The bet that covers six numbers at once
You are standing at a roulette table, chips in hand, and the layout in front of you is a grid of 36 numbers arranged in twelve rows of three. Most bets sit on a single number or a small cluster of them. A line bet is the exception that covers two full rows at the same time. It is one chip placed on the outer corner line where two rows meet, and it pays when any of those six numbers comes up.
The name changes depending on where you play. Some call it a six line bet, others a double street. The mechanics are identical: one wager, six numbers, one fixed payout. What matters is that you understand exactly which numbers belong to the bet and how the payout relates to the probability of winning.
How a line bet sits on the layout
The roulette layout is arranged in three columns of twelve rows. The numbers run 1 through 36, with zero (and double zero on an American wheel) sitting apart at the head of the table. A line bet covers two adjacent rows, meaning six numbers in total. For example, a chip placed on the line between the row containing 1, 2, 3 and the row containing 4, 5, 6 covers all six of those numbers.
Placement is precise. The chip must sit on the outer boundary line of the layout, at the point where the two rows meet, not on the corner where four numbers touch. If it sits on the corner, you have made a different bet entirely: a corner bet covering four numbers. If it sits on the line between two numbers, you have made a split bet covering two. The dealer and the layout make the distinction visually, but a new player who places a chip carelessly can find themselves holding a bet they did not intend.
Once the chip is placed, the bet is live for the next spin. If any of the six covered numbers lands, the bet wins. If any other number, including zero or double zero, lands, the bet loses. There is no partial payout and no second chance. The spin resolves the wager completely.
What a line bet pays
A winning line bet pays 5 to 1. That means a winning chip returns five units of profit plus the original stake, for a total of six units back. The payout is fixed and printed on the table's signage or available in the game information panel if you are playing online.
The reason the payout is 5 to 1 and not higher is straightforward. On a European wheel with 37 pockets, six numbers out of 37 win, so the true odds against winning are 31 to 6, which is just over 5.17 to 1. The house pays 5 to 1, keeping the difference as its edge. On an American wheel with 38 pockets, the true odds are 32 to 6, or about 5.33 to 1, while the payout stays 5 to 1. The extra pocket does not change the payout; it changes how often the bet wins, and that is where the American layout's larger edge comes from.
Line bets compared with other inside bets
Inside bets are the wagers placed on the numbered grid itself, as opposed to outside bets like red or black, odd or even, or high or low. Each inside bet covers a different number of pockets and pays at a different rate. The comparison below uses a European wheel, where the house edge on any inside bet is the same because the payout is always slightly short of the true odds.
| Bet type | Numbers covered | Payout | What changes for the player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35 to 1 | Rarest win, largest single payout |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | Twice the coverage of a straight, half the payout rate |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | One full row; chip goes on the row's outer line |
| Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 | Four numbers meeting at one corner |
| Line (six line) | 6 | 5 to 1 | Two full rows; the widest inside bet |
No inside bet is mathematically better than another on the same wheel. They all carry the same house edge because each payout is set at the same proportional shortfall from the true odds. What changes is the shape of the experience: a line bet wins more often than a straight bet but pays far less when it does, and it wins less often than an outside bet but pays more. Choosing between them is a choice about variance, not about improving the expected rate of loss.
The sequence of a round from buy-in to settlement
Understanding a single bet is easier when you see where it sits in the full rhythm of a roulette round.
You begin at the cashier or the table's chip rail. At a live table, you buy in with cash and receive roulette chips, which are coloured differently from player to player so the dealer can tell whose bet is whose. Online, you fund your account through the cashier and then choose a chip value from the on-screen selector.
Next comes the betting window. The dealer or the software opens the round, and you place chips on the layout. A line bet goes on the outer line between two rows. You can place multiple bets in the same round, and many players combine a line bet with an outside bet or a straight bet, but every chip is a separate wager with its own payout and its own chance of winning.
