Roulette bets and payouts

Read payout odds as profit

A payout of 35 to 1 means 35 chips of profit per chip wagered when the bet wins. The original chip also comes back, making 36 chips returned. A losing bet loses its stake. Mixing up profit with total return makes payouts look larger than they are. Use the payout calculator to see both figures side by side.

Inside bets

A straight-up bet covers one pocket and pays 35 to 1. A split covers two and pays 17 to 1. A street covers three and pays 11 to 1. A corner covers four and pays 8 to 1. A six-line bet covers six and pays 5 to 1. Placement determines the covered numbers. On a conventional layout, neighboring cells can form valid splits and corners even though those numbers sit far apart on the wheel.

Outside bets

A dozen or column covers 12 numbers and pays 2 to 1. Red, black, odd, even, 1–18 and 19–36 each cover 18 numbers and pay 1 to 1. These groups exclude zero and double zero. Ordinary full-loss-on-zero rules give standard bets the same house edge within a wheel, despite their different chances and payout sizes. A higher hit rate alone does not imply a better expected return.

The first-five exception

The American first-five bet covers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3, paying 6 to 1. Its house edge is 7.89%, compared with 5.26% for the other standard American bets listed here. On a 10-chip stake its long-run expected loss is about 0.79 chips per spin. The wheel comparison explains the ordinary edge calculation. The table layout guide explains where these groups sit. Special casino rules and multiplier games need their own pay tables.

Standard payout reference

The profit column excludes the returned stake. The final column includes it. Coverage counts describe one wager, rather than a group of separate chips.

A 5-chip split winner returns 90: 85 profit plus the original 5. The larger 180-chip straight-up return belongs to a smaller covered set. Comparing payouts alone misses the chance of receiving them.

Account for every chip in the round

Place 2 chips on red and 1 on number 1. If 1 wins, red returns 4 and the straight-up wager returns 36. Total return is 40 against 3 staked, giving 37 net profit. Another red number returns only 4, leaving 1 net profit. Black or zero loses all 3 under ordinary rules.

Subtract the entire original stake once, including positions that lost. The overlapping-bets guide shows a pocket-by-pocket method, and the bet builder helps inspect combined coverage.