American roulette is played on a 38-pocket wheel: the numbers 1 to 36 plus a single zero (0) and a double zero (00). The extra green pocket lifts the house edge to 5.26% on almost every bet, against 2.70% on a European single-zero wheel. The one exception is the 0-00-1-2-3 “first five” bet, which carries 7.89%.
American roulette is the standard form of the game in US casinos and is widely offered online. The rules, the layout and most payouts match European roulette. The differences are the second zero, the higher house edge that comes with it, and one bet that only exists on double-zero tables. This guide covers the wheel, the bets, the arithmetic behind the 5.26% figure and the rules to check before you play.
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The American roulette wheel
The wheel has 38 pockets. Thirty-six carry the numbers 1 to 36, and the other two are green: a zero (0) and a double zero (00). Reading clockwise from the 0, the numbers run in this order:
0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2
The wheel is built in opposite pairs. The 0 sits opposite the 00, red 1 opposite black 2, and black 17 opposite red 18. Each pair is 19 pockets apart.
The American roulette layout
The betting layout is the same grid of 1 to 36 used elsewhere, with two green cells at the top for 0 and 00. Chips placed on the numbers or on the lines between them are inside bets. Chips placed on the boxes around the grid (dozens, columns, red or black, odd or even, 1-18 and 19-36) are outside bets. The dealer calls “no more bets” while the ball is still moving, and after each spin a marker called a dolly is placed on the winning number.
The layouts below show each bet and its payout.
American roulette bets and payouts
Inside bets
- Straight bet: one number. Pays 35:1.
- Split bet: two neighbouring numbers, horizontally or vertically. Pays 17:1.
- Street bet: three numbers in a horizontal row. Pays 11:1.
- Corner bet: four numbers forming a square on the layout. Pays 8:1.
- First five bet: 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. Pays 6:1 and carries a 7.89% house edge.
- Six line bet: a block of six numbers. Pays 5:1.
Outside bets
- Columns Bets – Placing a bet on a column (there are 3 columns of numbers on the layout). Payout is 2:1.
- Dozen Bets – Placing a bet on a dozen (the 3 groups of 12 numbers from 1 to 36). Payout is 2:1.
- High/Low Bets – Placing a bet on a low number (1 to 18) or a high number (19 to 36). Payout is 1:1.
- Odd/Even Bets – Placing a bet on an odd or an even number. Payout is 1:1.
- Red/Black Bets – Placing a bet on the color of the lucky number. Payout is 1:1.
Payout summary
Payouts are the same as on a single-zero table. The house edge differs because there are 38 pockets rather than 37.
| Bet | Numbers covered | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up | 1 | 35:1 | 5.26% |
| Split | 2 | 17:1 | 5.26% |
| Street | 3 | 11:1 | 5.26% |
| Corner | 4 | 8:1 | 5.26% |
| First five (0-00-1-2-3) | 5 | 6:1 | 7.89% |
| Six line | 6 | 5:1 | 5.26% |
| Dozen or column | 12 | 2:1 | 5.26% |
| Red/black, odd/even, 1-18/19-36 | 18 | 1:1 | 5.26% |
Red/black, odd/even and 1-18/19-36 win 47.37% of the time (18 of 38), and neither zero is in any of them. For payouts on both wheel types, see our roulette odds and payouts guide.
Why the house edge is 5.26%
Take a straight-up bet. One pocket in 38 wins and pays 35:1, so over 38 equally likely outcomes you win 35 units once and lose 1 unit 37 times:
(35 ÷ 38) − (37 ÷ 38) = −2 ÷ 38 = −5.26%
The edge comes from the two green pockets. A fair payout on a 38-pocket wheel would be 37:1, but the casino pays 35:1, and the gap is those two pockets, 2 in 38. Even-money bets give the same result: 18 pockets win and 20 lose, so (18 − 20) ÷ 38 is also −2 ÷ 38. The edge is the same on every standard bet apart from the first five, so choosing a different bet does not improve your expected return. On average, a player loses about 5.26% of the total staked: roughly 5.26 for every 100 wagered, compared with 2.70 for every 100 on a European wheel. This is a long-run average. Any single session can finish ahead or behind, but the more you play, the closer results tend to move towards that figure.
On a European wheel, with one zero, the edge is 2.70% (1 in 37). 5.26% divided by 2.70% is about 1.95, so American roulette’s edge is roughly double the European one, not exactly twice.
The first five bet (0-00-1-2-3)
The first five bet, also called the top line, covers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. It exists only on double-zero layouts and pays 6:1. It wins 5 times in 38 (13.16%), so the arithmetic is:
(30 ÷ 38) − (33 ÷ 38) = −3 ÷ 38 = −7.89%
That is the worst bet on the table, 7.89% against 5.26% everywhere else. If you want to cover some of the same numbers, individual bets on them carry the lower edge. The first five also wins 13.16% of the time, which is the share of spins that land on one of its five numbers, and the 6:1 payout does not make up for the two pockets the casino keeps. Because the bet sits at the top of the layout, next to the zeros, it is easy to place without noticing how it compares with the rest of the table.
The Atlantic City half-loss rule
Most US casinos follow the standard rule: when 0 or 00 lands, every even-money bet loses. Atlantic City is the exception. There, even-money bets lose only half of the stake when 0 or 00 comes up. The rule is sometimes called “surrender”, and it resembles the half-back rule that French roulette uses in its la partage variant.
The effect is to halve the edge on those bets. Two pockets in 38 each cost half a stake instead of a full one, which gives 2 ÷ 38 × ½ = 1 ÷ 38, or 2.63%. Other bets keep the 5.26% edge. The rule applies to red/black, odd/even and 1-18/19-36 only. For example, a 10 unit stake on red loses only 5 units when the ball lands in 0 or 00, rather than all 10. Treat it as a rule to confirm at a specific table rather than something you can assume.
American vs European roulette
| American | European | |
|---|---|---|
| Pockets | 38 (1-36, 0 and 00) | 37 (1-36 and 0) |
| House edge | 5.26% | 2.70% |
| First five (0-00-1-2-3) bet | Yes, 6:1, 7.89% edge | No |
| Even-money bets when zero lands | Lose in full, except Atlantic City (lose half, 2.63% edge) | Depends on the game; French roulette returns half |
| Straight-up payout | 35:1 | 35:1 |
If you have a choice, the single-zero game costs less per spin. See our roulette rules for how the variants differ.
Playing American roulette online
Online, American roulette is played the same way: choose a chip, click the layout to place bets, then spin. Before you stake money, check the following in the game information:
- That the wheel has both 0 and 00.
- Whether the first five bet is offered, and how it is labelled.
- Whether any half-loss rule applies to even-money bets.
- The table limits.
You can try the game without risk first using our free roulette games. The calculator below shows the win probability and house edge for any bet you place on the layout.
American roulette calculator
Click any field on the layout and place a chip. The calculator displays the bet type, the winning odds and the house edge.
Place your bet
Chance of Winning
House Edge