Roulette Green Payout: Betting on the Unexpected

The green pockets are usually 0, 00, or a third green pocket such as 000 or a casino logo, depending on the wheel version. They always pay the same as the other numbers on the layout, and offer no incentive to bet them more or less than any of the other numbers.

In today’s article, we’re going to explore how roulette developed to get us where we are today, and more to the point, why do we even have the green payout roulette numbers at all? And how do these numbers affect our ability to win or lose when playing roulette?

Let’s get started.

Where Did The Green Numbers Come From?

The history of roulette dates back to the 17th century when Blaise Pascal, while trying to invent a perpetual motion machine, invented his ‘little wheel’, called the roulette, which became the basis for our modern-day roulette game.

Over the next couple of hundred years, other humans, with a propensity to gamble and a desire to generate a profit margin, came up with a way to make his ‘little wheel’ into one of the most beloved and popular gambling games in the world.

The game was virtually identical to today’s Triple Zero roulette. Not a good game for the players at all, as it had a very high House Advantage.

Louis and François Blanc were twin brothers, and they flirted with the gambling laws in France at the time, sometimes making some questionable decisions about how their casino should be run. They decided to move their casino to Bad Homburg, a small town near Frankfurt in Germany, and to make their game more attractive, they got rid of the eagle and the double zero and went with the single zero wheel - and lo and behold, they had invented the European roulette wheel. Ultimately, they opened the casino in Monte Carlo with their European wheel and never looked back.

The European Wheel

As you can see, the European Wheel (sometimes called the French Wheel) has a total of 37 numbers. 

1 through 36, and the single green number, the single zero.

And this is the wheel that is in use in the casinos of Europe.

The American Wheel

Without getting into too much detail, in the early 1800s, about the time of the Louisiana Purchase, French culture was alive and well in and around New Orleans, and it included the double-zero roulette wheel: 38 numbers, 1 through 36, and both the single zero and the double zero green pockets.

It became known as the American Wheel and is still in use in almost all US casinos.

How Green Pockets Affect Roulette

Roulette variations mainly differ in one important detail: how many green pockets are on the wheel. And that small change has a big effect on the house edge.

• A European wheel has 37 pockets in total: numbers 1 to 36 plus a single green 0. That gives it a 2.70% house edge.
• An American wheel has 38 pockets: numbers 1 to 36, plus 0 and 00. Because of that extra green pocket, the house edge rises to 5.26%.

That is why the single-zero European wheel is generally the better option for players. Fewer green pockets means a lower built-in advantage for the casino.

Do Green Numbers Pay More?

No, and that is the key point. The green numbers pay the same as any other number on the layout. A straight-up bet on 0 pays 35 to 1, just like a straight-up bet on 17 or 32. A split involving 0, such as 0/1 on a European wheel or 0/00 on an American wheel, pays 17 to 1, just like any other split bet.

So the green pockets are not special because they pay more. They matter because they are the pockets that create the extra house edge.

For example:

• On American roulette, a $10 straight-up bet on 0 pays $350, plus the original $10 stake;
• A $10 split on 0/00 pays $170, plus the original $10 stake;
• On European roulette, a $10 straight-up bet on 0 also pays $350, plus the original $10 stake;
• A split such as 0/1, 0/2, or 0/3 pays $170, plus the original stake if either number hits.

So while the payout stays the same, the odds of hitting the bet change depending on the wheel. That is why the green pockets matter so much more for value than for payout.

 

What Are ‘La Partage’ and ‘En Prison’, and Why Do You Need to Know How They Can Help You?

If you are playing a game that offers La Partage or En Prison, and you’re betting on the Outside even money bets – Red or Black, High or Low, or Odd and Even... you get half of your bet back if the zero hits.

How you get half your bet back is managed by which of the two options is in effect on the game you’re playing.

How En Prison Works

With En Prison, your bet is held over for the next spin instead of being lost immediately.

So if you place $10 on Red and 0 hits, that $10 goes “in prison.” It stays on the table for one more spin.

• If the next spin lands on Red, you get your $10 back;
• If it lands on Black, the bet is lost.

So instead of losing everything right away, you get one more chance to recover the stake.

