Atlassino Academy · Roulette · Lesson 2 of 6

What every bet on the layout pays

Every spot on the roulette layout has a payout of its own. Here is what each one pays, how the dealer counts a payout, and what happens to the outside bets when a zero comes in.

  • About 19 minutes
  • Illustrated hosts: Leo and Maya
  • Last checked 1 October 2026

A $5 chip sits on 17, and the ball comes to rest in 17. How much money comes back to you?

The short answer

$180. A single number is paid 35 to 1, so the dealer pays $175 for the $5 chip, and the chip itself comes back beside the payout. Every spot on the layout is paid the same way, the chip times the figure for that spot, and the figure goes down as the spot covers more numbers.

A layout with a zero and a double zero

  • AA single number, inside the square of 5: paid 35 to 1
  • BSplit, on the line between 17 and 20: paid 17 to 1
  • CStreet, on the outer edge of the three numbers 13, 14 and 15: paid 11 to 1
  • DCorner, where 26, 27, 29 and 30 meet: paid 8 to 1
  • EFive-number bet, on the corner where the zeros meet 1, 2 and 3: paid 6 to 1
  • FSix line, on the outer edge between the three numbers 31, 32, 33 and the three numbers 34, 35, 36: paid 5 to 1
  • GDozen, on the 2nd 12, the numbers 13 to 24: paid 2 to 1
  • HColumn, on the 2 to 1 box at the end of the line of numbers that ends in 34: paid 2 to 1
  • IEven-money bet, on ODD: paid 1 to 1
Leo points at a chip sitting on the line between two empty cells of a roulette layout, with three more identical chips placed on a single cell, on a corner of four cells and in a wide box along the edge; Maya holds a closed notebook and follows his finger.
Leo smiling, explaining with an open hand.

Leoformer dealer · rules and maths

Dealers pay a layout full of chips in a few seconds, and people assume there is a trick to it. There is no trick. The whole layout has eight payout figures, and each figure follows from how many numbers a chip covers. A dealer looks at where a chip sits, knows the figure for that spot, and multiplies.

Learn the eight figures and you can check every payment at the table, your own included, before the next ball is thrown.

What “35 to 1” means

A payout written as 35 to 1 means that each dollar on the spot is paid thirty-five dollars when the spot comes in. The chip you put down is not one of those thirty-five: the chip was yours before the ball was thrown, and the chip comes back to you beside the payout.

Your chip, plus the payout, makes what comes back to you.

Your chip, on 17$5yours before the spin
The payout at 35 to 1$175what the dealer adds
What comes back to you$180the payout and the chip together

The chip and the payout are two separate amounts, and they come back together. A figure written “to 1” counts the payout alone and never includes the chip; how “to 1” differs from “for 1” is taken apart in lesson 1.8, and every payout in this lesson is written “to 1”.

The whole layout and what each spot pays

The layout has two areas. The numbers themselves are the inside, where one chip covers anything from one number to six; the boxes around the numbers are the outside, where one chip covers twelve numbers or eighteen.

One rule runs through the whole layout: the more numbers a spot covers, the less the spot pays when one of those numbers comes in. Every row of the table below is that rule at a different count.

Every spot on the layout: how many numbers a chip there covers, where the chip goes, and what the spot pays
SpotNumbers a chip there coversWhere the chip goesPays
Inside: the numbers themselves
A single number1Inside the square of the number35 to 1
Split2On the line between two numbers17 to 1
Street3On the outer edge of three numbers11 to 1
Corner4Where four numbers meet8 to 1
Five-number beton a layout with a zero and a double zero only50, 00, 1, 2, 3On the corner where the zeros meet 1, 2 and 36 to 1
Six line6On the outer edge, across two groups of three5 to 1
Outside: the boxes around the numbers
Dozen12On the 1st 12, the 2nd 12 or the 3rd 122 to 1
Column12On the 2 to 1 box at the end of a line of numbers2 to 1
Red, black, odd, even, 1–18, 19–3618On the box with that word or range1 to 1

Paying a bet the way the dealer does

A dealer pays a chip in one step: the chip, times the figure for the spot the chip sits on. Below, the marker stands on 20 and one chip sits where 17, 18, 20 and 21 meet. The chip covers 20, the spot is a corner, a corner is paid 8 to 1, and $10 times 8 is $80.

A layout with a zero and a double zero · the marker stands on 20

  • A$10, where 17, 18, 20 and 21 meet

The marker stands on the number the ball came to rest in. The chip covers four numbers, 20 among them, so the chip is paid; with the chip beside the payout, $90 comes back to the owner of the chip.

Every amount on this page is an example bet, not a suggested bet. Amounts are in Canadian dollars.

Every table posts its limits at the table itself, and the largest payout the table will make is posted with them. Read that sign before the first chip goes down: the payout figures on this page are the figures on the cloth, and the sign is where a table says how far those figures will go.

