The Different Bets in Roulette
Roulette bets are divided into two groups - Inside Bets and Outside bets.
You can easily spot these bets by how they are laid out on the Roulette table:
Inside Bets
Inside bets are the most lucrative in terms of payout ratios.
Here is a summary of all the various inside bets and their respective payouts:
Bet | Definition | Payout Ratio | Odds in American Roulette | Odds in European/French Roulette |
Straight / Single Bet | A bet on a single number | 35:1 in European and French Roulette, and 36:1 in American Roulette and European Roulette. | 2.70% | 2.60% |
Split Bet | Bet on two adjacent numbers | 17:1 | 5.26% | 5.41% |
Street Bet | A bet on three consecutive numbers. E.g 9-10-11 | 11:11 | 7.89% | 8.11% |
Corner/Square Bet | A bet on four numbers that meet in their corners. E.g 10-11-13 and 14. | 8:1 | 10.5% | 10.8% |
Top Line Bet/ Five number Bet | A bet on 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3. | 6:1 | 13.5% | Not applicable |
Six Line/Double Street Bet | A bet on six consecutive numbers that form two horizontal lines across the table. E.g 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36. | 5:1 | 15.8% | 16.2% |
How you place inside bets on the Roulette table:
- Split bet - The chip is placed between two numbers. In this example, you bet on 2 and 5.
- Street bet -The chip is placed at the edge line at the end of the row, indicating that you are betting on all three numbers of a horizontal line. In this example, you bet on 7, 8 and 9.
- Corner Bet - The chip is placed in the middle of four numbers that meet at their corners. In this example, you bet on 8,9, 11 and 12.
- Topline bet - The chip is placed at the bottom corner of 1, right on the edge line between 1 and 0. You thus bet on 0,00,1,2 and 3.
- Six-line bet - The chip is placed at the intersection of the edge line between two rows, indicating that you are betting on two adjacent horizontal rows. In this example, you are betting on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Outside Bets
Outside bets have lower payout ratios than inside bets, but also better odds. This is because you bet on significantly more numbers. Outside bets are also commonly referred to as Even bets.
Here is a summary of all outside bets, with their respective payout ratios and odds.
Bet | Definition | Payout Ratio | Odds in American Roulette | Odds in European/French Roulette |
Odd/even | Bet on all even or add numbers | 1:1 | 47.37% | 48.65% |
High/Low | Bet on whether your selected number will fall in the low range (1-18) or high range (19-36). | 1:1 | 47.37% | 48.65% |
Columns | Bet on one of three 12-number columns that span the longest side of the table. | 2:1 | 31.6% | 32.4% |
Dozens (1st , 2nd and 3rd) | A bet that covers a dozen numbers. You can bet on 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36. These numbers are referred to as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd dozen. | 2:1 | 31.6% | 32.4% |
Red/Black | Bet on all red or black numbers | 1:1 | 47.37% | 48.65% |
How you place Outside bets on the Roulette table:
- Dozens - The chip is placed in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd 12.
- Low/High - The chip is placed in 1 to 18 (low) or 19-36 (high).
- Even/Odd - The chip is placed in Odd or Even.
- Red/Black - The chip is placed on Red or Black.
French Bets
As the name suggests, French bets usually apply to French Roulette variants. However, occasionally, you can find them included in European and American versions as well.
French bets are sequences of numbers located close to each other on the Roulette table. These bets are offered as additional bets to the Inside and Outside bets.
The bets are placed in the racetrack section of the table layout, and essentially, you bet that the ball will land in a specific section of the wheel.
French bets are also commonly referred to as Call bets, as players usually call them out to the croupier in a live setting.
Here are the different French bets:
Voisins du Zéro (neighbours of zero)
This bet series covers all 17 numbers that are located between 22 and 25 on the Roulette wheel. As such, it includes the following numbers:
22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25.
This bet will cost you nine chips and is essentially a combination of the following Inside bets:
- Two chips on the 0-2-3 trio
- One chip on the 4-7 split
- One chip on 12-15
- One chip on 18-21
- One chip 19-22
- Two chips on the 25-26-28-29 corner
- One chip on 32-35
A Voisins du Zéro bet has a payout ratio of 11:1.
Le tiers du Cylindre (Third of the wheel)
This is a bet on the 12 numbers that are placed between 27 and 33. The bet series thus includes the following numbers:
27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33.
This bet requires six chips that are placed on the following Split bets:
- 5-8,
- 10-11
- 13-16
- 23-24
- 27-30
- 33-36
Le tiers du Cylindre bets have a payout ratio of 17:1.
