BigBunny Roulette: The Wheel, the Table and What Each Bet Pays
Roulette is a wheel game: you bet where the ball will land among 37 pockets (single zero) or 38 (double zero).
Key facts and contents
- BigBunny Blackjack
- In blackjack you try to beat the dealer's hand without going over 21.
- BigBunny Face Cards
- Face cards are the jack, queen and king, 12 in a 52-card pack.
- BigBunny Perfect Pairs
- Perfect Pairs is a blackjack side bet that wins when your first two cards are a pair.
- BigBunny Poker
- In Texas Hold'em poker you get two private cards, share five community cards, and make the best five-card hand.
Roulette is the easiest table game to start, because every decision is a choice of where to put chips. This page explains how the wheel works, lays out the ten bets with the payout each one carries, and shows how the layout is arranged. It is the natural second stop after the wider tour of card games and table games.
The wheel and its pockets
A roulette wheel is a spinning disc with numbered pockets. The dealer launches a ball against the spin, and the pocket where it lands decides every bet on the table. Two wheel types exist, and the difference is one pocket.
| Wheel | Pockets | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Single zero | 37 | 1 to 36 and one 0 |
| Double zero | 38 | 1 to 36, 0 and 00 |
Eighteen of the numbers 1 to 36 are red and eighteen are black. The zero pockets are green. The info screen of the table tells you which wheel is in play before you place a chip.
10 roulette bets and what each pays
Payouts are written as a ratio. A bet that pays 35 to 1 returns 35 times your stake in winnings, plus your stake back. The ten bets below are the standard set.
| # | Bet | Covers | Pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Straight up | 1 number | 35 to 1 |
| 2 | Split | 2 neighbouring numbers | 17 to 1 |
| 3 | Street | 3 numbers in a row | 11 to 1 |
| 4 | Corner | 4 numbers in a square | 8 to 1 |
| 5 | Six line | 6 numbers, two rows | 5 to 1 |
| 6 | Column | 12 numbers in a column | 2 to 1 |
| 7 | Dozen | 12 numbers, 1-12, 13-24 or 25-36 | 2 to 1 |
| 8 | Red or black | 18 numbers by colour | 1 to 1 |
| 9 | Odd or even | 18 numbers | 1 to 1 |
| 10 | Low or high | 1-18 or 19-36 | 1 to 1 |
The more numbers a bet covers, the lower it pays, which keeps the whole table balanced. Zero is not covered by the outside bets in rows 6 to 10, so they lose when the ball lands on a zero pocket.
The roulette table layout
The roulette table is a felt cloth in two parts. The inside is a grid of 36 numbers in three columns of twelve, with the zero at the top. The outside holds the boxes for dozens, columns, colours, odd or even and low or high.
- Inside bets, in rows 1 to 5 above, are placed on the numbers or on the lines between them.
- Outside bets, in rows 6 to 10, are placed on the boxes around the grid.
- A chip on the line between two numbers is a split, and a chip on a crossing of four numbers is a corner.
Online tables show the same grid, usually with a row of chips to pick your stake. Min and max stakes appear on the info or help screen.
A worked example you can check
Take a 100 peso straight-up bet. One pocket pays 3,500 pesos, and every other pocket loses 100 pesos. Average the outcomes and you get the figures below.
| Wheel | Working | Average result per spin |
|---|---|---|
| Single zero, 37 pockets | (3,500 - 3,600) / 37 | about 2.70 pesos lost |
| Double zero, 38 pockets | (3,500 - 3,700) / 38 | about 5.26 pesos lost |
That gap is the reason the zero pockets exist, and it is what the house edge meaning for table games describes in general terms. Choose the single-zero wheel when a table offers both.
Where roulette sits next to other games
Roulette needs no cards, so the card values on the what the face cards are worth page do not apply here. Where to go next depends on what you want from a table.
| If you want | Go to |
|---|---|
| A game built on hand rankings | poker hand rankings and betting rounds |
| A small extra wager on a card table | a Perfect Pairs side wager |
FAQ
What is the difference between single-zero and double-zero roulette?
A single-zero wheel has 37 pockets, numbers 1 to 36 plus one zero. A double-zero wheel has 38, because it adds a second zero. The table's info screen states which wheel you are playing.
What does 35 to 1 mean?
If you win on a single number, you are paid 35 times your stake and your stake stays on the table. A 100 peso chip returns 3,500 pesos in winnings.
Do red and black pay the same?
Yes, both are even-money bets paying 1 to 1. The zero pockets are green and belong to neither colour, which is why even-money bets still lose when the ball lands on zero.
Does roulette use playing cards?
No. It runs on a wheel, a ball and a layout of numbers. It sits with the card games here because the bets on a table are fixed and can be learned the same way.