The wheel with one extra pocket
Walk up to a roulette table and the first thing that tells you which game you are looking at is the wheel itself. A double zero wheel has 38 numbered pockets: 1 through 36, a single zero, and a double zero. That second green pocket is the entire difference between this game and its single zero cousin, and it is the reason every bet on the table pays at odds that assume only 36 losing numbers exist when there are 37.
The numbers are not arranged randomly around the wheel. The layout alternates red and black pockets for the numbered slots, while the zero and double zero sit opposite each other in green. The sequence around the cylinder is fixed so that high and low numbers, odd and even numbers, and red and black pockets are distributed in a way that prevents long runs of any one characteristic. You do not need to memorise the sequence to play, but knowing that the wheel is a physical object with a fixed order helps you understand why the ball behaves the way it does: it is dropped against the direction of the spinning wheel, bounces off deflectors, and settles into whichever pocket it happens to find.
The table layout mirrors the wheel. The numbered boxes are arranged in three columns of twelve, with the zero and double zero sitting at the head of the layout. Around the outside you will find the even-money betting areas: red or black, odd or even, and low or high. This is where most new players start, and it is also where the double zero pocket does its quiet work.
What the extra pocket does to the odds
Every payout in roulette is calculated as if the wheel had 36 pockets. A straight-up bet on a single number pays 35 to 1. A split bet on two numbers pays 17 to 1. A street bet on three numbers pays 11 to 1. Those payouts would be exactly fair on a wheel with 36 pockets and no zeros. The zeros exist to tilt the arithmetic toward the house, and a double zero wheel tilts it further than a single zero wheel does.
The cleanest way to see this is on an even-money bet. You place a wager on red. There are 18 red pockets on a double zero wheel. There are 18 black pockets, plus the zero and the double zero. That means 20 pockets lose your bet and 18 win it, even though the payout is 1 to 1. On a single zero wheel the same bet faces 19 losing pockets against 18 winning ones. The double zero pocket has added one more way to lose without changing the payout at all.
| Wheel type | Total pockets | Zero pockets | Losing pockets on an even-money bet | Winning pockets on an even-money bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| European (single zero) | 37 | 1 | 19 | 18 |
| American (double zero) | 38 | 2 | 20 | 18 |
The same principle applies to every bet on the layout. A straight-up number wins on 1 pocket out of 38 but pays as if it won on 1 out of 36. A corner bet covering four numbers wins on 4 pockets out of 38 but pays 8 to 1, which is the fair price for 4 out of 36. The gap between the actual probability and the payout is the house edge, and on a double zero wheel that gap is wider on every single wager than it is on a single zero wheel.
How a round plays out
The sequence of a roulette round is the same on both wheel types, and it is worth walking through once so the rhythm of the table does not catch you off guard. You buy in at the table by placing cash on the layout; the dealer exchanges it for roulette chips, which are different from the chips used at other table games because they are not marked with a denomination. Each player at the table receives a distinct chip colour so the dealer can tell whose bets belong to whom. If you are playing at a terminal or an electronic table, the buy-in happens through the machine instead, but the betting sequence is the same.
Once the dealer announces that betting is open, you place chips on the layout. You can bet on a single number by putting a chip fully inside that number's box. You can bet on a line between two numbers for a split, on the outer corner of four numbers for a corner bet, or on the marked areas around the layout for the outside bets. There is no turn-taking; everyone bets at once, and the dealer will call "no more bets" before the ball is released.
The ball spins in the opposite direction to the wheel. When it drops into a pocket, the dealer places a marker on the winning number on the layout, clears all losing bets first, and then pays the winners. Losing bets are swept away before winning bets are paid, which is a procedural detail worth knowing because it means you should not touch your chips until the dealer has finished the entire payout sequence. Reaching for a winning bet too early is one of the most common new-player mistakes at a live table.
