When it comes to roulette odds, you can see people start to glaze over a little. The appeal of roulette is the variety of bets that you can place, but of course, this means that there is more to learn if you want to play a tactical game and not just for a bit of fun. The bulk of roulette bets fall into two categories, inside bets and outside bets based on their position on the betting mat. 

There are two distinct odds tables that you need to be aware of, the odds of playing at a European table (which includes French variants) and the odds of playing at an American table. The differences are down to the wheel design and depend on the number of slots there are available for the ball to drop into. It might help to have your quick guide when you play so you can easily check until you have memorised them.

When it comes to deciding which bets you will place you will want to consider the best roulette odds, inside bets are less likely to win but when they do they will offer you the best payouts. Outside bets are considered to have a much higher chance when it comes to roulette winning strategy, but the money you get back will be considerably less. 

Clearly, the bet that will score you the most money is a correct bet on a single number which carries a payouts of 35 to 1, being that there are 36 numbered slots. Which bet works best for you will depend on your style of play, for some people they subscribe to the theory of going big or go home. 

The confidence they have in their betting system means they deliberately maximise the high payout bids and hope to win. For others it is more of a slow and steady wins the race and they are happier with more wins, and less return so stick to the safer outside bets.

One of the lowest risk bets is odds-on red or black roulette; essentially this means you are making a like for like bet. If you win, you get back your stake and the same amount on top. If you lose your loss is simply the stake. However, there is a much higher chance of winning. Often touted as 50/50 this is a slight misnomer as of course there is a single green zero on European and French wheels and two zeros on an American wheel. 

So the odds on the single zero wheels are actually 48.6% and on the double zero wheels 47.4%. However, the safety in the stake makes this a comfortable choice for many. Of course, these odds are the same for any of the bets considered coin toss bets. Those bets where there is one of two outcomes available, this also applies to odd or even, and high or low. The odds are exactly the same as the red or black bets, and the payouts remain the same. 

European roulette table odds are considered the better odds because there is only the one green slot on the wheel. Most versions use this format; it is only the American wheel that has two green slots. So, in terms of a player these wheels hold the better odds. 

There is a good combination of bets and as mentioned the payouts are higher on the inside bets due to the fact the odds are stacked against you more.  Starting from the top, the biggest payout comes from a single correct number which gives you 35-1 and 2.70% odds. As already established this very hard to achieve, and some studies have shown a single number can stubbornly not come up over 200 times when played consecutively. An inside bet then yields the following payout and odds:

2 numbers, 17 to 1, 5.4%; 3 numbers, 11 to 1, 8.1%; 4 numbers, 8 to 1, 10.8%; 5 numbers, 6 to 1, 13.5% and 6 numbers 5 to 1, 16.2%. The combinations for these bets are defined by the betting mat.

Thanks to the double zeros found on the America wheel, America roulette table odds are considered to be in the favour of the casino. The extra space makes it harder to correctly predict any of the circumstances, but on paper, the figures do only differ slightly. The so-called 50/50 bets have odds of 48.6% on the European wheels, whereas the extra space gives the same bet odds of 47.4 on the American table. 

If you remember the single number odds were 2.70% for the single zero wheels, you will now find that they are 2.60% for this bigger wheel. However, there are lots of players that do not mind these odds as America roulette is still a very popular game offered at the majority of the online casinos both in live dealer and virtual formats. Of course, the outside bets still remain a higher probability even at an American table. 

We have already covered the coin toss bets, so all that remains in terms of outside bets is the dozen and the column which have odds of 31.6% compared to 32.40% at their European equivalents.