Roulette is the oldest game on South African casino floors and one of the most elegant: a wheel, a ball and a numbered grid. You bet on where the ball will land, and everything else is a variation on that. The pace is relaxed, the decisions are simple, and the atmosphere, especially at night at Sun City or GrandWest, is part of the appeal.
The entire house edge, every cent the casino expects to keep over time, comes from the green pockets: zero on the European wheel, zero and double zero on the American. That difference is the most important fact about roulette, and the rest of this guide builds on it.
The American wheel exists for one reason: to extract more money from players who don't know to ask for European. Always ask.
The two wheels, compared
Most South African casinos offer both versions. They look almost identical. They are not.
| European | American | |
|---|---|---|
| Pockets | 37 (0–36) | 38 (0–36 + 00) |
| House edge | 2.70% | 5.26% |
| Single number payout | 35:1 | 35:1 |
| Probability of single hit | 2.70% | 2.63% |
| Even money win probability | 48.65% | 47.37% |
| Recommended? | Yes | Avoid |
Why the gap? The payouts are set for a fair wheel with no zero: 36 pockets, 35 to 1 on a single number and evens on red or black. The casino gets its edge by adding zero pockets, which lose for players on every bet except a bet on zero itself. Every extra zero adds to the house edge.
Sun City, GrandWest, Montecasino, Emperors Palace and most other major SA casinos offer both wheels. They place them next to each other in the table games pit. The American wheel often has lower minimum bets to attract recreational players. The European wheel might require slightly higher minimums but offers dramatically better odds. The maths says: pay the higher minimum if it gets you the European wheel.
How the betting layout works
The table has two parts: the wheel and the betting layout (the felt grid of numbers). You place bets on the layout and the wheel decides the result. Some tables also have a "racetrack" oval for bets on sections of the wheel, covered below.
The layout shows the numbers 1 to 36 in three columns, with zero (and double zero on American tables) at the top. Outside bets (colour, dozens, columns, odd or even, high or low) sit around the edge of the grid. Inside bets (single numbers, splits, streets, corners) go on or between the numbers.
You place bets by stacking chips on or between numbers and lines. The dealer (called a "croupier" in roulette tradition) spins the ball, calls "no more bets" before the ball drops, settles winning bets and sweeps losing chips. Then the next spin begins.
Inside bets: specific numbers
Inside bets go on the numbered grid. They pay more but win less often. On a European wheel every inside bet carries the same 2.7% edge; what differs is variance, meaning how often you win and how big the wins are.
| Bet | Covers | Payout | Win Probability | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Up | One number | 35:1 | 2.7% | Highest |
| Split | Two adjacent numbers | 17:1 | 5.4% | High |
| Street | Three numbers in a row | 11:1 | 8.1% | High |
| Corner | Four numbers (a square) | 8:1 | 10.8% | Medium |
| Six Line | Six numbers (two rows) | 5:1 | 16.2% | Medium |
How to place each inside bet
Straight Up: place the chip in the centre of a single number's box. Split: place on the line between two numbers. Street: place at the end of a row, on the outer line. Corner: place where four numbers meet. Six Line: place at the intersection of two streets.
Outside bets: the broad strokes
Outside bets cover larger groups of numbers: colours, odd or even, dozens and columns. They pay less but win much more often. If you want your money to last the longest, outside bets are the right choice.
| Bet | Covers | Payout | Win Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red / Black | 18 numbers (colour) | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| Odd / Even | 18 numbers (parity) | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| High / Low | 1–18 or 19–36 | 1:1 | 48.65% |
| Dozen | 1–12, 13–24, or 25–36 | 2:1 | 32.4% |
| Column | One vertical column of 12 | 2:1 | 32.4% |
Why isn't even-money 50/50? Because of the zero. Out of 37 pockets, 18 are red, 18 are black, and 1 is green (zero). When zero hits, all even-money outside bets lose (or push, depending on rules). That's where the 2.7% edge lives. The "even-money" bets are slightly worse than 50/50, and that gap is the casino's profit.
Payout calculator
See the exact payout and chance of winning for every roulette bet on European and American wheels, with the house edge and expected loss for any stake.
Announced bets & racetrack
European-style tables, including some at SA casinos, have a "racetrack": an oval next to the layout that shows the numbers in the order they sit on the wheel. It lets you bet on sections of the wheel rather than groups of numbers on the grid. Common announced bets:
- Voisins du Zéro ("neighbours of zero"): covers 17 numbers around zero, requires 9 chips minimum.
- Tiers du Cylindre ("third of the wheel"): covers 12 numbers opposite zero, requires 6 chips.
- Orphelins ("orphans"): covers 8 numbers in two small wheel sections, requires 5 chips.
- Jeu Zéro (zero game): 7 numbers around zero, requires 4 chips.
These bets carry the same 2.7% house edge as the equivalent inside bets. They exist for convenience and tradition, not for any mathematical advantage. If your table has no racetrack, you can place the equivalent inside bets yourself.
Betting systems: a clear look
Plenty of betting systems claim to beat roulette. None do. Every spin is independent and the house edge never changes. What a system can do is shape your swings, give your play some structure and set a point to stop. That has some value, just not the value being sold.