Orphelins (Orphans)
This bet covers the two sections on the wheel that are not included in the Voisins du Zéro and Le tiers du Cylindre bets. It comprises the following numbers:
17, 34, 6, 1, 20, 14, 31 and 9.
This bet series will cost you five chips that are placed on four Split bets and one Straight bet. These are the five Inside bets included in an Orphelins bet:
- A Split bet on 6 and 9
- A Split bet on 14 and 17
- A Split bet on 17 and 20
- A Split bet on 31 and 34
- A Straight bet on 1
An Orphelins bet has a payout ratio of 17:1.
Jeu zéro (Zero Game)
This bet is also known as zero Spiel, a German term that translates to “zero game”. As the name implies, this bet includes numbers that are close to the zero.
All these numbers are included in the Voisins du Zéro bet, but they are placed differently in this bet. These are the numbers included in the Jeu zero bet:
12-35-3-26-0-32-15
This bet will cost you four chips and comprises these four Inside bets:
- A Split bet on 0 and 3
- A Split bet on 12 and 15
- A Split bet on 32 and 35
- A Straight bet on 26
A Jeu zero bet has a payout ratio of 11:1.
Neighbours Bet
A bet on one number and its four neighbours on the wheel. The term “neighbours” refers to the two numbers to the right and left of your chosen number. Your bet is then evenly divided between the five numbers, and each number has a payout ratio of 35:1.
How to Use Betting Strategies to Win on Online Roulette
Although online Roulette is a game of chance, betting strategies can arguably increase your odds of winning in the short term.
However, numerous mathematical studies clearly show that the house always gets the upper hand in the long-run.
Nonetheless, here are the most popular Roulette betting strategies:
Roulette betting strategies can be divided into two categories:
Progressive Strategies - These strategies are designed for Outside bets that have close to a 50% winning probability. For example, when you bet on Black/Red or Odd/Even. The Martingale and James Bond systems are both progressive strategies.
Flat Progression Strategies - These strategies are best suited for Inside bets where you win less frequently but receive significantly larger payouts. The D'Alembert system is an excellent example of a Flat progression betting system.
The Martingale system
The Martingale betting system is based on the simple principle of doubling your stake after every loss. To effectively use this strategy, you must place Outside bets with a high win probability of 50%.
These are the different bets you can make when applying this betting strategy:
- 1-18
- 19-36
- Black or Red
- Odd or Even
This is how you apply the Martingale strategy:
- Start the game with a small stake. Ideally, you should play with the minimum bet.
- Keep betting with a minimum stake until you lose.
- When you lose, you double your bet on the subsequent spin. If this spin wins, you will recover your loss from the previous spins and be left with a small win.
- If you lose, keep doubling your bet until you win.
- When you win, restart the process by going back to betting the smallest possible amount. Repeat the process.
The Reverse Martingale System
As the name suggests, this betting strategy reverses the Martingale system. Instead of doubling your bet after every loss, you double it after every win.
This strategy is based on the hypothesis that wins and losses come in streaks. It is also widely considered a suitable strategy for beginners as it is not as risky as the Martingale system.
Since you are only betting small amounts during your losing streaks, you can stretch your bankroll longer, and you will not suffer any massive instant losses. The idea is that you will recover these losses by betting big during a winning streak.
The D'Alembert System
The D'Alembert system uses the same principle as the Martingale system, but with a much less aggressive doubling down. Rather than doubling your stake, you gradually increase and decrease it as you win and lose. Like the Martingale system, this strategy is designed for bets with winning probability close to 50%.
Here is how you apply the D'Alembert betting system:
- Start by setting a “unit” that will be the backbone of your D'Alembert strategy. This unit could be a playing chip or a sum of money, but it should never exceed 1% of your bankroll. Some experts suggest you set the unit to no more than 0.33% to 0.55% of your bankroll.
- When you lose a bet, you increase your bet by one unit.
- When you win a bet, you decrease your bet by one unit.
This system will make you a profit even if the number of wins and losses are equal. As you may be able to tell, the D'Alembert is a low-risk system that does not yield any massive instant wins. However, it is also arguably the safest and most reliant betting strategy of all the ones we have mentioned.
The James Bond System
James Bond is a flat betting system, meaning that you wager the same amount on every round. However, if you feel daring, you could apply progressive betting to this strategy.
In the James Bond betting system, you place a $20 bet series on every round. This bet series comprises the following bets:
- A $14 Outside bet on 19 to 36.
- A $5 Line bet on 13, 14, 15 ,16, 17, 18.
- A $1 Single bet on 0.
By placing these bets, you will win on 25 of the numbers and lose on 12. Here are the different payouts:
- If the ball lands on 19-36, you win $8.
