Roulette Green Payout: Betting on the Unexpected

What are the green numbers in a roulette game, and why do we have them?

The green numbers on a wheel are always either 0, 00, or 000. 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?

Things that make you go, ‘Hmmmm . . .’

Let’s get started.

Where Did The Green Numbers Come From?

The history of the roulette dates back to the 17th centry 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. At one point they were arrested, but they got a short sentence.

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.

And that’s the wheel that was in use in the late 1800s in New Orleans.

It had 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.

Types of Roulette and Their Green Pockets

Roulette is a casino game with variations that differ mainly in the number of green pockets and the house edge. Here, we will discuss the two main types: American and European, focusing on their green pockets and the house advantage.

American Roulette

The American wheel has a single zero and a double zero pocket, for a total of 38 numbers. This translates into a House Advantage of 5.26%.

If the player were to bet $1 on every number, including the two green numbers, he would lose $2 every spin. Let’s say 17 hit. He would be paid 35 to 1 for his bet on 17, and retain the $1 bet on 17, for a total of 36 chips. But he’s bet 38 chips, so would lose 2 chips every spin.

The way to calculate the House Advantage from this is to take the two chips he loses every spin, and divide them by the total amount of numbers on the wheel, like this:

2/38 = 0.05263158, and then express the answer as a percentage.

Which is 0.05263158 x 100 = 5.26%.

And that represents the House Advantage on an American wheel.

European Roulette

The European wheel has a single zero for a total of 37 numbers. 

This translates into a House Advantage of 2.70%.

If the player were to bet $1 on every number, including the single green number, he would lose $1 every spin. Let’s say 17 hit. He would be paid 35 to 1 for his bet on 17, and retain the $1 bet on 17, for a total of 36 chips. But he’s bet 37 chips, so would lose 1 chip on every spin.

The way to calculate the House Advantage from this is to take the one chip he loses every spin, and divide it by the total amount of numbers on the wheel, like this:

1/37 = 0.02702703 and then express the answer as a percentage.

Which is 0.02702703 x 100 = 2.70%.

Payouts for Green Pockets

On both wheels, the green numbers are paid like any other number.

• A Straight Up gets paid 35 to 1
• A Split gets paid 17 to 1, and so on.

American Roulette Payouts

On American roulette, if the player was to bet £10 Straight Up on the 0, he would get paid 35 to 1 when it hits, which is £350 – and he keeps his original £10 bet.

Similarly, if the player was to bet £10 on the 0/00 Split, he would get paid 17 to 1 when either of them hit, which is £170 and he keeps his original £10 bet. 

European Roulette Payouts

On European roulette, if the player was to bet £10 Straight Up on the 0, he would get paid 35 to 1 when it hits, which is £350 – and he keeps his original £10 bet. Which is exactly the same payout as you would get on the American wheel.

As there is no 00 on a European wheel, the player cannot make a bet on 00.

But the player can bet £10 on the 0/1, or 0/2, or 0/3 Split.

The Split bet on the 0/1 being shown in the graphic below indicates that the player has made a bet on the 0 and the 1. 

The player gets paid 17 to 1 if either the 0 or the 1 hit, which pays £170 and he keeps his original £10 bet.

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 does En Prison work?

Let’s say you’re playing an ‘En Prison’ game, and you have a $10 bet on Red.

If the zero hits, the dealer will mark your $10 bet with a small lammer to indicate that your $10 is now ‘En Prison’. 

That means that it is ‘In Prison’, or in escrow pending the outcome of the next spin.

If the next spin is Red, then you get the entire $10 back.

And if the next spin is Black, then your $10 bet is lost and the dealer will take it all. 

How does ‘La Partage’ work?

If the situation is the same – i.e. you have a $10 bet on Red, and zero hits, the dealer will take $5 and return $5 to you immediately on a La Partage game. 

You lose half your bet, as opposed to the ‘En Prison’ bet, which means it is in escrow pending the outcome of the next spin.

This 50% off deal only works for the even money bets on the Outside.

It has no effect on 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? 

Because the House Advantage on the even money bets (Red/Black, High/Low, or Odd/Even) on a European wheel is 2.70%. 

And if the La Partage or En Prison rules are in effect, the House Advantage on the even money bets is reduced by 50%, down to 1.35%.

Which is almost a quarter of the 5.26% House Advantage on an American double zero wheel.

So those two rules are responsible for making the even money bets on a European roulette game one of the best values in the casino.

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% on the American wheel.

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 the En Prison or La Partage rule 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 bets and offer no further incentive to bet on them.

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). 

If they do, you have found the best roulette game to play in the casino.

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.

Other folks believe it is a load of nonsense, and any professional dealer will be way ahead of making sure the ball cannot be tracked that way.     

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.

A wheel with one green pocket and a single zero is called the European wheel and has a House Advantage of 2.70%. If it also includes the En Prison, or La Partage rule, the House Advantage on the Outside even money bets will be reduced to 1.35%.

A wheel with two green pockets is called the American wheel and will have a 0 and 00 on the wheel, with a House Advantage of 5.26% working against the players on all the numbers.

A wheel with three green pockets will have a 0, a 00, and a 000. It will have a total of 39 pockets on the wheel, and a House Advantage of 7.69%. 

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, any player should seek out a European wheel as the best option to play.

Failing that, the American wheel with its 5.26% House Advantage is the next option but the European wheel is a far better option.

Finally, the Triple Zero wheel is the last option, and you should never play on a Triple Zero wheel. You simply cannot overcome the 7.69% House Advantage.

Additional Resources

We have several in-depth articles about roulette – from ‘How to Play Roulette for Beginners’, to ‘How to Win at Roulette’. Read them and I guarantee you will find some information you’ve never seen before about this fun and exciting game.