The Number That Changes the Whole Table
You sit down, buy in, and the first thing you notice is that the wheel in front of you does not look quite like the one you saw in a film or on a phone game. The pattern of colours is different, and so is the count. That difference is not cosmetic. The number of sections on a roulette wheel is either 37 or 38, and which one you are playing determines the house edge on every single bet you place.
A European wheel has 37 pockets: the numbers 1 through 36, plus a single zero. An American wheel has 38: the same 1 through 36, plus a zero and a double zero. The extra pocket on the American layout is the entire reason the two games play differently for your money. The numbers 1 through 36 are split evenly between red and black, and the zero pockets are green. The sequence of numbers around the wheel is not in numerical order; it is arranged to scatter high and low, odd and even, red and black as evenly as the wheel's designers could manage.
When someone asks how many sections a roulette wheel has, the honest answer is that it depends on which wheel is in front of them. The rule that decides it is printed nowhere on the felt in large letters, but it is visible the moment you look at the wheel itself: if there is a double zero, you are on an American layout. If there is only one green zero, you are on a European layout. Some venues in some regions run one, some the other, and some offer both on different tables. The number of sections is not a stylistic choice; it is the structural fact from which every roulette payout ratio follows.
Why One Extra Pocket Matters
A roulette bet pays as though the zero did not exist. A straight-up bet on a single number pays 35 to 1, but on a European wheel there are 37 pockets, not 36. On an American wheel there are 38. That gap between the payout and the true odds is the house edge, and the extra zero widens it.
Here is the arithmetic in plain terms. On a European wheel, if a game returned a player 35 units for a winning single-number bet and the wheel had 37 equally likely pockets, the expected return would be 35 divided by 37, expressed as a percentage. On an American wheel, the same bet returns 35 units against 38 pockets. The return is lower because the denominator is larger while the payout stays the same. You do not need to memorise the percentages to understand the direction: the double-zero wheel takes a larger share of each wager over time.
The same logic applies to every bet on the table. Red or black, odd or even, high or low: these bets pay even money, but the zero pockets are neither red nor black, neither odd nor even, neither high nor low. When the ball lands in a zero, even-money bets lose on most layouts. With two zero pockets, that happens more often. The comparison is not subtle once you see the wheel.
| Feature | European wheel | American wheel |
|---|---|---|
| Number of sections | 37 | 38 |
| Zero pockets | 1 (single zero) | 2 (single and double zero) |
| Numbered pockets | 1 to 36 | 1 to 36 |
| Effect on even-money bets | Zero pocket loses the bet | Both zero pockets lose the bet |
| House edge on a single-number bet | Lower | Higher |
If you have a choice of tables, the wheel with fewer sections is the better mathematical proposition for the same bet. That is not a strategy for winning; it is a choice about the rate at which the game is expected to take your wagers. The wheel with 37 pockets simply retains less of each bet on average than the wheel with 38.
Reading the Layout: Inside and Outside
The wheel is only half of the game. The other half is the felt layout where you place chips, and the bets on it divide into two families: inside bets and outside bets. The distinction is positional, but it lines up with two very different risk profiles.
Inside bets sit on the numbered grid itself. A straight-up bet covers one number. A split covers two adjacent numbers. A street covers a row of three. A corner covers four numbers that meet at a point. A six-line covers two adjacent rows. These bets pay more because they win less often. The payout for each is set so that the house edge stays the same across all of them on a given wheel, but the variance is very different: a straight-up bet can go many spins without a hit, while a six-line hits more regularly for a smaller return.
