Is Online Roulette Rigged or Random?

Reviewer Paul Jacobs
Reviewed By Paul Jacobs Casino Expert

We’re frequently asked, “is online roulette rigged?” and the answer is generally “no.” Firstly, game rigging is illegal for licensed online casinos. And secondly, it’s unwise for any legitimate gambling site to drive away players with unfair games.

Online roulette isn’t rigged like most players would tell you, but it does have one of the highest house edges for table games. The house edge, or built-in advantage, is the cut of your bet that the casino takes to stay afloat.

Without profits or “rigging”, casinos would lose money quickly. But there are ways to use the house edge to your advantage.

Is Online Roulette Rigged or Random

So, Is Roulette Rigged?

There are no guaranteed wins in life, especially not when you’re gambling online. So, expecting to win every time you play is why most players believe the myth that roulette is rigged.

The only way to win every time is to try and cheat the roulette wheel or swipe chips off the table. However, that’s not advisable or feasible for honest players.

Random Number Generators

Legitimate online casinos offer roulette games with proven random number generators (RNGs) which are always fair. These algorithms dictate results and cannot be hacked easily.

Essentially, RNGs remove the “unfairness” from table games and give players peace of mind. However, we still recommend looking for games from reputable software providers to avoid disappointment.

How Roulette Is Rigged: House Edge and Payouts

For American Roulette, the payout should be 1 in 38 for the double zero on a single-number bet. In European Roulette, it will be 1 in 37. The payouts will differ if you’re playing a variant like Roulette Royale, Multiball, or Multiwheel.

These are rough estimates, but roulette bets usually have typical payouts. We’ve compiled a few below to give you a rough idea:

Outside Bet TypePotential PayoutEuropean OddsAmerican Odds
Red or Black1:148.65%47.37%
Odd or Even1:148.65%47.37%
High or Low1:148.65%47.37%
Column2:132.4%31.6%
Dozen2:132.4%31.6%
Inside Bet TypePotential PayoutEuropean OddsAmerican Odds
Single number35:12.70%2.60%
Two numbers17:15.4%5.3%
Three numbers11:18.1%7.9%
Four numbers8:110.8%10.5%
Five numbers6:113.5%13.2%
Six numbers5:116.2%15.8%