Roulette House Edge & Odds: Complete Guide

Jan 29, 2025 6 min

Ever wonder why the casino always has an edge in roulette? This guide explains how the house edge works and how it varies between different versions of the game. Understanding this can help you choose the best roulette variant for your style of play. Scroll down and elevate your strategies!

House Advantage Roulette
How to Calculate the Roulette House Edge?
The House Edge Depends on Variations
Roulette House Edge vs Other Games
Best Ways to Find the Best House Edge Roulette

House Advantage in Roulette

Roulette is among the casino table games with the lowest casino advantage. UK online casinos are transparent with this info and usually display it in the game’s description.

How does the house advantage work?

Casino games’ edges are expressed as a fraction of players’ losses over time.
Thus, the casino takes its share from all UK players’ bets, ensuring consistent profits.
Despite occasionally paying out significant wins, the balance sheet will always be positive.

The casino advantage for roulette is directly related to the green-pocketed number 0, in place to prevent gamblers from consistently winning even-money bets.

What if there was no zero?

UK players could bet on Red/Black and the other even-money bets at perfectly round 50% odds – it’s one of the reasons red and black roulette strategies work.
That, in turn, would allow guaranteed profits from the Martingale roulette strategy.
In order to profit, casinos add an element of disruption to even-money bets – the number zero.
With any added zero, as in double-zero or triple-zero, the casino edge increases.

How to Calculate the Roulette House Edge?

How to Calculate the Roulette House Advantage See the example below if you want to learn how to calculate the roulette house advantage. Let’s say you place a £1 bet on each number on the game wheel. You will have placed £37 worth of bets: £18 on black spots, £18 on red spots, and £1 on green zero. Because all of them are straight-up bets, the casino gives you 35/1 odds, meaning you stand to win £35 for each wager, plus get your £1 stake back. Increase the number of hands you play, and the difference will get more prominent. The basic formula to calculate the casino’s edge

You divide your initial bet of £1 by the number of spots.
You get something equivalent to 1/37, or 0.27.
Then you multiply the result by 100 and obtain a mean edge of 2.70%.

The House Edge Depends on Variations

There are multiple game variations, for which the edge differs. Let’s examine some of the more popular variations and see which promises UK players the best odds. The Roulette House Edge Depending on Variations

European Roulette House Edge

Many new UK players think they have a 50/50 chance to win, since you have equal numbers in Red/Black, High/Low, Even/Odd pairs. That’s best achieved by the European variant. The European roulette house advantage is the smallest compared to all the other variations, because it only features one green zero on the wheel. Without the zero, you’d be facing odds of 18/36 for even-money bets. However, when the zero pocket is added, odds shift to 18/37. UK players thus have 2.70% less chances of winning any even-money wager. But the same goes for various other betting odds, especially straight-ups.

French Roulette Rules

The French variant is pretty similar to its European counterpart in terms of house edge. Roulette, however, when played the French way, adds some unique rules which can cut the casino advantage in half.

One of them is the La Partage rule

The rule holds for even-money wagers and states that you may get half of your stake back if the ball lands on zero. In this case, the house advantage drops from 2.70% to 1.35%, the lowest in the game.

The other one is En Prison

En Prison literally translates to ’in prison’. Your even-money wager is metaphorically held hostage until the next spin should the ball land on zero. La Partage and En Prison explained

Suppose you bet £100 on Red.
The spin’s result is zero.
The dealer then asks you if you want half of your stake back (La Partage).
Suppose you deny their proposition.
In that case, your £100 is marked as En Prison.
Land-based casinos and live Roulette casinos may differ in how they mark your bet.
However, should the result of the next spin be a Red number, you get all your stake back.

American Roulette House Edge

The American roulette house edge is higher than its European counterpart. While most rules are the same, the number ordering is different. Moreover, the extra double-zero pocket on the wheel raises the casino advantage for this variant to 5.26%. Even-money bets odds With two more numbers on the wheel, the odds for even-money bets shift. In the European version, you stand a chance of 48.6% to win an even-money bet. Comparatively, with American variants, your winning percentage falls to 47.4%. Betting on dozens The same slight difference can be observed when you bet on dozens. This is one of the UK players’ favourites when betting on top roulette casinos, because choosing the right dozen of numbers returns a guaranteed 2/1 payout. If you play European variations, your chances to hit the correct dozen are 32.43%. In the American double-zero variation, your chances drop to 31.58%.

Zero House Edge Roulette

A zero-house advantage game is a pretty rare find. In fact, it would simply be absurd for casinos to feature a no-zero-roulette, because the number zero (or double-zero in the American version) is where they get their profits from!

Triple Zero Roulette House Advantage

As explained before, more zero fields entail a greater casino advantage. Consequently, the triple-zero-roulette house advantage is the highest among all variations. Triple-zero-roulette odds When placing even-money bets in this variation, your chances drop because there are more numbers overall on the wheel. With this kind of wager, your winning numbers are always 18 out of 39. Thus, your chances also fall to 46.15%. Choose another variant as your main game! In triple-zero-roulette, the odds are stacked against you. It can go from bad to worse if you don’t understand the logic behind casino advantage and place multiple bets. Even the American wheel would be a better option. Find all the reasons you need to go for a single-zero variant from our guide on European Roulette casinos online.

Mini-Roulette House Advantage

Mini-roulette is the game’s miniature version. Instead of 36 numbers plus the zero or double-zero, this wheel consists of 12 spots plus a green zero.

