Atlassino Academy · Roulette · Lesson 3
Why every bet costs the same
A spread of chips across the layout is several bets at one price. Covering more of the wheel changes how often you are paid and how far a spin swings, not what the wheel keeps.
A chip on each of the three dozens, or a chip on red and a chip on black, or chips on every pocket the layout has. Does spreading money across the layout make the wheel any cheaper?
The short answer
No. On a wheel with one zero, every bet on the layout keeps 2.70% of the money on it, and a spread of chips is several of those bets side by side. So the spread keeps the same 2.70%, however much of the layout the chips cover. Covering more pockets changes how often you are paid and how far one spin can move you; it does not change the share the wheel keeps.
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
People at my table used to spread chips all over the layout and call it being careful: a chip on each dozen, a chip on red and one on black, a few more on the lines between the numbers. It looked like insurance. Every one of those chips paid the same price on every spin, and covering more of the layout never once lowered that price.
One wheel, one price
The house edge is the share of each bet that stays with the table on average, over many bets. On a wheel with one zero, that share is 2.70% for a bet on red, and it is the same for every other bet on the layout.
The reason fits in one count. Picture one full turn of the wheel: 37 spins, with the ball landing in each pocket once, and one chip put down on every spin.
A bet on red is paid on 18 of the 37 spins and brings back 36 chips over the turn. The chip that does not come back is the price: 1/37 of every chip put down.
That is true of every payout on this layout, not only of red. A single number paid 35 to 1 brings back 36 chips over a full turn; a dozen paid 2 to 1 brings back 36; a corner paid 8 to 1 brings back 36. Every payout on the cloth is cut for a wheel of thirty-six pockets.
Seen from a single number: its true odds are 36 to 1, because the wheel has 37 pockets, and the table pays it 35 to 1. The one pocket that makes the difference is the zero.
A wheel with two zeros, and its one exception
Add a double zero to the wheel and a single number is still paid 35 to 1, but a full turn is now 38 spins. The chance of a single number becomes one in 38 instead of one in 37, and the price of every bet rises to 5.26%.
One bet on that wheel does not fit even that pattern: the bet on the zero, the double zero, 1, 2 and 3, paid 6 to 1. Five pockets paid 6 to 1 bring back 35 chips over a full turn, not 36, and so that one bet keeps 7.89%.
| The wheel | Every bet but one | The bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 |
|---|---|---|
| One zero, 37 pockets | 2.70% | not on this wheel |
| A zero and a double zero, 38 pockets | 5.26% | 7.89% |
Covering more of the wheel
A spread of chips is not one bet with a special price. A spread is several bets, each carrying its own price on the chips it holds, and on this wheel every one of those prices is the same. Put one chip on each of the three dozens and the layout looks nearly covered.
Every numbered pocket is covered, and the spread still keeps 2.70% of the chips on it, because each of the three dozens keeps that share of the chip it holds.
Close the last pocket as well: three chips on each dozen, and one chip on the 0, bet as a single number. Now every pocket on the wheel is covered.
- 3 chips the first dozen, 1 to 12
- 3 chips the second dozen, 13 to 24
- 3 chips the third dozen, 25 to 36
- 1 chip the 0 on its own
| Where the ball lands | Pockets like this | Chips paid | Chips lost | The spread ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A numbered pocket, 17 for instance | 36 | 6 | 7 | 1 chip behind |
| The zero | 1 | 35 | 9 | 26 chips ahead |
Over one full turn, 370 chips go down and the spread ends 10 chips behind: 2.70% of the chips put down, the same share as a single chip on a single number. Covering every pocket did not remove the price; it moved the price onto the 36 spins where the spread comes out a chip behind.
What covering does change
Five spreads of 10 chips each, all on the same wheel: how often each comes out ahead or behind, and how far one spin can move it.
| The spread | Pockets covered | Pockets that leave the spread ahead | Pockets that leave the spread behind | Most chips one spin can bring | Most chips one spin can take | Share the table keeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ten chips on one number | 1 | 1 | 36 | 350 | 10 | 2.70% |
| Ten chips on low, 1 to 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 10 | 10 | 2.70% |
| Five chips on each of two dozens | 24 | 24 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 2.70% |
| One chip on each of ten numbers | 10 | 10 | 27 | 26 | 10 | 2.70% |
| The dozens and the zero | 37 | 1 | 36 | 26 | 1 | 2.70% |
That is the whole trade. Covering more pockets swaps a rare, large payment for a frequent, small one, and it swaps a spin that takes everything for many spins that take a little. It feels steadier, and it costs the same.
Red and black at once
The most common spread of all is a chip on red and a chip on black together. Every number from 1 to 36 is either red or black, so one of the two bets is paid on every numbered pocket — and when the ball lands on the zero, every outside bet loses, the pair included.
