The green zero
The green pocket is small, but it decides who wins over time – here is what it does, what it pays and what your chances are.
What the green zero is
Every roulette wheel has the numbers 1 to 36 in red and black. On top of those, it has green pockets: the 0 on every wheel, plus 00 and 000 on some wheels.
- European and French wheels: one zero (0) and 37 pockets in total.
- American wheel: two zeros (0 and 00) and 38 pockets in total.
- Triple-zero wheel: three zeros (0 and 00 and 000) and 39 pockets in total.
The green pockets are not red or black. They exist for one reason: they give the casino its edge.
Why? The payouts are set as if the green pockets were not there. A single number pays 35 to 1, which would be a fair price only on a wheel with no zero. The zero is the gap between the fair price and the real price.
On a European wheel that gap is 2.70% of every bet (1/37). Over time, that is about $2.70 lost for every hundred dollars you bet.
The zero is not a trick or a rare glitch – it is simply part of the wheel, and it is where the house edge comes from.
See the full layout on the wheel layout page.
What are the odds of hitting green on roulette?
Each pocket has the same chance on every spin. So the chance of green depends only on how many green pockets the wheel has.
- European wheel (0): 2.70% per spin.
- American wheel (0 or 00): 5.26% per spin.
- Triple-zero wheel (0 or 00 or 000): 7.69% per spin.
| Wheel | Pockets | Edge on red/black | Edge on one number |
|---|---|---|---|
| European (single zero) | 37 | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| French (La Partage) | 37 | 1.35% | 2.70% |
| French (En Prison) | 37 | 1.39% | 2.70% |
| American (0 and 00) | 38 | 5.26% | 5.26% |
| American, Atlantic City rule | 38 | 2.63% | 5.26% |
| Triple zero (0, 00, 000) | 39 | 7.69% | 7.69% |
More green pockets means more spins where most bets lose. That is why the house edge grows from 2.70% on the European wheel to 5.26% on the American wheel and 7.69% on the triple-zero wheel.
Green is not "due" after a long time without it. The wheel has no memory, so the chance stays the same on every spin.
If green has not shown up for a while, the next spin still has the exact same chance. Read about the gambler's fallacy to see why.
What does green on roulette pay?
A bet on 0 is a normal straight up bet on one number. It pays 35 to 1, the same as a bet on the 17 or any other single number.
Green does not pay extra, and it does not have a better edge. A straight bet on 0 has the same house edge as every other straight bet on that wheel.
Other bets that include the green pockets:
- Split 0 and 00 (American): pays 17 to 1.
- Trio (0 with two neighbors, like 0-1-2): pays 11 to 1.
- First four (0-1-2-3 on a European wheel): pays 8 to 1.
- Top line (0-00-1-2-3 on an American wheel): pays 6 to 1.
Watch out for the top line. Its house edge is 7.89%, the worst bet on the American table.
Betting on green does not "use" the casino's own pocket against it – the edge on a zero bet is the same as on any other number.
All payouts are on the roulette payouts page.
Is 0 an even number in roulette?
In math, zero is an even number. In roulette, it is not.
The roulette rules treat 0 (and 00 and 000) as outside all the simple groups:
- Not even, not odd
- Not red, not black
- Not low (1–18), not high (19–36)
- Not in any dozen or column
This is on purpose. If 0 counted as even, the even bet would cover more pockets than odd, and the table would be uneven.
So when the ball lands on green, every even-money bet, dozen bet and column bet is a losing bet – unless a special rule applies.
If you bet "even" and the ball lands on zero, you do not win – in roulette, zero belongs to no group except its own.
What happens to even-money bets on zero
Even-money bets are red/black, even/odd and low/high. They pay 1 to 1. On a European wheel, red wins 48.65% of the time, not half – zero takes the rest.
What happens when the ball lands on green depends on the rules of the table:
- Standard rule: the bet is lost. House edge 2.70% on a European wheel.
- La Partage: you get half your bet back. House edge drops to 1.35%, about $1.35 for every hundred dollars bet.
- En Prison: your bet stays "in prison" for the next spin. If it wins then, you get it back (with no win). House edge 1.39%.
- Atlantic City rule (American): you get half back when the ball lands on 0 or 00 – house edge 2.63%.
These rules are common on French roulette. They only cover even-money bets – a straight bet or a dozen bet still loses in full on zero.
La Partage and En Prison make the edge smaller, but they do not remove it – the house still wins over time.
Try it yourself on the free roulette simulator and watch how often green shows up.
Questions
What are the odds on green in roulette?
On a European wheel, green (0) comes up 2.70% of the time. On an American wheel, 0 or 00 comes up 5.26% of the time, and on a triple-zero wheel green comes up 7.69% of the time.
What does green pay in roulette?
A straight bet on 0 pays 35 to 1, the same as any other single number. Green does not pay extra and has the same house edge as other straight bets.
Is 0 an even number in roulette?
No. In roulette, zero is not even, odd, red, black, low or high, so even-money bets lose when the ball lands on it unless a rule like La Partage or En Prison applies.
Why does the zero give the casino an edge?
Payouts are set as if the zero did not exist, so the extra pocket is pure profit for the house over time. On a European wheel this gives an edge of 2.70% on every bet.
Is betting on green a good strategy?
No. A bet on green has the same house edge as any other straight bet on that wheel, and no betting system can beat the edge over time.