The green pocket is the whole point of the game
You sit down at a roulette table, buy in, and watch the wheel spin. Red and black numbers alternate around the track, but two pockets break the pattern: the green ones. On a European wheel there is one green zero. On an American wheel there are two, the zero and the double zero. The reason those pockets are green instead of red or black is not cosmetic. It is the mechanism that gives the house its mathematical advantage on every even-money bet on the layout.
So when someone asks whether 0 is considered an even number in roulette, the answer is no, and the reason matters more than the label. Zero belongs to neither the even nor the odd category, neither red nor black. It is its own outcome. When the ball lands there, every even-money wager on the table loses, or in some rule variants is held or halved. That single fact shapes how the game is priced.
How the wheel is laid out
A European roulette wheel has 37 pockets numbered 0 through 36. The zero is green. The numbers 1 through 36 alternate between red and black, and between even and odd, with 18 of each. An American wheel adds a second green pocket, the double zero, bringing the total to 38. The numbers themselves do not run in numerical order around the wheel; the sequence is arranged to spread high and low, red and black, odd and even as evenly as the designers could manage.
On the betting layout, the zero sits at the head of the table, above the rows of numbers. It is not part of the even-money boxes. The even-money bets are labelled in English as Even and Odd, Red and Black, and 1-18 and 19-36. The zero is not inside any of those boxes. That is the structural answer: zero is not an even number in roulette because the game does not classify it as one. It is a third category that exists specifically to break the symmetry of the even-money propositions.
| Wheel type | Total pockets | Green pockets | Even-money outcomes | What zero does to an even-money bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| European | 37 | 1 (single zero) | 18 even, 18 odd | Bet loses, or is held/halved under some table rules |
| American | 38 | 2 (zero and double zero) | 18 even, 18 odd | Bet loses, or is held/halved under some table rules |
Because the even-money boxes cover 18 of the 37 pockets on a European wheel, a bet on even would be a perfectly fair coin flip only if the wheel had 36 pockets. The extra green pocket means the bet pays 1 to 1 but wins slightly less often than half the time. That gap is the house edge on the even-money bets. On the American wheel the gap is wider because there are two green pockets.
What happens to even-money bets when zero hits
The standard rule is that an even-money bet loses when the ball lands on zero. The croupier sweeps the losing wagers and pays the winners. If you had chips on Even, Red, or 1-18, they are gone. The same applies to the double zero on an American wheel.
Some European tables use a rule called la partage or en prison. Under la partage, half of an even-money stake is returned to the player when zero hits. Under en prison, the full stake is held in place for the next spin; if the next spin wins, the player gets the original stake back without profit, and if it loses, the stake is collected. These rules reduce the house edge on even-money bets specifically, because they soften the loss on the green pocket. They do not make zero even or odd, and they do not change the underlying classification. They only change what happens to the money.
If you play on a table with one of these rules, the croupier will announce it or it will be printed on the layout. If you are unsure, ask before the spin, not after the ball has landed. The moment the ball drops is the wrong time to discover which rule applies to your wager.
Why the zero exists at all
The zero is not a mistake in the numbering. It is the pricing mechanism. If every number on the wheel were red or black and odd or even, the even-money bets would be exactly fair, and the house would make nothing on them over time. The green pocket tips the arithmetic in the operator's favour on every even-money wager, and it also creates the specific payout shortfall on straight-up and other inside bets, because a winning number pays 35 to 1 when there are 36 or 37 losing numbers.
This is why the wheel type matters so much. The European wheel has one green pocket and the American wheel has two. The extra pocket on the American layout increases the house edge on the even-money bets and on most other bets as well. The comparison is not a matter of style; it is a matter of arithmetic built into the wheel itself.
The bets that do include zero
You cannot bet zero as part of even or odd, but you can bet on it directly. A straight-up bet on zero pays 35 to 1, the same as any single number. You can also place split bets that pair zero with one of its neighbours, such as 0 and 1, 0 and 2, or 0 and 3 on a European layout, and street bets covering 0, 1, and 2 or 0, 2, and 3. On an American wheel, the double zero adds its own splits and streets, and there is a five-number bet covering 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3, which carries a worse payout ratio than the other inside bets because it pays 6 to 1 on five numbers.
None of these bets make zero part of the even-money family. They are separate propositions with their own odds and their own edges. A player who wants to cover zero alongside an even-money bet can do so, but that means placing two bets with different payout structures, not merging the categories.
Where new players go wrong at the table
The first procedural mistake is assuming that zero is somehow included in the even-money bets because it looks like a number like any other. It is not. The layout shows the even-money boxes, and zero is outside them. Reading the layout before you place chips prevents this.
The second mistake is confusing the two green pockets on an American wheel with a single zero rule. A player who has learned the European layout may sit down at an American table and not register that the double zero changes the arithmetic on every bet they make. The wheel type is printed on the layout and visible on the wheel itself. Check it when you sit down.
The third mistake is asking about a rule after the ball has stopped. Whether a table uses la partage or en prison, and whether the even-money bet loses outright on zero, is something to confirm before the spin. Once the outcome is known, the croupier will apply the posted rule, and no amount of discussion changes it.
How to read the table before you play
When you buy in, the croupier converts your cash into the table's chips. You then place wagers on the layout before the croupier calls for no more bets. The wheel spins, the ball drops, and the croupier marks the winning number, sweeps the losing wagers, and pays the winners. Your chips stay on the layout until the next spin unless you remove them.
Before you place a single chip, look at three things. First, the wheel type: one green pocket or two. Second, the even-money rules: whether the table uses la partage, en prison, or the standard full-loss rule on zero. Third, the table minimum and maximum, which are posted on a placard at the table. These three pieces of information determine the arithmetic of every even-money bet you will make.
Strategy charts for roulette do not exist in the way they do for blackjack, because roulette has no decision points after the bet is placed. The only choices are which bets to place and how much to stake. That means the wheel type and the zero rule are the entire strategic landscape for even-money players. A European table with la partage prices an even-money bet differently from an American table with no such rule, and that difference is visible in the layout before you ever put chips down.
FAQ
Does zero count as odd in roulette?
No. Zero is neither odd nor even. It sits outside both even-money categories, and a bet on odd loses when zero hits under the standard rule, just as a bet on even does.
What is the difference between la partage and en prison?
Both rules apply only to even-money bets when zero lands. La partage returns half the stake immediately. En prison holds the full stake in place for the next spin, and the player gets it back only if the next spin wins. Both reduce the house edge on even-money bets compared with the standard full-loss rule.
Is betting on zero a better bet than betting on even?
They are different bets with different payout structures. A straight-up bet on zero pays 35 to 1 but wins far less often than an even-money bet. Neither bet changes the house edge built into the wheel; they simply distribute wins and losses differently over time.
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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.