If a player bets on a single number and wins, he is paid 35 to 1. This means that he is paid 35 times his bet, while also his bet is returned, in total he gets 36 times his bet. (In a lottery one would say 'the prize is 36 times the cost of the ticket', because in a lottery the cost of the ticket is not returned additionally.)
A player can bet on numbers, combinations and even colors.
| 0 | ↔ | 00 | |||
| 1- 18 | 1st 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ← |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | ← | ||
| odd | 7 | 8 | 9 | ← | |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | ← | ||
| red | 2nd 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | ← |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | ← | ||
| blk | 19 | 20 | 21 | ← | |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | ← | ||
| even | 3rd 12 | 25 | 26 | 27 | ← |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | ← | ||
| 19- 36 | 31 | 32 | 33 | ← | |
| 34 | 35 | 36 | ← | ||
| ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | |||
(in addition to the mentioned payout the bet is returned)
Bet odds table
| Bet name | Winning spaces | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 35 to 1 |
| 00 | 00 | 35 to 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 35 to 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 35 to 1 |
| ... | ||
| 36 | 36 | 35 to 1 |
| Row 00 | 0, 00 | 17 to 1 |
| Row 3 | 1, 2, 3 | 11 to 1 |
| Row 6 | 4, 5, 6 | 11 to 1 |
| Row 9 | 7, 8, 9 | 11 to 1 |
| ... | ||
| Row 36 | 34, 35, 36 | 11 to 1 |
| Column 1 | 1, 4, 7, ..., 34 | 2 to 1 |
| Column 2 | 2, 5, 8, ..., 35 | 2 to 1 |
| Column 3 | 3, 6, 9, ..., 36 | 2 to 1 |
| First 12 | 1, 2, 3, ..., 12 | 2 to 1 |
| Middle 12 | 13, 14, 15, ..., 24 | 2 to 1 |
| Last 12 | 25, 26, 27, ..., 36 | 2 to 1 |
| Odd | 1, 3, 5, ..., 35 | 1 to 1 |
| Even | 2, 4, 6, ..., 36 | 1 to 1 |
| Red | 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 32, 34, 36 | 1 to 1 |
| Black | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35 | 1 to 1 |
| 1 to 18 | 1, 2, 3, ..., 18 | 1 to 1 |
| 19 to 36 | 19, 20, 21, ..., 36 | 1 to 1 |
| five number bet | 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 | 6 to 1 |
The house average or house edge is what is lost on average relative to the bet. If a player bets on a single number in the American game there is a probability of 1/38 that he gets 36 times his bet (including the return of his bet), so he ends up having on average 36/38=0.9474 times his bet. Thus the house average for American roulette is 1/19 (5.26%); the same applies for the other kinds of bets, except for the five number bet where it a greater than 7%. The house average is appoximately halved in the European game.
Various attempts have been made by engineers to overcome the house edge through predicting the mechanical performance of the wheel, most notably by Joseph Jaggers, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo in 1873. More recently Thomas Bass, in his book The Newtonian Casino 1991, has claimed to be able to predict wheel performance.
Note also that 0 and 00 are neither odd nor even in this game.
Also see: Russian roulette.