What a zero does to the outside bets

When the ball comes to rest in 0 or 00, every outside bet on the layout loses: the dozens, the columns, red and black, odd and even, 1–18 and 19–36. A zero is not odd and not even, not low and not high, and a zero belongs to none of the dozens and none of the columns, so no outside box covers a zero.

A layout with a zero and a double zero · the marker stands on 0

  • A$10, on RED
  • B$10, on the 1st 12, the numbers 1 to 12
  • C$5, on the 2 to 1 box at the end of the line of numbers that ends in 34

That is why an even-money bet is not paid half the time. A chip on 19–36 covers 18 numbers, and a wheel with a zero and a double zero has 38 pockets. The zeros sit on neither side of an even-money bet, so the side a chip is on is always a little smaller than half of the wheel.

A layout with a zero and a double zero

A chip on 19-36 is paid on 47.37% of spins

A layout with a single zero

A chip on 19-36 is paid on 48.65% of spins

The line across each bar is the half-way mark.

Some books describe a rule that hands half of an even-money bet back when a zero comes in, called la partage, and another that leaves the bet on the layout for one more spin, called en prison. None of the Canadian rule books or casino pages we could read prints either rule, and the rules we could read say the opposite: on 0 or 00, every outside bet loses.

A zero does not take everything on the layout. A chip that sits on a zero, or on a spot that includes the zeros, is paid when that zero comes in, and paid at the figure for its own spot.

  • A chip inside the 0, on a layout with a single zeropaid 35 to 1, like any single number
  • A chip on the line between 0 and 00paid 17 to 1, like any split
  • The five-number bet, on a layout with a zero and a double zeropaid 6 to 1 when 0, 00, 1, 2 or 3 comes in

On a layout with a single zero there is no five-number bet, and the bet in the same place on that layout is paid 8 to 1 instead of 6 to 1.

One price for every bet but one

A bigger payout is not a better deal, and a smaller payout is not a safer one. Every figure on the layout stops a little short of the payout that would leave nobody ahead, and on a layout with a zero and a double zero almost every bet comes out at the same price: 5.26% of the money bet, on average, over many spins. Why every row lands on the same price is lesson 4.3.

The five-number bet is the exception: it covers five pockets and is paid 6 to 1, a shade short of the figure the other spots follow, so its price comes out at 7.89%, more than any other spot.

On a layout with a single zero the same payout figures come out at 2.70%. Choosing between the two wheels is lesson 4.5.

Maya with a hand on her chest, speaking gently and seriously.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

A payout of 35 to 1 is still paid out of the same price per dollar as the even-money boxes. A spot that pays more comes in less often, and over an evening the two things cancel each other out.

Decide how much money the evening gets before the first chip goes down, and stop when that amount is gone. A bigger chip on a single number to get back what is already gone only buys more of the same price, faster. If the money on the table starts to feel like money you need, the lines below are there for exactly that.

If it stops being fun

If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.

1-866-531-2600Ontario · ConnexOntario · 24 hours
1-800-461-0140Quebec · Jeu: aide et référence · 24 hours
1-888-795-6111British Columbia · Gambling Support BC · 24 hours
1-866-332-2322Alberta · Addiction Helpline (Recovery Alberta) · 24 hours
1-800-463-1554Manitoba · Problem Gambling Helpline · 24 hours
1-800-306-6789Saskatchewan · Problem Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-888-429-8167Nova Scotia · Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line · 24 hours
1-800-461-1234New Brunswick · Gambling Information Line
1-855-255-4255Prince Edward Island · PEI Gambling Support Line · 24 hours
811Newfoundland and Labrador · Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-844-533-3030Yukon · Reach Out Support Line (CMHA Yukon)

If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8

The lesson on one card

That is the lesson. Here it is on one card: print it, or keep it on your phone.

What each spot paysPayouts are “to 1”: the chip comes back beside the payout
Every spot on the layout: the numbers it covers, what it pays, what an example chip brings back, and its price on the two layouts
SpotCoversPaysAn example $10 chip comes back withPrice, 0 and 00Price, single 0
A single number135 to 1$3605.26%2.70%
Split217 to 1$1805.26%2.70%
Street311 to 1$1205.26%2.70%
Corner48 to 1$905.26%2.70%
Five-number bet0, 00, 1, 2, 356 to 1$707.89%not on this layout
Six line65 to 1$605.26%2.70%
Dozen122 to 1$305.26%2.70%
Column122 to 1$305.26%2.70%
Red, black, odd, even, 1–18, 19–36181 to 1$205.26%2.70%

The five-number bet, in bold, costs more than every other spot. A zero takes every outside bet.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Set a limit before you sit down · Play responsibly · the line for your province is at Helplines by province

If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8

Practice: pay the layout

Here the marker comes down and the chips are already on the layout; the job is the dealer’s, to say what the spin pays out. Level 1 is one chip at a time. Level 2 puts chips from several players on the layout at once, and the payouts of the chips that came in are added together. Level 3 is the special cases: a zero on the layout, and the five-number bet.

