American roulette is a casino table game played on a wheel with 38 pockets: the numbers 1 to 36, a single zero and a double zero. You place chips on a betting layout, the dealer spins a ball around the wheel, and you win if the ball lands on a number or group of numbers you backed. Knowing the layout, the bet types and the payouts is enough to follow a full round.
What Is American Roulette?
The Double-Zero Wheel Explained
The American wheel holds 38 pockets: 36 numbered pockets coloured alternately red and black, plus two green pockets marked 0 and 00. The dealer spins the wheel in one direction and launches a small ball in the opposite direction. As the ball loses speed, it drops into one pocket, and that number settles every bet on the table for that round.
How American Roulette Differs From European Roulette
The key difference is one extra pocket. European roulette uses 37 pockets with a single zero, while American roulette adds the 00. That extra pocket changes the probability of every bet, which is covered in the house edge section below. The betting table also differs, because the two zeros sit at the top of the American layout.
Getting Started at an American Roulette Table
Choosing Your Chip Value
At a physical table, you exchange cash for coloured chips that belong only to you, and you decide what value each chip represents. Online, you pick a chip denomination on screen instead. Every table also has a minimum and maximum bet, which are usually posted near the layout or shown in the game window.
Many players decide their budget for a session first and then choose a chip size that lets them play several rounds without using the whole budget in one or two spins. Picking the chip value before the first spin keeps the decision calm and avoids changing the amount mid-round.
Placing Chips on the Layout
The layout is a grid. Numbers 1 to 36 sit in three columns of twelve, with 0 and 00 at the top. Where you put a chip decides the bet: on the centre of a number is a single-number bet, on a line between two numbers covers both, and in a marked box outside the grid covers a larger group.
Chips must be placed before the dealer announces that betting is closed. Online tables usually show a countdown timer and let you tap or click an area to place the chip, so precision matters as much as it does at a live table.
Inside and Outside Bets
Inside bets are placed on the numbers themselves or on the lines and corners between them. They cover fewer numbers, so they pay more when they win but win less often. Outside bets sit in the boxes around the grid and cover large groups of numbers, so they pay less but win more often.
Understanding the Double-Zero Wheel
Numbers 1 to 36 and the Two Zeros
Each of the 38 pockets has the same chance of receiving the ball, which is 1 in 38, or about 2.63%. The numbers 1 to 36 form the playable grid, while 0 and 00 act as two additional outcomes that belong to no colour group and no odd or even group.
How the Green 0 and 00 Affect the Game
When the ball lands on 0 or 00, bets on red, black, odd, even, high, low, dozens and columns all lose, because the zeros do not belong to any of those groups. The only winning bets in that case are those that include the zero itself, such as a straight-up bet on 0 or 00 or a split covering them.
Red, Black, Odd and Even Numbers
Of the 36 numbered pockets, 18 are red and 18 are black, and 18 are odd and 18 are even. Because the zeros fall outside these groups, a bet on any one of them has 18 winning pockets out of 38, a probability of about 47.37% on each spin.
How an American Roulette Round Works
Making Bets Before the Spin
A round starts with the betting window. At a live table, the dealer clears the previous result and invites players to place chips, usually calling out a warning shortly before betting closes. You can place as many bets as the table allows, covering different numbers and groups at once.
The Wheel and Ball in Motion
Once betting closes, the dealer spins the wheel and sends the ball the other way. After a number of revolutions the ball loses momentum, leaves the rim and bounces among the pocket dividers before settling. Players cannot add or change bets after the dealer calls “no more bets”.
Winning Bets and Payouts
When the ball settles, the dealer marks the winning number, removes losing chips and pays winning bets. Payouts are stated as ratios such as 35 to 1, and a winning bet also returns your original chip along with the winnings.
American Roulette Betting Options
Straight-Up, Split and Street Bets
A straight-up bet is a chip on a single number, including 0 or 00, and pays 35 to 1. A split bet places the chip on the line between two adjacent numbers and pays 17 to 1 if either one wins. A street bet covers a row of three numbers and pays 11 to 1.
Corner and Six-Line Bets
A corner bet, also called a square or quad bet, places a chip at the intersection of four numbers and pays 8 to 1. A six-line bet covers two adjacent rows of three numbers, six numbers in all, and pays 5 to 1. Both give broader coverage than a straight-up bet.
Red or Black, Odd or Even and Dozens
Even-money bets cover 18 numbers each: red or black, odd or even, and low or high. They pay 1 to 1. Dozen bets cover 12 numbers each and column bets cover the 12 numbers in a vertical line, and both pay 2 to 1.
Understanding the House Edge
Why the Double Zero Matters
The house edge is the average percentage of each bet the casino expects to keep over a very large number of spins. On American roulette, most bets carry an edge of 5.26%. This comes from the 35 to 1 payout on a single number against 37 to 1 true odds, which works out to a 2 in 38 shortfall.
American vs European Roulette Odds
European roulette has 37 pockets, so its house edge on standard bets is 2.70%, roughly half the American figure. A single number has a 1 in 37 chance, about 2.70%, compared with about 2.63% on the American wheel, and an even-money bet wins 48.65% of the time versus 47.37%.
Playing American Roulette on 96 Bet
Players who want to try American roulette online can look for it on 96 bet, which lists casino and instant games alongside other categories. The platform can be reached through 96 com, and the 96bet game library may include different roulette formats, so it is worth confirming that the table you open is the double-zero version before you play.