The bets you can make and how they differ
Roulette bets divide into two families: inside bets, which sit on the numbered grid, and outside bets, which sit around it. Inside bets cover fewer numbers and pay more. Outside bets cover more numbers and pay less. The trade-off is not just payout size; it is also the shape of the risk. A straight-up bet pays 35 to 1 but loses almost all the time. An even-money bet pays 1 to 1 but loses only slightly more than half the time on a double zero wheel.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Payout | What the bet means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35 to 1 | A single number, chip fully inside the box |
| Split | 2 | 17 to 1 | Chip on the line between two adjacent numbers |
| Street | 3 | 11 to 1 | A row of three numbers, chip on the outer edge of the row |
| Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 | Four numbers meeting at one corner |
| Six line | 6 | 5 to 1 | Two adjacent rows of three |
| Dozen or column | 12 | 2 to 1 | A block of twelve numbers or one of the three vertical columns |
| Even-money bets | 18 | 1 to 1 | Red or black, odd or even, low or high |
One point of confusion deserves attention: the zero and double zero are not covered by any of the even-money bets. They are not red, not black, not odd, not even, not low, not high. When the ball lands in either green pocket, every even-money bet on the table loses. Some tables offer a special bet called the five-number bet covering 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3, which pays 6 to 1. It is worth knowing that this bet exists, and it is worth knowing that the payout is worse relative to its probability than the other inside bets, because five numbers paying 6 to 1 on a 38-pocket wheel leaves a larger gap than a four-number corner bet paying 8 to 1.
Where the house edge comes from
The house edge on a double zero wheel is built into the wheel itself, not into any decision you make. It does not matter which numbers you pick, how you spread your chips, or what betting pattern you use. The wheel has 38 pockets and the payouts are structured for 36, and that gap belongs to the house on every spin. A player who bets red every spin, a player who bets their birthday, and a player who follows a progression all face the same arithmetic in the long run.
What changes from bet to bet is not the existence of the edge but its size. On a double zero wheel, the even-money bets carry a smaller edge than the five-number bet does, because the gap between the payout and the true odds is smaller. The five-number bet is the outlier in the other direction: it pays 6 to 1 for a bet that covers 5 numbers out of 38, which is a worse deal than any other standard bet on the layout. If you want to keep the expected rate of loss as low as the wheel allows, the even-money bets and the dozens or columns are the places where the arithmetic is least unfavourable. That is not a way to win; it is a way to lose more slowly.
Volatility works the same way here as it does on slots, though nobody calls it that at a roulette table. A straight-up bet has high volatility: most spins return nothing, and occasionally one returns 35 to 1. An even-money bet has low volatility: you win roughly half the time and lose slightly more than half the time. Your bankroll will move very differently depending on which family of bets you choose, even though the house edge on the wheel itself does not change.
Procedural mistakes that cost new players
The first mistake is touching a winning bet before the dealer has finished paying. The dealer clears losing bets, then pays winners in a specific order. If you move a chip while the payout sequence is still running, you create a dispute about what was bet and where. Wait for the marker to be lifted and the dealer to indicate the round is complete before you collect anything.
The second mistake is buying in mid-spin. You cannot place a bet after the dealer has called "no more bets," and you cannot buy in while the ball is already moving. Wait for the current round to settle, put your cash on the layout, and the dealer will give you chips before the next spin opens.
The third mistake is assuming the wheel has a memory. A run of red numbers does not make black more likely on the next spin, and a number that has not appeared for an hour is not due. Each spin is an independent event on a wheel with the same 38 pockets every time. Betting systems that raise or lower stakes based on previous results do not change the house edge; they change the shape of your session, making wins and losses arrive in different patterns without altering the long-run expectation.
FAQ
Is double zero roulette the same as American roulette?
Yes. The term double zero roulette refers to the American wheel layout, which has both a single zero and a double zero pocket. When a casino or a game menu says American roulette, it is describing this 38-pocket wheel.
Why does the double zero pocket make the game worse for players?
Because payouts are calculated as if the wheel had 36 pockets, and the double zero adds a 38th pocket without adding any new winning combinations. Every bet therefore wins slightly less often than its payout implies, and the gap is larger than on a single zero wheel.
Can I bet on both zero and double zero at once?
You can place a split bet on the line between the zero and double zero boxes, which pays 17 to 1 and covers both green pockets. You can also place straight-up bets on each zero separately. The five-number bet also includes both zeros along with 1, 2, and 3, but it carries a larger house edge than the other standard bets.
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