When the betting window closes, the wheel spins and the ball is released in the opposite direction. The ball loses momentum, drops into a pocket, and the winning number is announced. The dealer sweeps losing bets off the layout first, then pays winners. A winning line bet receives five chips for every one staked, plus the original chip returned. Online, the same sequence happens automatically: losing stakes are removed from your balance, winning payouts are credited, and the next round opens.
If you want to leave, you take your roulette chips back to the cashier and exchange them for cash. At an online table, your balance is simply your balance; there is no separate chip conversion step.
Where the house edge comes from on a line bet
Roulette's edge is built into the payout schedule, not into any hidden mechanism. On a European wheel, a line bet covers six of 37 pockets. The true odds against winning are 31 to 6. The house pays 5 to 1 instead, and that shortfall is the edge. The same arithmetic applies to every other inside bet on the same wheel.
On an American wheel, the double zero adds a 38th pocket that no line bet covers. The payout stays 5 to 1, but the bet now wins six times out of 38 instead of six out of 37. The shortfall grows, and so does the house edge. This is why the wheel type matters more than the bet type when you are comparing roulette games. A line bet on a European wheel loses at a slower expected rate than the identical bet on an American wheel, even though the payout is the same.
Volatility does not change any of this. A line bet is a moderate-variance wager compared with a straight bet, because it wins more often but pays less. That changes the rhythm of a session, not the long-run expectation. The edge remains with the house on every spin, and no progression of stakes alters it.
Mistakes that change what you bet
The most common error with a line bet is placement. A chip that drifts onto the corner where four numbers meet becomes a corner bet. A chip that sits on the line between two numbers becomes a split. The difference is not cosmetic; it changes the coverage and the payout. Before the ball drops, check that the chip is exactly where you intend it to be, and if you are at a live table, do not be shy about asking the dealer to confirm what a marginal placement means.
A second mistake is assuming a line bet covers six consecutive numbers on the wheel. It does not. The wheel and the layout are arranged differently. A line bet covers six numbers that are adjacent on the layout grid, but those numbers are scattered around the physical wheel. The bet is a layout bet, not a section bet. If you want to cover a physical section of the wheel, you would need to place individual bets on the numbers in that section, and that is a different strategy with a different cost.
A third mistake is treating the payout as profit without accounting for the stake. A 5 to 1 payout means five units of profit plus the original chip back. New players sometimes read the six chips returned as a six-to-one win. It is not. The payout rate and the total return are different numbers, and the distinction matters when you are tracking a session honestly.
How to confirm the rules where you play
Roulette rules are stable across most venues, but the wheel type is not. The single most important thing to check before you sit down is whether the wheel has one zero or two. The layout shows this immediately: an American wheel has both a 0 and a 00 pocket at the head of the table, while a European wheel has only a 0. Some venues also offer French roulette, which uses a European wheel and adds rules like la partage or en prison on even-money bets; those rules do not affect a line bet, but they do change the overall character of the game.
Payouts for a line bet are printed on the table signage at a live venue and in the game information panel or paytable online. If you are playing a live dealer game through an app, the interface usually labels each betting area when you hover or tap, and the label will say six line, line, or double street. Read that label before you commit the chip.
FAQ
Is a line bet the same as a double street bet?
Yes. The terms line bet, six line bet, and double street bet all describe the same wager: one chip covering six numbers across two adjacent rows on the layout. The payout is 5 to 1 under all three names, and the placement is identical. Different venues and software providers simply use different labels.
Can I place a line bet on any two rows?
You can place it on any pair of adjacent rows on the numbered grid, such as 1-6, 7-12, or 31-36. The rows must be next to each other on the layout. You cannot combine non-adjacent rows into a single line bet, because there is no shared boundary line to place the chip on.
Does a line bet cover the zero?
No. A line bet covers only the six numbers in the two rows you selected. The zero, and the double zero on an American wheel, are separate pockets that sit outside the numbered grid. If the ball lands on zero, a line bet loses, just as it would on any other uncovered number.
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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.