The wheel you sit down at is a decision someone already made for you
Before you buy a single chip, the roulette table in front of you has already made its most important decision: whether the wheel carries one zero or two. That extra 00 pocket is not a cosmetic difference. It changes the arithmetic of every bet you can place, and it exists because of a deliberate choice made by American gambling houses in the nineteenth century.
The original roulette wheel, developed in France in the late 1700s, carried a single zero. When the game crossed the Atlantic and spread through the gambling halls of New Orleans and the riverboats of the Mississippi, operators found the game popular but the margin thin. Sometime in the mid-1800s, American houses began adding a second zero pocket, the 00, to the wheel. The precise date and the precise venue are not recorded in a single authoritative source, but the pattern is clear: the double zero appears in American game descriptions from the 1850s onward and becomes standard on American wheels by the end of that century.
The motive was not mysterious. Adding a pocket that pays no winning bet increases the share of every spin that the house keeps. A single-zero wheel gives the house an edge on most bets; a double-zero wheel nearly doubles that edge on the same wagers. The player still sees the same numbers, the same red and black alternation, the same ritual of the spinning ball. What changed is how often the ball lands somewhere that pays nobody.
What the 00 pocket does to the arithmetic
Roulette is built on a simple principle: the wheel has a fixed number of pockets, and a winning bet pays less than the true odds of that pocket appearing. The gap between the payout and the true odds is the house edge. On a European wheel with 37 pockets, a straight-up bet on a single number pays 35 to 1, but the true odds against that number are 36 to 1. That one-pocket gap is the house's share.
On an American wheel with 38 pockets, the same straight-up bet still pays 35 to 1, but the true odds against the number are now 37 to 1. The player has not gained anything; the wheel has simply added another losing pocket. The house edge on the bet rises accordingly. The same shift applies across the layout: split bets, street bets, corner bets, and the even-money outside bets all carry a larger house edge on the double-zero wheel because the 00 is an additional pocket that pays none of them.
The only bet on the American layout that acknowledges the 00 directly is the five-number bet, sometimes called the basket, which covers 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3. It pays 6 to 1, but with five winning numbers out of 38 and a payout below the true odds, it carries the worst house edge on the table. New players sometimes reach for it because it looks like a broad cover; mechanically, it is the most expensive single bet on the felt.
European and American wheels compared
The difference between the two wheel types is not a matter of taste or tradition. It is a structural difference in the game's mathematics, and it affects every decision you make at the table.
| Feature | European wheel | American wheel |
|---|---|---|
| Number of pockets | 37 | 38 |
| Zero pockets | Single zero only | Zero and double zero |
| House edge on most bets | Lower | Higher, roughly double on the same wagers |
| Five-number basket bet | Not present | Present, covering 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 |
| Rule variants | Some tables offer en prison or la partage on even-money bets | Rarely offered |
The en prison and la partage rules, where they exist, apply only to even-money outside bets when the ball lands on zero. Under en prison, the bet is held for the next spin; under la partage, half the stake is returned. These rules reduce the house edge on those specific bets. They are a feature of some single-zero tables and almost never appear on double-zero wheels, which is another reason the two layouts play differently.
How a round runs
Sitting down at a roulette table involves a sequence that is easy to follow once you see it laid out. The dealer controls the wheel and the ball; you control which bets you place and when you stop.
The round begins with the dealer clearing the previous result and announcing that bets are open. You place chips on the layout, either by handing cash to the dealer and receiving coloured wheel chips, or by placing your own chips if the table permits. Each player at a live table receives a distinct chip colour so the dealer can tell bets apart. Online, you select a chip value and click the layout.
Once bets are closed, the dealer spins the wheel in one direction and sends the ball in the other. The ball loses momentum, drops onto the wheel, and settles in a pocket. The dealer marks the winning number, clears losing bets, and pays winners according to the posted payout schedule. The cycle then repeats. Your only decisions in the round are which bets to place, how much to stake, and when to walk away.
The bet types and what they cost you
Roulette offers a wide range of bets, but they fall into two families: inside bets on specific numbers or small groups, and outside bets on larger categories such as red or black, odd or even, and high or low. Inside bets pay more because they win less often; outside bets pay less because they win more often. The house edge on a double-zero wheel is the same for most inside and outside bets, but the experience of playing them is very different.
| Bet | What it covers | Payout | How it plays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight-up | One number | 35 to 1 | Rare wins, large payout |
| Split | Two adjacent numbers | 17 to 1 | Moderately rare wins |
| Street | Three numbers in a row | 11 to 1 | More frequent than a split |
| Corner | Four numbers meeting at a corner | 8 to 1 | Broad inside cover |
| Five-number basket | 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 | 6 to 1 | Worst house edge on the table |
| Red or black | All pockets of one colour | 1 to 1 | Frequent wins, small payout |
| Odd or even | All odd or all even numbers | 1 to 1 | Frequent wins, small payout |
The payout column tells you what you receive for a winning unit stake, not what the bet is worth. A 35 to 1 payout on a straight-up bet sounds generous, but with 38 pockets on an American wheel, the true odds against any single number are 37 to 1. That gap is the house edge, and it applies on every spin, win or lose.
The mistakes that cost new players most
The first mistake is not checking which wheel is in front of you. A player who has read about roulette strategy and sits down at whatever table is available may not notice whether the wheel has one zero or two. The difference in house edge between the two layouts is the single largest variable in the game, and it is printed nowhere on the felt. You have to look at the wheel itself.
The second mistake is treating the five-number basket as a sensible cover bet. It covers five numbers and pays 6 to 1, which looks like a reasonable spread until you compare it with the true odds. On a 38-pocket wheel, five numbers should pay more than 6 to 1 to be fair. They do not, and the shortfall is the worst edge on the table. A corner bet covering four numbers pays 8 to 1; the basket adds one number and loses two units of payout. The arithmetic does not reward the extra coverage.
The third mistake is believing that a number is due because it has not appeared for many spins. The wheel has no memory. Each spin is an independent event, and the probability of any given number appearing is the same on every spin, regardless of what happened before. A long absence does not make a number more likely to appear next; it simply means the ball has not landed there recently.
Where the 00 leaves you
The double zero is a permanent feature of the American wheel, and it is the reason the American game is more expensive to play than its European counterpart. The change was made in the nineteenth century to increase the house's share, and it has never been removed. When you sit down to play, the first thing to look at is the wheel itself. Count the zero pockets. That single observation tells you more about the game you are about to play than any strategy chart or betting system ever will.
FAQ
Why does the American wheel have a 00 but the European wheel does not?
The double zero was added by American gambling houses in the 1800s to increase the house edge. The European game retained the original single-zero layout, which is why the two wheels differ today.
Does the 00 change the odds on every bet?
Yes. The 00 is an additional pocket that pays no winning bet, so the true odds against every other number or group of numbers lengthen while the payouts stay the same. That increases the house edge across the layout.
Is there any bet on the American wheel that avoids the 00 entirely?
No. Every bet on the layout loses when the ball lands in 00, just as it loses on 0. The only way to avoid the double zero is to play on a single-zero wheel.
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