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DE Red or Black Bet
A Red/Black bet is an outside roulette bet where you stake money on the color of the winning number. You place your chip on the Red or Black area of the layout, and the bet covers all 18 numbers of that color. If the ball lands on any of those 18 numbers, you win. If it lands on a number of the opposite color, you lose.
What About 0, 00, and 000?
You will also see 0 (and sometimes 00/000) on roulette wheels. These are green pockets, and they are not part of the red or black groups. On most tables, if the ball lands on one of these green pockets, a Red/Black bet loses. In other words, the bet is simply “red or black,” but the spin can still land on a result that is neither.
How Much Does It Pay
In classic roulette, a bet on red or black is an even-money bet, so it pays 1:1. This means that if your color comes up, you win a profit equal to your bet and also get your original bet back. For example, if you bet $10 on black and the ball lands on a black number, you win $10 and get your $10 bet back, for a total of $20.
Some non-standard roulette variants change how the red/black bet works. For example, in Double Ball Roulette, the payout is 3:1, but it applies only if both balls land on your chosen color, so the odds are lower than standard roulette.
Your Real Chances by Wheel Type
Red/Black odds depend on the roulette variants you’re playing, because different wheels and rule sets change how often a red or black result can occur. In standard roulette, red and black each appear on 18 of the 36 numbered pockets, but the wheel also includes green zero pockets, which reduce your chance of winning a Red/Black bet.
- European (single-zero) roulette: Red or Black wins on 18/37 spins, about 48.65%.
- American (double-zero) roulette: Red or Black wins on 18/38 spins, about 47.37%.
- Triple-zero roulette (0, 00, 000): Red or Black wins on 18/39 spins, about 46.15%.
Because of that difference, the long-term return also changes depending on the wheel type.
- European roulette: house edge about 2.70% (RTP ~97.30%)
- American roulette: house edge about 5.26% (RTP ~94.74%)
- Triple-zero roulette: house edge about 7.69% (RTP ~92.31%)
On some single-zero tables with French-style rules such as La Partage or En Prison, La Partage may return half of your even-money stake when 0 hits, while En Prison usually carries the bet over to the next spin, improving the edge on Red/Black to about 1.35% for those bets.
FAQ
Why does a Red/Black bet pay only 1:1?
Because it covers 18 numbers, giving it a relatively high chance of winning compared with more selective roulette bets. That is why it pays even money, while the zero pockets keep it from being a true 50/50 wager and create the house edge.
What happens if the ball lands on 0?
On most tables, red/black bets lose on 0 (and on 00/000, where they exist). Some single-zero tables use La Partage or En Prison rules, where you can get part of your bet back or the bet is carried over to the next round.
What happens when I bet on both Red and Black at once?
In classic roulette, betting on both Red and Black usually leaves you breaking even when either color wins, and you lose when 0 (or 00/000) hits. In two-ball or other variants, rules can differ, so the outcome may be break-even, win, or loss depending on that game’s terms.