Nothing is bet here, and nothing is random. Each spin is a set picture of chips and a marker, and the answer is worked out from the same payout figures as the rest of this page.

The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one spin from it, with the answer.

Level 1 · One chip

A layout with a zero and a double zero · the marker stands on 17

  • A$5, inside the square of 17

The marker stands on 17. What is chip A paid? Count the payout only, not the chip that goes back to its owner.

  • $180 That counts the chip into the payout. The chip was its owner’s before the spin and comes back beside the payout; the payout is only the part the dealer adds.
  • $175 Chip A is a single number and covers 17, so the chip is paid 35 to 1: $5 times 35 is $175.
  • $85 That is 17 to 1, the figure for a chip on a line between two numbers. A chip inside one square covers that number alone, and one number is paid more than two.

Every payout on the layout is the chip times the figure for the spot the chip sits on, and the chip itself comes back beside the payout. The figure for each spot is in the table of payouts further up this page.

Level 2 · The whole layout

A layout with a zero and a double zero · the marker stands on 20

  • A$10, on the line between 17 and 20
  • B$5, on the 2nd 12, the numbers 13 to 24
  • C$10, on ODD

The marker stands on 20. How much does the dealer pay out on this spin? Count the payouts only, not the chips that go back to their owners.

  • $195 That counts the chips that came in into the payout. Those chips go back to their owners beside the payouts; the payout is only what the dealer adds.
  • $180 Chip A is a split and covers 20, so the chip is paid 17 to 1: $10 times 17 is $170; chip B is a dozen and covers 20, so the chip is paid 2 to 1: $5 times 2 is $10; chip C does not cover 20, so the dealer takes the chip. Added together, the dealer pays out $180.
  • $190 That pays every chip on the layout. Chip C does not cover 20, and a chip that does not cover the number is taken.

The dealer works through the layout one chip at a time: a chip that covers the number is paid at the figure for its spot, a chip that does not is taken, and the payouts are added together. The chips that are paid go back to their owners beside the payouts.

Level 3 · Zero and the five-number bet

A layout with a zero and a double zero · the marker stands on 0

  • A$5, on the corner where the zeros meet 1, 2 and 3
  • B$10, on 1-18

The marker stands on 0. How much does the dealer pay out on this spin? Count the payouts only, not the chips that go back to their owners.

  • $30 Chip A is the five-number bet and covers 0, so the chip is paid 6 to 1: $5 times 6 is $30; chip B sits in an outside box, and a zero takes every outside bet. Added together, the dealer pays out $30.
  • $40 That pays the five-number bet at 8 to 1, the figure for the bet in the same place on a layout with a single zero. This layout has a zero and a double zero, and here the five-number bet is paid 6 to 1.
  • $30 paid, and half of each outside chip handed back No rule book or casino page we could read hands back half of an outside bet when a zero comes in. The rules we could read say the opposite: on 0 or 00, every outside bet loses.

The five-number bet covers both zeros as well as 1, 2 and 3, so a zero is one of its numbers. The chip on 1-18 is an outside bet and goes with the zero.

Every spin in the practice run is worked out the same way: each chip that covers the number the marker stands on is paid at the figure for its spot, each chip that does not is taken, and the payouts are added together.

How the practice run works

Where the spins come from. Every chip in the practice run is a bet the layout engine knows, and whether the chip covers the number under the marker is decided by the same engine. The payout is the chip times the figure for its spot, worked out when the page is built rather than written down anywhere by hand. The wrong answers are worked out from the same chips, and each wrong answer is one named mistake: the chip counted into the payout, the figure of a neighbouring spot, a chip paid that the marker does not touch, a chip left out that the marker does touch, half of an outside bet handed back on a zero, or the five-number bet paid at the figure for a layout with a single zero.

One strip, and no rounds. Every square on the strip is one spin of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to; when the squares of one level are full, the next level begins by itself, with no button in between. Practising a spin you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.

Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.

Check yourself

Maya with a finger raised and a knowing look.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.

1A $5 chip sits inside the square of 17, and the ball comes to rest in 17. How much comes back to the owner of the chip, the chip included?

Show the answer

Answer: $180: a payout of $175, and the chip beside it. A payout written “to 1” counts the payout alone, and the chip comes back beside the payout.