Roulette House Edge vs Other Games

Casino game type	Casino advantage
European Roulette	2.70%
American Roulette	5.26%
Baccarat	1.06 – 1.24%
Blackjack	~0.50 – 2%
Sic-Bo	2.78%

As a general rule of thumb, with each new bet you place, you get closer to the average casino edge.

House Advantages Visualised

To make things even simpler, check out the graph below for a visual representation of the most widely-played casino game types and their associated casino edge. House Advantages Visualised

Best Ways to Find the Best House Edge Roulette

Avoid roulettes with double-zero and triple-zero spots.
If you are a new player, start with a European wheel to get the hang of the game.
Play on a top European roulette casino site for verified casino authenticity and fair odds.
Look for French variants or other games allowing French call bets.
Applying all these steps will reduce the edge to approximately 1.5-2.7%.
Don’t forget to apply consistent bankroll management.
Place small bets, and never go all-in. Beginners should review our betting strategies.
Remember that you’re better off placing even-money bets rather than straight-ups.

Authors

AuthorCosmin BrehoiAuthor & Editor at CasinoAlpha

Where statisticians see numbers, Cosmin Brehoi sees narratives. A truly player-focused author with a bettor's heart and 3+ years of experience, he analyzes football matches not just through data points but through the human elements that algorithms miss. As he often says, "Betting isn't about luck—it's about knowing the limits of what you think you know."

Since 2021

ReviewerTudor TuriceanuFounder & Chief Editor at CasinoAlpha

Tudor Turiceanu is the Chief Editor and Founder of CasinoAlpha and its parent company, Extremoo Marketing. He coordinates a team of 30+ gambling experts that reviewed more than 600 online casinos and published 900+ educational guides in various markets since the platform was launched in 2021. Follow Tudor Turiceanu on: Linkedin Facebook X Crunchbase The Org Expertise Gambling Legislation: Review UKGC licenses Casino Testing: Making real money deposits with British banking methods, monitoring bonus terms, and testing withdrawal times Betting Strategies: Calculating the house edge, bankroll management, and knowing how to choose slots based on their RTP and volatility level Multi-Market Specialist: Testing payment methods across countries, dealing with different currencies, ensuring regulatory compliance Education Law Bachelor's Degree at Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Romania (2015) For Tudor Turiceanu, his educational background has been a great help in exposing casino brands that operate without a valid license, finding predatory bonus terms that just trap players, and fighting back against unfair withdrawal rejections for players. My Experience Since I joined the industry in 2007, I've spent many years wagering as a regular player who just chased the best promotions without carefully reading terms and conditions, which led me to lose money and learn hard lessons about wagering rules and the predatory terms in casinos. After almost a decade of experience as a regular player, I launched CasinoAlpha in 2021 in order to help others not repeat the same expensive mistakes we have made. Unlike other casino review platforms that just promote whoever pays the highest commission, I have decided to test every casino platform the way players would: through real money deposits and firsthand withdrawals through British payout methods. By following this approach, I've rejected multiple high-paying deals with unlicensed casino brands or those with predatory stipulations. Now, I lead a team of 30+ gambling experts across multiple markets, and our in-house developed 47-factor methodology applies equally to every platform, whether they're partners or not. How I Rank the Best UK Casinos We created our top UK casinos rankings based on performance, not commission rates or casino brand requests. A strict 47-factor methodology determines the rank of each casino. This includes verifying whether the license is valid, the withdrawal speed, promotion fairness, the quality of games, and the customer support team's responsiveness. CasinoAlpha has specialized rankings since we are aware that each player has their own set of priorities: Best bonus casinos with low rollover rules between 25x and 30x, fair bonus rules, and high conversion rates that enable real money withdrawals Fastest withdrawal casinos offer quick payouts processed in less than 24 hours, prioritizing speed over game titles Best low deposit casinos accept minimum deposits from 1 to 10, with full bonus eligibility and access to games Why British Players Trust Tudor Turiceanu's Recommendations Tudor Turiceanu has maintained one principle since launching CasinoAlpha in 2021: always put players' interests first and commissions second. Meaning that Tudor has often rejected high-paying partnerships with unlicensed casino brands and published critical reviews of casino brands paying CasinoAlpha commissions when their services declined, and never changed casino ratings because operators offered higher ratings. CasinoAlpha's Editorial Policy requires dual analyst examinations, a minimum of 2 testers per casino brand, approval from the Chief Editor (Tudor Turiceanu's final review) before publication, and quarterly updates in order to show any relevant changes. Casino rating also gets re-evaluated entirely every 15 days, with instant updates when casinos have their license suspended, errors in payment, or licensing warnings. As seen on Tudor Turiceanu – Wikitia Vizaca Magazine – “Interview with Tudor Turiceanu: Founder & CEO of CasinoAlpha” (2022) Resident – “Inside CasinoAlpha: How Tudor Turicean is Revolutionizing Online Gambling” 1883Magazine – “The Future of Safe Online Gambling: Tudor Turiceanu, CEO of CasinoAlpha, on the Need for Legitimate Casino Reviews” Ante UP Magazine – “Tudor Turiceanu, CasinoAlpha, on the 6-Step Process to Finding the Best Online Pokie Sites” Entrepreneur “Black Mirror’s ‘Joan Is Awful’ Sparks Real-Life Worry Over Netflix’s Terms and Conditions” Business First – Tudor Turiceanu, CEO of CasinoAlpha: ‘UK Online Gambling Industry is a Key Contributor to Economic Growth’ European Gaming -Casino Alpha’s CEO, Tudor Turiceanu: “The Key To Attracting New Players is Low Wagering Bonuses”

Since 2007