What do 0 and 00 pay in roulette? Odds, payout and what they cost you
A straight-up bet on 0 (or on 00) pays 35 to 1, the same as any other number. On a European wheel 0 comes up on 1 spin in 37 (2.70%); on an American wheel 0 and 00 each come up on 1 in 38 (2.63%), and one of the two on 1 in 19. Those pockets are the entire house edge: when one lands, every outside bet loses.
What 0 and 00 pay
Zero is a number like any other as far as the payout goes. A straight-up bet on it pays 35 to 1: a winning $10 chip returns $350 plus the $10 stake. 00 pays the same and exists only on American, double-zero layouts. Nothing about being a zero changes the price of a straight bet. On a European wheel it wins 1 spin in 37 (2.70%); on an American wheel each of 0 and 00 wins 1 spin in 38 (2.63%).
That is the same win rate and the same 35 to 1 as 17 or 29, so the house edge on a straight bet on zero is identical: 2.70% European, 5.26% American. See the straight-up bet guide for hit rates, droughts and session odds.
Every bet that includes a zero
The other bets that touch zero are priced by how many pockets they cover: 36 divided by the number of pockets, minus 1. The single exception is the American top line, which the house rounds down from 6.2 to 6.
| Bet | Wheel | Pockets | Pays | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight up on 0 | both wheels | 1 | 35:1 | a single number |
| Straight up on 00 | American only | 1 | 35:1 | a single number |
| Split 0–1, 0–2, 0–3 | European | 2 | 17:1 | zero and one neighbour |
| Split 0–00, 0–1, 0–2, 00–2, 00–3 | American | 2 | 17:1 | zero(es) and a neighbour |
| Trio 0–1–2, 0–2–3 | European | 3 | 11:1 | priced like a street |
| Trio 0–1–2, 0–00–2, 00–2–3 | American | 3 | 11:1 | priced like a street |
| First four 0–1–2–3 | European | 4 | 8:1 | priced like a corner |
| Top line 0–00–1–2–3 | American | 5 | 6:1 | 7.89% edge, the worst bet |
What happens to your other bets when zero lands
Zero is not red, black, odd, even, low or high, and it sits in no dozen or column. So when 0 (or 00) lands, every outside bet loses. That is the whole mechanism of the house edge. Eighteen of 37 pockets win a red bet, but it pays as if 18 of 36 did, so the missing 1/37 is exactly the zero. On red, the zero accounts for 100% of the edge: remove it from the wheel and the bet is fair.
Adding 00 doubles that leak. Red now wins 18 of 38 spins, and zero-or-double-zero takes 2 in 38 of every stake, which is the 5.26% figure. The house edge derivation walks through it bet by bet.
Some single-zero tables soften this: with la partage or en prison, an even-money stake is half-returned or imprisoned when zero lands. That cuts the edge on those bets to 1.35%. The wheel rules comparison covers it. The simulator plays standard European and American rules, so a zero costs the full stake here.
How often zero shows up
Zeros are not rare, and they are not due. Over 100 spins a European wheel gives zero 2.70 times on average and an American wheel gives 0 or 00 5.26 times. Having just seen one changes nothing about the next spin.
| Spins | European: 0 | American: 0 or 00 |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 23.97% | 41.76% |
| 37 | 63.71% | 86.47% |
| 100 | 93.54% | 99.55% |
| 500 | >99.99% | >99.99% |
Neighbouring bets on the wheel (not the layout) are covered in the call bets guide: Voisins du Zéro covers the 17 pockets around zero. To price any of these for your own stake and spin count, use the odds calculator; for the worst bet on the table, read the top line guide.
Related
- Calculate this bet’s odds for your stake and spin count
- European, American and French wheel rules compared
- Roulette house edge: where 2.70% and 5.26% come from
- What are the odds of red 10 times in a row in roulette?
- What are your chances of winning at roulette after n spins?
- How many spins until every roulette number comes up?
- Every bet’s odds and payout, both wheels
- Does any betting system work? 20 systems on the same seeds
- Study: European versus American roulette, the risk distribution
Every bet on the layout
Straight upSplitStreetCornerSix lineDozen & columnRed / blackTop line