- If the ball lands on 13-18, you win $10.
- If the ball hits 0, you win $16.
- If the ball lands on 1 to 12, you lose $20.
At first glance, this strategy might seem like a waterproof betting strategy. After all, you have ensured a profit on most of the numbers. However, we can conclude that this strategy will put you at a deficit in the long run by running a few tests.
If you were to play 37 spins, and each number was hit once, this is what the results would look like:
Bets | Times | Total Profit |
Winning Single bet on 0 | 1 | $16 |
Winning Line bets on 13-18 | 6 | $60 |
Winning on 19-36 | 18 | $144 |
Losing $20 bets on 1-12 | 12 | $-240 |
Total profit | | -20 |
You are very unlikely to hit 37 different numbers on 27 spins, depending on how the chips fall you can either win or lose more. However, what this example shows you is that you can expect to lose $20 every 37 spins. The relatively high stakes in this betting strategy can also make it hard to recuperate losses after a lengthy losing streak.
The Fibonacci System
This betting strategy is named after the Italian 13th-century mathematician, Leonardo Pisano, who also went by the name Fibonacci. Pisano studied Indian and Arabic mathematical systems and introduced what has become known as the Fibonacci sequence in Europe.
In the Fibonacci sequence, each number is the sum of the two numbers preceding it in the sequence.
Here is an example that illustrates the Fibonacci sequence:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34
Like most other betting strategies, The Fibonacci system requires you to place Outside bets that have close to 50% winning probability. These are the various bets you can place when using this betting system:
- Odd/Even
- Black/Red
- 1-18
- 19-36
To implement the Fibonacci betting system, you must adhere to these two principles:
- When you lose a bet, you increase your bet by one step in the Fibonacci sequence. This means that your bet is the total sum of the previous two bets. If you are the start of the sequence, you simply bet the same amount again.
- When you win, you move two steps down in the sequence on your next bet.
This example illustrates the Fibonacci betting system over 10 spins:
Round | Bet Size | Win | Lose | Net Profit/Loss |
1 | $1 | | x | -$1 |
2 | $1 | | x | -$2 |
3 | $2 | | x | -$4 |
4 | $3 | | x | -$7 |
5 | $5 | | x | -$12 |
6 | $8 | | x | -$20 |
7 | $13 | x | | -$7 |
8 | $5 | x | | -$2 |
9 | $2 | x | | $0 |
10 | $1 | | x | $-1 |
As you can tell from this hypothetical example, you are only at a -$1 after 10 spins, during which you have suffered seven losses.
The Labouchere System
Similar to the other betting systems that we have mentioned, the Labouchere system requires you to place even bets. Again, by even bets we mean bets that have a winning probability close to 50%.
These are the bets you can place:
- Odd/Even
- Black/Red
- 1-18
- 19-36
The Labouchere system is also similar to the Fibonacci strategy in that it uses a sequence. However, in this betting system, you make up the sequence yourself.
Before you start playing, you should decide how much you intend to win and construct a sequence accordingly. For instance, if your goal is to win $10 in total, you might create a sequence that looks like this:
1-1-1-2-2-2-1
When you start playing, you take the leftmost and rightmost number and add them up to determine your bet size. If you were to use the sequence above, you would bet $2 on your first spin, as the first and last numbers are 1.
If you win, you cross the numbers out from the sequence and move on to the next two numbers in the subsequent spin. This means that your second spin would follow this sequence:
1-1-2-2-2
You would bet $3 on your second spin, as the leftmost and rightmost numbers in the sequence are 1 and 2. You then repeat this process after every winning spin until there are no numbers left in your sequence. You can then create a new sequence and start all over again.
In a nutshell, the Labouchere system follows these two principles:
- Cross out the leftmost and rightmost number after every winning spin.
- If you lose, you do not cross any numbers from the sequence, but simply keep playing with the same bet size.
If you win as much as you lose and do not hit a lengthy losing streak in the middle of your gaming session, the Labouchere system will ensure that you make a profit.
Round | Sequence | Bet | Outcome | Balance |
1 | 1-2-1-2-2-2-3 | $4 | LOSS | -$4 |
2 | 1-2-1-2-2-2-3 | $4 | LOSS | -$8 |
3 | 1-2-1-2-2-2-3 | $4 | WIN | -$4 |
4 | -2-1-2-2-2- | $4 | WIN | $0 |
5 | -1-2-2- | $3 | WIN | $3 |
6 | -2 | $2 | LOSS | $1 |
As you can see, the Labouchere system can leave you with a profit when you have as many wins as you have losses.
However, the final outcome will depend on your sequence and the length of your winning and losing streaks.