Outside bets sit around the perimeter of the number grid. Red or black, odd or even, high or low, dozens, and columns. These cover large groups of numbers, pay closer to even money, and win often enough that a session feels steadier. What they do not do is change the underlying edge. A dozen bet pays 2 to 1 and covers 12 numbers; on a European wheel, 12 out of 37 pockets win. The payout is short of the true odds by exactly the same mechanism as every other bet.
| Bet type | Numbers covered | Payout | Feel of the bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight-up | 1 | 35 to 1 | Rare wins, large payouts |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | Infrequent wins |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | Infrequent wins |
| Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 | Moderate frequency |
| Six-line | 6 | 5 to 1 | More regular wins |
| Dozen or column | 12 | 2 to 1 | Steadier, smaller returns |
| Red/black, odd/even, high/low | 18 | 1 to 1 | Frequent wins, even-money payout |
One procedural note that catches new players: the payout odds printed on the table are not the true odds against winning. They are the payout the house offers, and they are deliberately short. A straight-up bet on a European wheel has one winning pocket out of 37, so the true odds against it are 36 to 1, but the payout is 35 to 1. That missing unit is the house edge in action. No bet on the table escapes it, and no combination of bets removes it.
The Sequence of a Round
Knowing the wheel count and the bet types is only useful if you know how a round runs. The sequence is fixed, and most of the procedural mistakes new players make come from not knowing where in the sequence they are allowed to act.
You buy in first. At a live table, you hand cash or chips to the dealer, who exchanges it for roulette chips. Roulette chips are often colour-coded per player so that the dealer can tell whose bets are whose on a crowded layout. You cannot use these chips at other tables; when you are done, the dealer converts them back to standard value chips or cash. At an electronic or online table, the buy-in is just a balance on the screen, and the software tracks your bets automatically.
Once the dealer or the software opens betting, you place chips on the layout. You can place multiple bets in a single round, and you can combine inside and outside bets freely. What you cannot do is place a bet after the dealer calls no more bets, or after the ball has dropped. The call is the hard stop. On a live table, the dealer usually waves a hand over the layout and announces it; online, the button greys out. Anything placed after that point is returned or refused.
The ball is spun in the opposite direction to the wheel's rotation, and it eventually drops into a pocket. The dealer marks the winning number on the layout, removes losing bets, and pays winners. Online, the software does all three instantly. Then the next round's betting window opens, and the cycle repeats. The entire round, from open to settlement, can take under a minute at a fast table.
Procedural Mistakes That Cost You Nothing but Dignity
The first mistake is betting late. It feels harmless, especially at a busy table, but a chip placed after the call is not a bet; it is an argument waiting to happen. The dealer will push it back, and if you insist, you will be told firmly. Watch for the call and have your chips placed before it.
The second is touching your chips after the ball has landed. Once the winning number is marked, the layout is frozen. Reaching in to move a losing bet or to pull back a winning one before the dealer pays it is the fastest way to get a warning. Let the dealer's hands do the work on the layout; yours stay behind the rail.
The third is not knowing which wheel you are on before you sit down. The number of sections is visible from across the room if you look at the wheel, and it determines the edge on every bet you will place. If you have a choice of tables and you care about the rate at which the game is expected to take your money, choose the wheel with fewer sections. If you do not have a choice, at least know what you are playing.
FAQ
Why do some roulette wheels have 37 sections and others 38?
The difference is the double zero. European roulette uses a single zero, giving 37 pockets. American roulette adds a double zero, giving 38. The extra pocket exists to give the house a larger edge on every bet, and it is the reason the American layout is generally the worse choice for a player comparing identical bets.
Does the number of sections change the payouts on roulette?
No, the payouts stay the same. A straight-up bet pays 35 to 1 on both wheels. What changes is the probability of winning: on a 38-pocket wheel, each number is less likely to hit than on a 37-pocket wheel, so the same payout is worth less in expected terms. The payouts are fixed; the odds are not.
Can I tell which wheel I am playing just by looking at it?
Yes. Look at the green pockets. If there is one green zero, it is a European wheel with 37 sections. If there are two green pockets, a zero and a double zero, it is an American wheel with 38. The double zero is usually marked 00 and sits opposite the single zero on the wheel.
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