bet that turns into a near-certain loss over time, however you stake it.
- payout (e.g. 35:1)
- What you win on top of your stake. A 35:1 win on a £10 bet returns £350 plus your £10 back.
- true odds
- The real chance of winning — 1 in 37 (European) or 1 in 38 (American) for a single number. The fair payout would be 36:1 or 37:1.
- house edge
- The gap between the fair payout and the actual payout, as a fraction of your stake: 2.70% on a European wheel, 5.26% on an American one. It's the share of every wagered pound the casino keeps on average.
- expected value
- Your average result per spin — always negative by exactly the house edge. Bet £10 on American roulette and you lose 53p per spin on average, whatever you bet on.
- the zero(s)
- The green 0 (and 00) are the whole trick: they're where “even-money” bets quietly lose, and why no bet on the table is actually even money.
- variance
- Why you can still win tonight. Short runs are noisy, so luck swamps the edge for a while — but the more you play, the more the average wins.
Frequently asked
What is the house edge in roulette?
2.70% on a European (single-zero) wheel and 5.26% on an American (double-zero) wheel — that's the share of every pound you stake the casino keeps on average over the long run. The extra “00” on the American wheel doubles the edge. (The American five-number bet is worst of all at 7.89%.)
Can a betting system like the Martingale beat roulette?
No. Systems such as the Martingale (double your bet after each loss) change the shape of your results — many small wins, then a rare catastrophic loss — but not the average. Every individual bet keeps the same negative expected value, because the edge is built into the payouts. No staking pattern can add up negative pieces into a positive whole.
After five reds in a row, is black “due”?
No — that's the gambler's fallacy. The wheel has no memory; every spin is independent, so black is exactly as likely as it was before the run. A streak feels like it must correct itself, but the ball isn't keeping score.
Is European or American roulette better for the player?
European, clearly. It has a single zero, giving a house edge of 2.70%; the American wheel adds a double zero, which nearly doubles the edge to 5.26%. The bets and payouts are otherwise the same — that one extra pocket simply means the American wheel takes roughly twice as much from you over time. Given the choice, always pick the single-zero wheel.