The Wheel You Are Looking At Tells You the Answer
Walk up to a roulette table and the first thing to check is not the felt color or the minimum bet. It is the wheel itself. Count the green pockets. If you see one green pocket marked with a single zero, you are at a European-style wheel. If you see two green pockets, one marked 0 and one marked 00, you are at an American-style wheel. The presence of that second green pocket is the single most important fact about the game you are about to play, because it changes the arithmetic on every bet you can make.
The question of whether roulette in a particular gambling destination has a 00 is really a question about which wheel layout a given casino has chosen to install. Casinos in many parts of the world offer both layouts, sometimes on the same floor. The American layout, with its 0 and 00, is common in many North American venues, but a player cannot assume that every wheel in a given city is the same. The wheel itself is the source of truth, and it is visible before you place a single chip.
What the Extra Pocket Does to the Game
A roulette wheel is a physical device with numbered pockets, and every bet you place is settled against where the ball lands. On a European wheel there are 37 pockets, numbered 0 through 36. On an American wheel there are 38 pockets, because the 00 has been added alongside the 0. The numbers 1 through 36 are split evenly between red and black, while the zero pockets are green. The green pockets are not red or black, not odd or even, and not high or low. That matters because a bet on red, for example, does not win when the ball lands in a green pocket.
The extra pocket does not change how the game is played. The dealer still spins the wheel, the ball still travels in the opposite direction, and bets are still settled the same way. What changes is the probability behind each bet. On a European wheel, a bet on a single number has 1 chance in 37 of winning. On an American wheel, the same bet has 1 chance in 38. The payout for a winning single-number bet is the same on both layouts, which means the player is paid as though the 00 pocket did not exist. That gap between the payout and the true odds is the house edge, and it is larger on the American layout.
RTP and house edge are complements: they sum to 100% for the same game. When the house edge on a bet is higher, the theoretical return to the player over a very large number of spins is lower. The American wheel's extra pocket increases the house edge on the American layout relative to the European one. This is a structural fact about the wheel, not a secret about how to play. No betting pattern removes the extra pocket.
European and American Wheels Side by Side
The two layouts look similar at a glance, but a few details separate them beyond the pocket count. The sequence of numbers around the wheel is different, and the felt layout may place the outside bets in a different arrangement. For a player deciding where to sit, the comparison that matters is the one below.
| Feature | European wheel | American wheel |
|---|---|---|
| Pockets | 37 | 38 |
| Zero pockets | One (0) | Two (0 and 00) |
| Number range | 0 to 36 | 0 to 36 plus 00 |
| Effect on a single-number bet | 1 winning pocket in 37 | 1 winning pocket in 38 |
| Payout for a winning single number | Same fixed multiple | Same fixed multiple |
| House edge on the same bet | Lower | Higher |
The table does not give percentages because the exact house edge depends on the specific bet and the specific rule set in use. The structural point is directional: for the same bet under the same rule set, the American layout carries a higher house edge because of the 00 pocket. A player who has a choice between two wheels and wants the lower edge should sit at the wheel with one zero, not two.
How a Round Plays Out
Sitting down at a roulette table follows a fixed sequence, and knowing it removes most of the confusion new players feel. The first step is the buy-in. You place cash on the felt, never directly into the dealer's hand, and the dealer exchanges it for roulette chips. These chips are typically a distinct color assigned to you alone at that table, so the dealer can tell your bets apart from everyone else's. Roulette chips have no cash value away from the table, so you must cash them in before you leave.
Once you have chips, you place them on the layout. You can bet on a single number, a group of numbers, red or black, odd or even, or a range such as high or low. Each bet has its own payout and its own probability. The dealer announces when no more bets are accepted, spins the wheel, and releases the ball. When the ball settles, the dealer marks the winning number, clears the losing bets, and pays the winners. You then either leave your winning bet in place, change it, or remove it before the next spin.
The decision points in roulette are all about bet selection and bet size. The game has no strategic decisions after the ball is released. You choose which bets to place and how much to stake on each, and then the wheel does the rest. That is why understanding the edge on each bet type matters more than any ritual or pattern.
Main Bet Types and Where the Edge Sits
Roulette bets fall into two broad groups. Inside bets are placed on the numbered grid and cover specific numbers or small groups. Outside bets sit around the grid and cover larger categories. The payout for each bet is a fixed multiple of the stake, and the probability of winning is determined by how many pockets the bet covers. A bet that covers more pockets wins more often but pays less. A bet that covers fewer pockets wins less often but pays more. The house edge on the American layout is higher than on the European layout for the same bet, but some bets on the same table carry materially different edges from each other.
| Bet type | What it covers | Payout structure | Edge relative to other bets on the same table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | One number | Highest fixed multiple | Higher |
| Split | Two adjacent numbers | Half the straight-up multiple | Higher |
| Street | Three numbers in a row | Lower than a split | Higher |
| Red or black | 18 numbers of one color | Even-money payout | Lower |
| Odd or even | 18 numbers of one parity | Even-money payout | Lower |
| High or low | 18 numbers in one range | Even-money payout | Lower |
The table shows the relationship between coverage, payout and edge. The even-money outside bets carry a lower edge than most inside bets on the same wheel, but every bet on an American wheel carries the penalty of the extra 00 pocket. The specific percentages are printed in the game's information panel or available from the operator's published rules, and they differ by rule set. What does not differ is the direction: the 00 pocket makes every bet on that wheel worse for the player than the same bet on a single-zero wheel.
Procedural Mistakes That Cost New Players
The first mistake is buying in with the wrong method. Roulette chips are not the same as the value chips used at other table games, and handing cash directly to the dealer violates the standard procedure at most tables. Place the cash on the felt and let the dealer handle it. The second mistake is failing to notice which wheel you are at. A player who sits at an American wheel without checking the green pockets has accepted a higher house edge without knowing it. The third mistake is trying to cash out roulette chips at the cage. They are table-specific, and the dealer must convert them to value chips before you leave.
A fourth mistake is less procedural and more conceptual: treating the 00 as a special number with its own meaning. It is simply another losing pocket for most bets. It is not due, it is not lucky, and it does not balance out the 0. It sits on the wheel and takes its share of outcomes, and the only thing a player controls is whether to sit at a wheel that has one.
FAQ
Does every roulette wheel in a casino have a 00?
No. A casino may operate both American and European wheels, sometimes on the same floor. The only way to know is to look at the wheel in front of you. One green zero pocket means a European layout; two green pockets, one marked 00, means an American layout.
Is the 00 bet different from a bet on 0?
Mechanically they are the same kind of bet. Each is a single-number straight-up bet that pays the same fixed multiple as any other single number. The difference is that the 00 exists only on the American layout, and its presence raises the house edge on every other bet on that wheel.
Can I avoid the 00 by betting only on outside bets?
You cannot avoid the pocket itself. The 00 is on the wheel, and when the ball lands there, red, black, odd, even, high and low bets all lose. Choosing an outside bet lowers the edge relative to an inside bet on the same wheel, but it does not remove the extra pocket from the game. The only way to avoid the 00 entirely is to play on a single-zero wheel.
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This article is general information about how these mechanics work. It is not legal advice and not a recommendation to gamble or to use any particular operator. Availability and legality differ by jurisdiction — check the rules that apply where you are.