Martingale: double after every loss
The most famous system. After every loss on an even-money bet, you double your stake. After a win, you reset. The promise: a single win recoups all losses plus your base bet. The reality: a 7-loss streak on a R20 base requires a R2,560 next bet. R20 → R40 → R80 → R160 → R320 → R640 → R1,280 → R2,560. Table limits and bankroll constraints destroy the system long before it gets a chance to work. The probability of a 7-loss streak on red/black is roughly 1 in 100. Over a long session, that 1-in-100 will hit, and when it does the system collapses spectacularly. See why Martingale fails in our simulator.
Reverse Martingale (Paroli): double after every win
The reverse of Martingale: you raise your stake after a win, capped at three wins in a row (a 1-2-4 sequence), then go back to your base stake. It is less dangerous than Martingale but doesn't change the long-run expected value. It is a structured way to press a winning run, not a way to beat the house.
Fibonacci: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21…
Stakes follow the Fibonacci sequence: one step up after a loss, two steps back after a win. It grows more slowly than Martingale and hurts less in a losing run, but it has the same basic flaw: no staking pattern can beat a game with a negative expected value.
D'Alembert: increase by one unit after a loss
A straight-line progression rather than a doubling one: add one unit after a loss and take one away after a win. It is the gentlest of the popular systems and gives smaller swings either way, but it still can't beat the wheel.
James Bond: a flat-bet pattern
Named after the fictional spy but used by some real players: R140 on 19 to 36 (high), R50 on 13 to 18 (a six line) and R10 on zero, R200 a spin covering 25 of the 37 numbers. It wins about 68% of the time and loses about 32%. The house edge is still 2.7%, just spread differently.
What we actually recommend
European roulette only. Even-money bets only (red or black, odd or even, high or low). The same stake every spin. A session bankroll of 50 times your stake, with a stop-loss at half the bankroll and a profit target of half again. It won't make you rich, but it gives you the longest session for the lowest cost, which is what you should want from roulette.
The gambler's fallacy, in detail
Walk past a roulette table at GrandWest on a Saturday night and you will see a board above it showing the last 15 or 20 results. Players study it, looking for patterns: "red has come up eight times in a row, so black is due." That is the gambler's fallacy, and it is the most expensive mistake in roulette.
The wheel has no memory. Each spin is independent of every previous spin. The probability of red on the next spin is 18/37, regardless of what just happened. After 20 reds in a row, the probability of red on spin 21 is still 18/37. The streak does not change anything about future probability. It cannot.
The boards are there because casinos know how players think. Watching a streak makes you feel you have information. You don't; you have history, which may be interesting but predicts nothing. Using the board to choose bets changes nothing mathematically and only feeds a false sense of control.
The results board above a roulette table is decoration, not a tool. It tells you more about how the casino thinks players behave than about the next spin.
Live versus online roulette
Most SA online casinos offer roulette in three formats:
Live-dealer roulette
A real wheel, dealer and ball, streamed to your phone or laptop from a studio. The pace is close to a physical casino and the house edge on a European wheel is still 2.7%. Online casino-style games are not licensed in South Africa, and their status at bookmakers is disputed; see the legal note below.
RNG (computer-generated) roulette
A virtual wheel with computer-generated results. The maths is the same, but it can run at 100 or more spins an hour, so at a fixed stake your losses build up much faster. Same edge per spin, much bigger losses per hour.
Multi-wheel and "Lightning" variants
Newer online formats that spin several wheels at once or add random multipliers to single-number wins. The multipliers (sometimes 50 or 500 times a winning single-number bet) are paid for by cutting the normal single-number payout. The RTP is shown in the game's help screen, so check it rather than assuming the extra excitement is free.
Sequencing your session
- Set your session bankroll. Decide what you can lose and not regret.
- Confirm the wheel is European before you sit down. If it's American, find a different table.
- Decide your stake. Two percent of bankroll per bet is a sensible default.
- Decide your stop-loss and profit target, and write them down if you need to.
- Bet flat on even-money outcomes. Or distribute across two or three outside bets if you want variety.
- Take a 5-minute break every 30 spins. Long sessions produce drift; breaks reset focus.
- When you hit either limit, leave. The wheel will be there tomorrow.
The truth about wheel bias
Mechanical wheels can, in theory, develop a bias, from a slightly loose fret to a worn pocket or a dealer's habit in releasing the ball. Joseph Jagger in 19th-century Monte Carlo and the Pelayo family in 1990s Madrid are famous cases of players who profited from biased wheels.
This isn't a realistic strategy at a modern SA casino. Wheels are precision-built and regularly maintained, and spotting a real bias would take thousands of recorded spins on one wheel, something only a well-organised team could attempt, and casinos watch for it.
For recreational players, wheel bias is a fascinating piece of roulette history but not an actionable angle. Treat the wheel as fair (because it almost certainly is) and focus on bet selection and bankroll discipline instead.
Where to play roulette in South Africa
Roulette is offered at South Africa's major licensed casinos, including Sun City, GrandWest, Emperors Palace, Montecasino and Suncoast. Table minimums and the mix of European (single-zero) and American (double-zero) wheels vary by casino and change over time, so check the table before you sit down, and choose a single-zero wheel whenever you can.
Some SA bookmakers offer live-dealer roulette online. Be aware that the 2025 Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in the Supabets case concerned exactly this product: it held that a Gauteng-licensed bookmaker may not take bets on roulette. The wider position is disputed, so see our gambling laws guide before playing online. Land-based casinos remain the clearly licensed way to play.
Continue learning
- Blackjack basic strategy: the lowest-edge game in the casino if you learn it.
- Baccarat guide: another easy game with better odds than roulette.
- Bankroll management: principles for playing within your means.
- All guides: every strategy guide in one place.