The wheel you are looking at has 38 pockets, not 36
The quickest way to tell an American roulette wheel from any other layout is to count the green spaces. A wheel with a single green zero has 37 pockets. A wheel with two green spaces, one marked 0 and one marked 00, has 38. That is the American layout: the numbers 1 through 36, plus the single zero and the double zero sitting opposite each other on the wheel.
The presence of that second green pocket is not a cosmetic difference. Every bet on the table pays as if the zero pockets were not there, but the ball can land in either one of them. That gap between what a winning bet pays and what the wheel contains is where the house edge lives, and on an American wheel it is larger than on a single-zero wheel for the same wager.
What the numbered pockets are
The 36 numbered pockets are split evenly between red and black, 18 of each. The zero and double zero are both green and are not counted as red or black numbers. The numbers are not arranged in numerical order around the wheel; they are distributed so that high and low numbers, odd and even numbers, and red and black alternate in a pattern designed to make the wheel feel balanced.
The table layout mirrors the wheel. All the inside bets, the ones placed on individual numbers or small groups of them, are laid out on a grid showing 1 through 36 plus the two zeros. The outside bets, red or black, odd or even, high or low, and the column and dozen bets, sit around the edge of that grid.
Why the double zero changes the arithmetic
On a single-zero wheel with 37 pockets, a straight-up bet on one number pays 35 to 1. Over a very large number of spins, the player would expect to win once in every 37 attempts on average, but the payout is calculated as if there were only 36 numbers. That one-pocket difference is the house edge. On an American wheel, there are two such pockets, so the same bet wins once in every 38 attempts on average while still paying 35 to 1.
The same logic applies to every bet on the layout. An even-money bet like red or black wins on 18 numbers and loses on 20 numbers on an American wheel, because the two green pockets count as losses for that bet. On a single-zero wheel, the same bet wins on 18 and loses on 19. The American layout therefore charges the player more, in expected terms, for the same wager.
| Wheel type | Total pockets | Green pockets | Even-money bet winning numbers | Even-money bet losing numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-zero (European) | 37 | 1 (single zero) | 18 | 19 |
| Double-zero (American) | 38 | 2 (0 and 00) | 18 | 20 |
This table is the whole story in miniature. The extra green pocket does not change how many red or black numbers exist. It changes how many losing numbers exist for the bets that ignore the zeros entirely.
Reading the table before you buy in
When you sit down at a roulette table, the wheel itself tells you which layout you are playing. Look for the double zero before you put chips down. Some venues run both layouts on the same floor, and some electronic terminals offer both, so the wheel or the screen is the source of truth, not the name of the game.
Buy-in works the same way at either layout. You place cash on the table, the dealer converts it into roulette chips, and those chips are yours until you colour up at the end of your session. Roulette chips are typically non-value chips, meaning they have no denomination printed on them and are worth whatever the table assigns to them. The dealer marks your chip value on the rail so the table knows what your stack is worth.
The round, from spin to settlement
A round begins when the dealer announces that bets are open. You place chips on the layout, either on a single number, on a group of numbers, or on one of the outside sections. The dealer then sends the ball around the track in the opposite direction to the spinning wheel. Once the ball drops into a pocket, the dealer marks the winning number on the layout and clears the losing bets first. Winning bets are then paid, and only after that are new bets accepted for the next spin.
The sequence matters because touching your chips after the ball has dropped is not allowed. New players sometimes reach for a bet they think is about to lose, or try to add chips after the dealer has called no more bets. Both actions stop the game and draw attention. Wait for the dealer to finish clearing and paying before you touch anything on the layout.
The bet types and where the edge sits
Roulette bets fall into two broad groups. Inside bets cover specific numbers or small clusters of them and pay more when they hit. Outside bets cover large sections of the wheel, pay even money or close to it, and hit more often. The house edge on an American wheel is the same for almost every bet on the layout, because the payout odds are all built around 36 numbers while the wheel has 38.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Payout | What the player is really buying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35 to 1 | A rare hit with a large payout |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | Two adjacent numbers on the layout |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | A row of three numbers |
| Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 | Four numbers meeting at one corner |
| Six line | 6 | 5 to 1 | Two adjacent rows |
| Red or black | 18 | 1 to 1 | An even-money bet that loses on both zeros |
| Odd or even | 18 | 1 to 1 | Another even-money bet that loses on both zeros |
| Dozen or column | 12 | 2 to 1 | A third of the numbered layout |
One exception exists on some American tables: a five-number bet covering 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3, which pays 6 to 1. That bet carries a higher house edge than the rest of the layout because it covers five numbers but pays as if it covered fewer. If the table offers it, it is the worst bet on the felt by a clear margin.
What strategy charts can and cannot do
Roulette is not a game where a strategy chart changes the underlying mathematics. Published strategy material for roulette is mostly about bet sizing, session management and which bets to avoid, not about changing the odds. Any chart or system that claims to overcome the double zero is describing a progression, and a progression redistributes wins and losses across a session without removing the edge that the extra green pocket creates.
What a player can control is which bets they place. An even-money bet on an American wheel loses more often than it wins because of the two green pockets. A straight-up bet pays a large multiple but hits rarely. Neither choice is a way to beat the wheel; both are choices about how the expected loss is distributed across time.
Procedural mistakes that slow the table down
The first mistake is betting after the dealer has called no more bets. The call happens before the ball drops, and once it is made the layout is frozen. Adding chips after that point forces the dealer to stop and return them, and it can create a dispute about what was bet and when.
The second is picking up losing chips before the dealer has cleared them. The dealer clears losing bets in a specific order, and a hand in the layout interrupts that sequence. Wait for the payout to finish, then collect what is yours.
The third is placing chips on a line between two bets and assuming the dealer will know which one you meant. If a chip is not clearly inside a betting area, the dealer will ask, and the ambiguity can change what you are wagering. Place chips fully inside the space for the bet you want.
Where the wheel's own numbers are posted
If you want the exact house edge for a specific table, the wheel itself and the table's posted rules are the documents that matter. The number of pockets is visible on the wheel, and the payout for each bet is printed on the layout. The house edge follows from those two facts and needs no external source. For an American wheel, the arithmetic is fixed by the 38-pocket layout, and no operator can change it without changing the wheel.
Electronic roulette terminals display the same information on screen, usually in a help or information panel. The panel shows the wheel type, the paytable and the rules for the specific game version running on that terminal. Read that panel before you commit chips, because some electronic versions offer side bets with edges that differ from the main layout.
FAQ
Is the double zero the only difference between American and European roulette?
The double zero is the main structural difference, but it is not the only one. Some European tables use a rule that returns half of an even-money bet when the ball lands in zero, which changes the effective edge on those bets. American tables do not typically offer that rule. The wheel layout, the table rules and the paytable together define what you are playing.
Do the zeros count as red or black numbers?
No. The zero and double zero are green and sit outside the red and black categories. An even-money bet on red or black loses when the ball lands in either green pocket, which is why the American layout gives the house two extra losing numbers on those bets.
Can I bet on the zero and the double zero together?
Yes. You can place a split bet covering both green pockets, which pays 17 to 1, or you can include them in a larger group bet. The five-number bet covering 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 is also available on some American layouts, but it carries a higher house edge than the other bets on the table and is generally the least favourable wager on the felt.
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