- A red number comes upThe bet on red is paid one chip and the bet on black loses one chip: the pair is level. That happens on 18 pockets.
- A black number comes upThe bet on black is paid one chip and the bet on red loses one chip: level again, on another 18 pockets.
- The zero comes upBoth bets lose. That happens on one pocket, and it is the only spin that moves the pair at all.
Two chips go down on every spin. Over one full turn of 37 spins, the pair is level on 36 of them and loses both chips on the zero: 2.70% of the chips put down, exactly what either bet keeps on its own.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Spreading chips across the board makes the evening feel safer. It isn’t cheaper. Being paid something on most spins is exactly what makes it easy to keep playing past the amount you meant to spend.
Decide the money and the time before you sit down, and stop when either one runs out. A loss is not a debt the table owes you: putting more down to get it back only makes the evening dearer.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.
Show all provinces
If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country
Practice: cover the wheel
Each moment lays out a spread of 10 chips of 10 units each — an example amount, not a suggested bet — the way people spread chips to make a wheel feel safer: dozens, columns, even-money bets, single numbers and the lines between them. Before the answer opens, say what share of the chips the spread keeps, and how sure you are of it. Amounts are in betting units, not pesos: a unit can stand for any amount, and the arithmetic is the same at any scale.
Nothing here is scored. This practice is a reference: there is no strip of squares, and the spreads come one after another in order, each with its reading underneath — how many pockets the spread covers, what each pocket does to the spread, and the share it keeps.
Lesson done
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A wheel with a zero and a double zero · 10 chips of 10 units each, an example amount
- 3 chips the first dozen, 1 to 12
- 3 chips the second dozen, 13 to 24
- 4 chips the third dozen, 25 to 36
Before the ball is thrown: what share of the chips on this spread does the table keep on average?
- 5.26% Each bet on this spread keeps 5.26% of the chips it holds, so the spread keeps the same share of all 10 chips.
- 1.75% That is the price of one bet shared out among the 3 bets of the spread. Spreading chips does not share a price out: every bet carries the whole price on the chips it holds.
- Nothing at all: the spread covers 36 of the 38 pockets The spread leaves 2 pockets open, and when the ball lands in an open pocket every chip on the layout is lost. On 24 of the pockets the spread does cover, the spread still comes out behind. Covering pockets changes how often the spread is paid, not the share the spread keeps.
The spread covers 36 of the 38 pockets. The spread comes out ahead on 12 pockets and behind on 26 pockets. The most a single spin can bring the spread is 2 chips; the most a single spin can take is 10 chips. Over one full turn of the wheel, one spin landing in each pocket, the spread puts down 380 chips and ends 20 chips behind, which is 5.26% of the chips put down. At 10 units a chip, an example amount, that comes to an average loss of 5.26 units a spin.
Every spread in the practice run is read the same way: which pockets the chips cover, what each pocket does to the spread, and the share of the chips the spread keeps over one full turn of the wheel.
How the practice run works
Where the spreads come from. Every spread is a list of chips on the layout. Which bet a set of numbers makes, which pockets the chips cover and what every pocket does to the spread are all worked out when the page is built, by the same wheel model the rest of this track uses; nothing is typed in as an answer. The share the spread keeps is counted twice, pocket by pocket and bet by bet, and the page refuses to build if the two counts disagree.
The wrong answers. Each wrong answer is a named mistake: the price of one bet shared out among the bets of the spread, the idea that covering pockets means paying nothing, or the price of a different wheel or of every bet but the exception.
What the practice cannot do. The practice records the answer you pick and nothing about how sure you were, so say that part to yourself before you pick. No spread uses red or black: the layout drawn here does not say which numbers are which colour. Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. Three dozens, red with black, or every pocket covered: each arrangement is a set of bets at the same price, so the wheel keeps the same share of the money in all three. Spreading chips chooses how the evening swings, and nothing more.
Where to check this, and further reading
18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Reglamento de Ruleta · Lotería de Córdoba S.E.Córdoba’s roulette rules: the bet types, what each pays, the colour chips and what “no va más” means.
- Resolución 1452/12, Anexo I: Ruleta Americana (Reglamento del Juego) · Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos de la Provincia de Buenos AiresThe Buenos Aires province rulebook: each bet with the number of paying and of losing outcomes, and the rules for chips.
- Ruleta / Juegos tradicionales de casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · Instituto de Ayuda Financiera a la Acción Social, Entre RíosA one-page guide from Entre Ríos with the two kinds of chips and what every bet pays.
- Información sobre juegos vivos o de paño: ruletas, pagos, probabilidades y tablas · Instituto Provincial de Juegos y Casinos de Mendoza (SAPIA)The only Argentine regulator document we found that states the house edge: 5.26 % on a double-zero wheel, 2.70 % on a single-zero wheel.
