The extra pocket is the whole story
You sit down, buy in, and look at the wheel. It has 38 compartments. That single fact shapes every bet you can make at that table, because one of those compartments is the double zero, and it is not red, not black, not odd, not even, not high, not low. It is the reason the American layout keeps a larger share of each wager than the single-zero wheel does.
A European wheel carries 37 pockets: the numbers 0 through 36, with one green zero. An American wheel carries 38: the same 0 through 36, plus a second green pocket marked 00. Both wheels pay winning bets as if the zero pockets were not there. A straight-up win on any number pays 35 to 1, even though the American wheel gives you one chance in 38, not one in 37, of hitting that number. The payout did not change; the number of losing compartments did.
That gap between the payout and the true odds is the house edge. On the American layout, the extra compartment widens that gap on nearly every bet on the felt. When you hear someone say the double-zero wheel is the worse game for the player, this is the arithmetic behind the remark: you are paid for a 36-outcome wheel while playing a 38-outcome wheel.
What you are betting on
Roulette is a game of pure chance. No decision you make after the ball is launched changes where it lands, and no pattern of previous spins changes the next one. Each spin is independent. Your only real decisions are which bets to place, how much to stake, and when to stop.
The objective is simple: predict which compartment the ball will settle in, or at least which group of compartments it will belong to. You do this by placing chips on a layout printed beside the wheel. The layout mirrors the wheel's numbers, arranged in three columns of twelve, with the zero and double zero sitting above them. Around that grid sit the outside bets: red, black, odd, even, high, low, dozens and columns.
Every bet on the layout has its own payout and its own probability. The payouts are fixed and printed on the table. The probabilities follow directly from the wheel's 38 compartments. The difference between the two is the edge, and it is not the same for every bet, which is why the bet you choose matters more than any other choice you make at the table.
How a round runs from buy-in to settlement
You buy chips at the table, not at the main cashier. Roulette chips are usually a distinct colour per player so the dealer can tell whose bets are whose. You place cash on the felt, the dealer gives you chips, and those chips have no value at any other table; you convert them back to regular casino chips when you leave.
Once you have chips, the sequence repeats:
- The dealer opens betting. You place chips directly on the layout, one bet per position.
- The dealer launches the ball around the outer track in the opposite direction of the spinning wheel.
- At some point the dealer calls no more bets, usually as the ball slows. After that call, you cannot touch or move chips.
- The ball drops into a compartment. The dealer marks the winning number on the layout.
- Losing bets are swept away first. Winning bets are then paid at the posted odds.
- Only after the marker is removed can you touch your chips or place the next bet.
The procedural mistakes new players make cluster around that sequence. The first is reaching for chips after the dealer has called no more bets; the dealer will stop you, and if a dispute arises, the camera record will not help you. The second is placing a bet that straddles two positions without saying so, which forces the dealer to interpret your intent. The third is leaving the table with coloured roulette chips instead of converting them at the table; they are worthless at the cage.
Bet types and where the edge sits
The bets fall into two families: inside bets, placed on the numbered grid, and outside bets, placed around it. Inside bets cover fewer numbers and pay more; outside bets cover many numbers and pay less. The edge is built into all of them on the American wheel, but it is not identical across every bet, and one bet in particular is worse than the rest.
| Bet | What it covers | Payout | How the extra pocket changes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight-up | One number | 35 to 1 | Paid as if 1 in 36, but the wheel gives 1 in 38 |
| Split | Two adjacent numbers | 17 to 1 | Same gap: paid for 2 in 36, true odds are 2 in 38 |
| Street | Three numbers in a row | 11 to 1 | Paid for 3 in 36, true odds are 3 in 38 |
| Corner | Four numbers in a square | 8 to 1 | Paid for 4 in 36, true odds are 4 in 38 |
| Six line | Six numbers in two rows | 5 to 1 | Paid for 6 in 36, true odds are 6 in 38 |
| Red, black, odd, even, high, low | 18 numbers | 1 to 1 | 18 winning compartments, 20 losing ones on the American wheel |
| Dozens and columns | 12 numbers | 2 to 1 | 12 winning compartments, 26 losing ones |
| Five-number basket | 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 | 6 to 1 | The single worst bet on the American layout |
The five-number basket exists only on the American wheel, because it needs the double zero. It pays 6 to 1 on a five-number group, which is a worse rate than any other bet on the table. If you remember one thing about bet selection at a 38-compartment wheel, remember that this bet should be avoided entirely.
For the even-money bets, the arithmetic is stark. Red covers 18 compartments. Black covers 18. The zero and double zero are green, so they belong to neither. A bet on red therefore has 18 winning compartments and 20 losing ones, while being paid as if the odds were even. That two-compartment gap is the house edge on the American even-money bets, and it is larger than the equivalent gap on a single-zero wheel, where only one green pocket sits outside the colour bets.
Why the same game feels different on a single-zero wheel
The wheel type changes the edge, not the rules of play. The sequence of a round, the chip procedure, the bet names and the payouts are identical. What changes is the denominator: 37 pockets instead of 38. The house edge and the return to player are complements, summing to 100 percent for the same bet under the same rule set, so a wheel with one fewer losing compartment returns a larger share of wagers over the long run.
That does not make either wheel predictable in the short run. A session is a small number of spins, and variance dominates small samples. A player can win on a double-zero wheel and lose on a single-zero wheel in any given evening. The difference is a long-run statistical average, not a per-session guarantee, and no betting pattern changes it. Doubling after a loss, covering more of the felt, or switching colours after a streak redistributes when wins and losses land; it does not remove the built-in edge.
What genuinely changes under your control is which wheel you sit at when a choice exists, which bets you place, how much you stake per spin, and how long you stay. Those choices do not create an advantage, but they change the expected rate of loss, which is the only honest measure a player has at a game of pure chance.
Reading the table before you bet
Before you put a chip down, look at three things. First, the wheel itself: count the green pockets. One green pocket means a 37-compartment wheel; two means the 38-compartment American layout. The layout will also show it, because the double zero appears above the numbered grid. Second, the minimum and maximum signs. Roulette tables carry separate minimums for inside and outside bets, and the outside minimum is often higher. Third, the posted payout schedule, which should match the table above; if a payout differs, the house edge differs with it.
If the table offers a rule variant such as surrender on even-money bets, or a different payout on the basket, read the printed rule card before playing. Strategy charts for roulette do not exist in the way they do for blackjack, because there is no decision after the bet. The only strategic content is bet selection and stake management, and both are straightforward once you know which compartments the wheel contains.
FAQ
Is a 38-compartment wheel the same as American roulette?
Yes. The American layout is defined by the presence of both a zero and a double zero, giving 38 compartments in total. The European layout has a single zero and 37 compartments. The names refer to the wheel configuration, not to where the game is played.
Does the double zero change every bet equally?
No. The extra pocket widens the gap between payout and true odds on nearly every bet, but the five-number basket is disproportionately worse than the rest. Even-money bets also suffer more visibly, because the two green pockets sit outside red, black, odd, even, high and low, creating 20 losing compartments against 18 winning ones.
Can I bet on the zero and double zero together?
You can place a split bet covering both green pockets, which pays 17 to 1. You can also place a straight-up bet on either one. Both are ordinary inside bets with the same structural edge as other inside bets, and neither is affected by the colour bets, since the green pockets are not red or black.
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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.