  • $185 That is a payout of 36 to 1 with the chip added. A single number is paid 35 to 1; thirty-six is how many numbers run from 1 to 36, not what the spot pays.
  • $175 That is the payout alone. The chip that sat on 17 was never lost, and it comes back beside the payout.
  • $180: a payout of $175, and the chip beside it A single number is paid 35 to 1, so the chip is paid $175, and the chip that sat on 17 comes back with the payout.
2A $10 chip sits where 17, 18, 20 and 21 meet, and the ball comes to rest in 20. What is the payout?

Show the answer

Answer: $80. The chip, times the figure for its spot.

  • $80 A chip where four numbers meet is a corner, paid 8 to 1, and 20 is one of the four numbers.
  • $90 That is a payout of 9 to 1. A corner is paid 8 to 1; nine is what the payout and the chip come to together, counted in chips.
  • $170 That is the payout for a split, a chip on the line between two numbers. A chip where four numbers meet covers four, and four numbers are paid less than two.
3A $10 chip sits on RED, and the ball comes to rest in 0. What happens to the chip?

Show the answer

Answer: The bet is lost. A zero belongs to none of the outside boxes.

  • The chip stays on RED for the next spin No rule book or casino page we could read leaves an outside bet up for another spin after a zero; the dealer takes it on this spin.
  • Half of the chip comes back No rule book or casino page we could read hands back half of an outside bet on a zero; the rules we could read say every outside bet loses.
  • The bet is lost A zero is neither red nor black, and on 0 or 00 every outside bet loses.
4A $10 chip sits on the 2nd 12, and the ball comes to rest in 14. What is the payout?

Show the answer

Answer: $20. Dozens and columns both cover twelve numbers, and both are paid the same.

  • $20 A dozen covers twelve numbers, 14 is one of them, and a dozen is paid 2 to 1.
  • $10 That is even money, the figure for a box covering eighteen numbers. A dozen covers twelve and is paid more.
  • $30 That is the payout with the chip counted in: what comes back to the owner in all, not what the dealer pays.
5On a layout with a zero and a double zero, which bet costs more than the others? new situation

Show the answer

Answer: The five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3: 7.89% of the money bet. Every spot on this layout comes out at the same price except one.

  • An even-money bet, because a zero takes it A zero takes every bet that does not cover a zero, the single numbers included. An even-money bet costs 5.26% here, the same as a single number.
  • A single number, because it pays the most A single number costs 5.26% of the money bet, the same as the other spots on this layout: its bigger payout comes with fewer numbers covered.
  • The five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3: 7.89% of the money bet It covers five pockets and is paid 6 to 1, a shade short of the figure every other spot follows.

Back to the question we opened with. The $5 chip on 17 is paid $175, and the chip comes back beside the payout: $180 in all.

Where to check this, and further reading

19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page

Further reading

  • Game Rules — Roulette · Société des casinos du Québec (Loto-Québec)The rules this track follows: what the wheel holds, how inside and outside bets work, and the whole payout table.
  • Casino Regulations, sections 113 to 123 · Province of Nova ScotiaThe regulator on the wheel itself: 37 pockets with one zero, 38 with two, the zeros green and the rest alternating.
  • Roulette Odds and the House Edge · OLG PlaySmartWhere the difference between true odds and the payout comes from, in the operator’s own words.
  • How to Play Roulette · Fallsview Casino ResortA room that posts three different wheels, and its own note that pay tables differ from table to table.

How it’s worked out

Payouts, numbers, sources and hosts

Where this happens. Every layout on this page is a table standing in a room you can walk into. An electronic wheel or a screen at home is asked for different things, and what changes there belongs to other lessons.

Numbers. Every payout figure comes from the one table of bets this site computes with, the same table the house edge tool uses. Every amount is a chip multiplied by the figure for its spot, and every share of the money bet is counted from the pockets on the wheel and the payout of the spot. Nothing is typed in by hand, and our checks recompute each figure from the engine rather than reading it back from this page. A column has no line of its own in that table of bets: a column covers twelve numbers, and it takes the figure the table gives a bet on twelve numbers.

What is deliberately absent. No rule book or casino page we could read prints la partage, en prison or surrender on the even-money bets, so none of the three appears here as a rule of any table. The layout on this page does not colour its numbers and there is no picture of the wheel, because the colour of each number and the order of the numbers around the wheel are not printed in the documents this page may quote from. Bets that join a zero to a number, such as 0 and 1 together, are left out: no document we could read prints the full list of them with their payouts. Naming a bet from where its chip sits is lesson 4.1; why almost every spot comes out at one price is lesson 4.3; wheel chips, the marker as a rule of the table and the table minimum are lesson 4.4; the table with three zeros, the pace of a table and the price of an hour are lesson 4.5; the board of past numbers is lesson 4.6.

Sources. Every payout and every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.

Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.

No promise. Roulette is played against the house. Knowing what each spot pays lets you check every payment at the table; nothing on this page makes any spot cheaper, and nothing here says how an evening at the wheel would end.

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