How it’s worked out
Numbers, sources and hosts
Where this happens. Every wheel on this page is a live table in a room you can walk into. An electronic wheel and a screen at home belong to other lessons.
Which wheel. The counting on this page is done on a wheel with one zero, the wheel the rule books we read for these tables describe. The wheel with a zero and a double zero appears only as the comparison, with the one bet it has that this wheel does not.
Numbers. Every figure on this page is worked out when the page is built. The price of a single bet comes from the same model the house edge tool uses: so many pockets, so many of those pockets covered, paid so much. The figures for a spread come from the wheel model of this track: which bet a set of numbers makes, which pockets a spread covers, and what the ball landing in each pocket does to the spread, one pocket at a time. The share a spread keeps is counted twice, once pocket by pocket and once bet by bet, and the page refuses to build if the two counts disagree. Each figure is recomputed by our checks from the engine rather than read back from this page.
The pictures. The layout drawn here is the printed cloth, with the numbers where a layout prints them. The wheel itself is not drawn, and neither is the colour of any number: the lesson is about how many pockets a bet covers, not which of them are red. So no spread in the practice uses red or black, and the red-and-black examples are counted as two bets of eighteen pockets each.
What is deliberately absent. The full list of what each bet pays, and how a dealer counts a payout, is lesson 4.2; the names of the bets and where the chips go are lesson 4.1. No rule book and no casino page we could read prints a rule that hands back half of an even-money bet, or holds the bet for another spin, when a zero comes up: la partage and en prison appear in none of the documents we could read, so no figure here assumes either. The practice records the answer you pick, and not how sure you were of it.
Sources. Every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it. The price of each wheel quoted there is checked against the figure our own counting produces.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Roulette is played against the house on every bet. Knowing that every spread keeps the same share does not make any spread cheaper, nothing on this page makes an evening at the wheel cost less, and nothing here says how an evening would end.
Almost any bet, one price
Numeros 00-0-36 35:1 2,63% 5.26% Dobles 17:1 5.26% 5.26% Calle (Triple) 11:1 7.89% 5.26% Esquina 8:1 10.53% 5.26% 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89% Línea seis 5:1 15.79% 5.26% Columna / Docena 2:1 31.58% 5.26%Free translation: Numbers 00-0-36 35:1 2.63% 5.26% Doubles 17:1 5.26% 5.26% Street (Triple) 11:1 7.89% 5.26% Corner 8:1 10.53% 5.26% 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89% Six line 5:1 15.79% 5.26% Column / Dozen 2:1 31.58% 5.26%
A game of chance
Juego de Azar que emplea una rueda horizontal con 37 casilleros radiales numerados, alojados en una cazuela.Free translation: Game of chance that uses a horizontal wheel with 37 numbered radial compartments, housed in a bowl.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
What a zero does to the outside bets
Cuando la bola se encasilla en el número cero (0), pierden todas las chances sin excepción.Free translation: When the ball lands in the number zero (0), all chances lose without exception.
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
Saliendo el Cero: todas las Chances pierdenFree translation: When Zero comes up: all Chances lose
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
En el caso de salir el cero o doble cero, las suertes sencillas al igual que las docenas y columnas pierden, y el resto de apuestas que involucren al cero se pagan normalmente.Free translation: If the zero or double zero comes up, the simple bets as well as the dozens and columns lose, and the rest of the bets that involve the zero are paid normally.
Two zeros instead of one
−1×37/38 + 35×1/38 = −0.0526 (5.26% de margen de la casa)Free translation: −1×37/38 + 35×1/38 = −0.0526 (5.26% house edge)
The one bet with a price of its own
0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89%
What the house edge is
El porcentaje o Margen de la Casa (llamado también ganancia esperada) es la cantidad que el jugador pierde en relación con cualquier apuesta que haga, como promedio.Free translation: The percentage or House Edge (also called expected gain) is the amount that the player loses, on average, in relation to any bet he makes.
Almost any bet, one price
Numeros 00-0-36 35:1 2,63% 5.26% Dobles 17:1 5.26% 5.26% Calle (Triple) 11:1 7.89% 5.26% Esquina 8:1 10.53% 5.26% 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89% Línea seis 5:1 15.79% 5.26% Columna / Docena 2:1 31.58% 5.26%Free translation: Numbers 00-0-36 35:1 2.63% 5.26% Doubles 17:1 5.26% 5.26% Street (Triple) 11:1 7.89% 5.26% Corner 8:1 10.53% 5.26% 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89% Six line 5:1 15.79% 5.26% Column / Dozen 2:1 31.58% 5.26%
The price of a wheel with one zero
−1×36/37 + 35×1/37 = −0.0270 (2.70% de margen de la casa)Free translation: −1×36/37 + 35×1/37 = −0.0270 (2.70% house edge)
True odds against what the bet pays
Sin embargo, la casa también tiene un margen sobre las apuestas interiores, ya que los pagos son siempre de 35 a 1, cuando matemáticamente tienes 37 a 1 posibilidades de ganar una apuesta directa a un solo número.Free translation: However, the house also has an edge on inside bets, since the payouts are always 35 to 1, when mathematically you have 37 to 1 chances of winning a straight-up bet on a single number.
