The European Roulette wheel has 37 pockets: a single zero (0) and the numbers 1 through 36. Each number is colored red or black (except for the zero, which is green). The European Roulette Wheel differs from the American Roulette wheel, which has both a single zero (0) and a double zero (00), for a total of 38 pockets. The odds of winning at roulette are better in European Roulette, since the probability of hitting your number is 1 out of 37 instead of 1 out of 38.

There are two main categories of roulette bets. Inside bets are bets on a single number, or on a small group of two, three, four, or six numbers. Inside bets are placed in the inner area of the roulette table, right where the numbers are. Outside bets are bets on larger groups of twelve or eighteen roulette numbers. These bets are placed in the appropriate spaces around the outer perimeter of the roulette table layout. Don't forget that you can place more than one bet on each spin of the roulette wheel.

There are many different ways to place roulette bets. Each bet covers a different set of numbers and has a different distribution, as shown in the Payout table.