How La Partage Works

With La Partage, the result is more immediate. If you have $10 on Red and 0 lands, the casino keeps $5 and returns $5 to you straight away. That means you lose only half the bet instead of the full amount.

It does not affect the Inside bets, such as the Straight Ups, or the Splits, Corners and so on. They all pay the posted odds, and the La Partage or En Prison rule does not change the payouts on those bets.

Similarly, those rules do not affect any other payouts – so the Dozens, the Columns, and so on are not affected by the La Partage or En Prison rules.

Why are La Partage and En Prison such a great deal for the players? 

On a standard single-zero European wheel, the house edge is 2.70%. But when La Partage or En Prison applies to outside even-money bets, that edge is effectively cut in half to 1.35%. That is a big improvement.

It also means those even-money bets on a European wheel can offer much better value than the same types of bets on an American double-zero wheel, where the house edge sits at 5.26%.

So if you are choosing between roulette versions, a single-zero wheel with La Partage or En Prison is one of the best setups you can find.

Odds of Numbers Hitting, and House Advantage for Single and Double Zero Roulette 

Although the payouts are the same for Straight Up (35 to 1) and Split bets (17 to 1) in all roulette types, the odds of hitting each of those bets change, based on the type of wheel you are playing.

A European wheel has 37 numbers total, and an American wheel has 38 numbers total. So the odds of hitting one of the numbers change depending on how many numbers are on the wheel you are playing.

Impact on House Edge

As you can see in the table above, the extra pocket on the American wheel (the double zero) changes the House Advantage from 2.70% on the European wheel to 5.26%

And then if you factor in the ‘En Prison’ or ‘La Partage’ rules, it makes far more sense to play on a European wheel, with either of them in effect.

Player Preference

Smart players who’ve done even a rudimentary study of the numbers know that the European wheel is a better option for them than the American wheel and would choose to play it every time.

And with the advent of the latest innovation, the Triple Zero wheel, any experienced player is going to know that the House Advantage on a Triple Zero wheel is 7.69% - a transparent attempt by the casinos to simply increase their revenues.

Roulette Green Payout Calculator

There are several roulette calculators available online. A quick Google search will reveal a few that you may want to use. To make things easier, you can try our roulette payout calculator to quickly determine potential winnings based on your bet type and stake.

Strategic Considerations

Choosing when to bet on green pockets, specifically the zeros, doesn't alter the overall house advantage, as these bets pay the same as others. However, the type of roulette wheel you play on significantly impacts your odds.

When to Bet on Green Pockets

Betting on the green pockets makes no difference to the overall House Advantage of the game. The green bets pay exactly the same as all the other straight-up bets. Having said that, the best opportunity for any player is to bet on the wheel, which has only one green pocket, the single zero.

It means that you’re looking at a European wheel, which has the lowest House Advantage working against you. Check if the wheel includes the En Prison or La Partage rule (and you will only ever find one or the other in action on the wheel, never both). 

Betting on the green pockets can also be seen as a bit of insurance with another strategy in place. For example, if you are betting a Paroli system on Red and you started with a $10 bet, by the time you have hit three winners in a row, you would have an $80 bet on Red. So a small bet of $4 on the 0/00 Split would pay $68 if one of the zeroes should hit.

What are Visual Ballistics?

You may also consider that you may be able to use the single zero green pocket as a point of reference when trying to assess how far the ball may travel before it drops from the track and which section the ball may drop into. 

When trying to get a fix on which section to bet based on ball and wheel speed, the green pocket is the easiest point of reference to track where the ball may end up on the European wheel. 

This tracking of the ball and wheel has been called ‘Visual Ballistics,’ and some people believe it can be done, and tracking the ball against the green pocket may help you do it.

Risk and Reward

There is no advantage to playing ‘green’ numbers over any of the other numbers. The zeroes pay the same as all the other numbers and are not better or worse in any way.

Conclusion

A single-zero European wheel is the best option for the player to play., with a House Advantage of 2.70%, and only 1.35% if La Partage or En Prison are part of the rules.

Failing that, the American wheel with its 5.26% House Advantage is the next option. Finally, the Triple Zero wheel is the last option. You simply cannot overcome the 7.69% House Advantage.