Where the difference comes from
La presencia de las casillas verdes en la ruleta y en la mesa son técnicamente el único margen de la casa.Free translation: The green boxes on the wheel and on the table are technically the only house edge.
One chance in thirty-seven against one in thirty-eight
En la ruleta europea, un solo número gana 1/37 y pierde 36/37Free translation: On European roulette, a single number wins 1/37 and loses 36/37
hay una probabilidad de 1/38 de que ese jugador gane 35 veces su apuesta, y una de 37/38 a que la pierde.Free translation: there is a probability of 1/38 that this player wins 35 times their bet, and one of 37/38 that they lose it.
The price of a wheel with two zeros
−1×37/38 + 35×1/38 = −0.0526 (5.26% de margen de la casa)Free translation: −1×37/38 + 35×1/38 = −0.0526 (5.26% house edge)
The one bet with a price of its own
0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89%
A chip on a zero
Apostando a Pleno, se paga treinta y cinco (35) veces la apuesta. Consiste en apuntar, dentro del cuadrado formado por las líneas que lo separan entre sí a cualquiera de los treinta y siete (37) números en que está dividido el tablero.Free translation: A straight-up bet (pleno) pays thirty-five (35) times the bet. It consists of placing the bet, within the square formed by the lines that separate it from the others, on any one of the thirty-seven (37) numbers into which the layout is divided.
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
Pleno: Juega un solo número, incluyendo el 0 y su pago es de 35 a 1Free translation: Pleno: Plays a single number, including the 0, and pays 35 to 1
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
Apostar a Pleno consiste en colocar la/s ficha/s dentro de uno de los espacios numerados del CERO (0) al TREINTA Y SEIS (36). Hay 37 ubicaciones para jugarlo. Ofrece una posibilidad de ganar 36 de perder. Gana 35 veces la postura.Free translation: Betting on a Pleno consists of placing the chip(s) inside one of the numbered spaces from ZERO (0) to THIRTY-SIX (36). There are 37 positions in which to play it. It offers one chance of winning and 36 of losing. It pays 35 times the stake.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
Every bet costs the same
Numeros 00-0-36 35:1 2,63% 5.26% Dobles 17:1 5.26% 5.26% Calle (Triple) 11:1 7.89% 5.26% Esquina 8:1 10.53% 5.26% 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89% Línea seis 5:1 15.79% 5.26% Columna / Docena 2:1 31.58% 5.26%Free translation: Numbers 00-0-36 35:1 2.63% 5.26% Doubles 17:1 5.26% 5.26% Street (Triple) 11:1 7.89% 5.26% Corner 8:1 10.53% 5.26% 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 6:1 13.16% 7.89% Six line 5:1 15.79% 5.26% Column / Dozen 2:1 31.58% 5.26%
The red and the black numbers
Colorado: 1-3-5-7-9-12-14-16-18-19-21-23-25-27-30-32-34 y 36.Free translation: Red: 1-3-5-7-9-12-14-16-18-19-21-23-25-27-30-32-34 and 36.
Negro: 2-4-6-8-10-11-13-15-17-20-22-24-26-28-29-31-33 y 35.Free translation: Black: 2-4-6-8-10-11-13-15-17-20-22-24-26-28-29-31-33 and 35.
Section Capítulo 1, Ruleta Americana: Reglamento del Juego (1.1 a 1.10)
What a zero does to the outside bets
Cuando la bola se encasilla en el número cero (0), pierden todas las chances sin excepción.Free translation: When the ball lands in the number zero (0), all chances lose without exception.
Lotería de Córdoba S.E. (portal) · Reglamento de Ruleta · read
Saliendo el Cero: todas las Chances pierdenFree translation: When Zero comes up: all Chances lose
IAFAS Entre Ríos · Ruleta / Juegos Tradicionales de Casinos (DOC-H8-GCA-CSJ-004 V00) · read
En el caso de salir el cero o doble cero, las suertes sencillas al igual que las docenas y columnas pierden, y el resto de apuestas que involucren al cero se pagan normalmente.Free translation: If the zero or double zero comes up, the simple bets as well as the dozens and columns lose, and the rest of the bets that involve the zero are paid normally.