Odds of Green in Roulette: Should you bet on it?

A roulette wheel spins over a yellow and orange background, with the ball landing in the green pocket.

All the bets at the roulette table crowd around red and black, like it’s the last outlet at an airport. But hardly any congregate at the zero. You might even wonder if betting on the zero is allowed in the first place.

We can confirm that it is definitely allowed, but the odds of hitting it aren’t great, possibly even less likely than getting a full charge before your flight.

This explainer will show you the ropes of roulette’s mysterious green pocket, help you figure out whether it’s worth betting on, and walk you through a few strategies that include a wager on zero.

What does it mean to bet on green?

A green bet is a wager on the zero or double-zero pockets on a roulette wheel, which are the only green pockets.

However, to be clear, there is no standard “green bet” in roulette with its own payout odds, like there are with split bets, street, corner, etc. Betting on green just means you’re wagering that the ball will land on the green pocket/s (‘0’ in European roulette or ‘0/00’ in American).

To cover the green pockets in American roulette, you’d need to place a straight-up bet on either one or a split bet with the 0 and 00. On European roulette, you can either place a straight-up bet on the single zero or use a corner bet that covers 0,1,2, and 3. Green pockets are not included in dozens, columns, odds/evens, or any other group-style bet.

Odds Of Landing On Green In American Roulette

On an orange and yellow background, a football is shown behind a bowl of mac n’ cheese, with a wooden sign poking out that says, “5.26%.”

In almost every other circumstance, we advise against playing American Roulette because it has a nearly double house edge to its European counterpart. But the reason for its higher house edge is that it has two green pockets: a zero and a double zero.

Since today we’re talking about the odds of the green pocket, we have to say that for once, the American version wins, right up there with mac n’ cheese and football Sunday.

American roulette has 38 pockets, and the odds of “going green” and hitting zero or double zero are 2 in 38, or roughly 5.26%. But of course, you’d hardly ever play roulette only to bet on the green pockets. That would be like only recycling the bottle caps and tossing the rest. You’re kinda missing the point of “going green.”

Odds Of Landing On Green In European Roulette

When it comes to European roulette, you enjoy a significantly better RTP (return to player), which means your bankroll lasts longer and you could win more over a long period of play. However, landing on the single zero has the same low probability as any other straight-up bet. In other words, in the wise words of Kermit the Frog, it’s not easy being green.

With just one green pocket out of 37, your odds of landing the zero are 1 in 37, or about 2.7%. That’s a small chance, especially when you’re putting $20 on the green pocket. Talk about a stressful spin.

But those slim odds aren’t really there for you to bet straight-up and win. They’re what keep the casino profitable. The zero is what prevents even bets from being truly 50/50.

Without the pesky zero, you’d have an exactly 50% chance of landing even-money bets like red/black, odd/even, and high/low. That would mean the casino wouldn’t have a house edge at all. The zero exists entirely to preserve it.

Should You Bet On Green?

There’s a pile of cash on a yellow and orange background, with a green flag poking out that says, “35:1.”

Being an online casino, we’re fond of the color green. In fact, we’d love to bathe in it Lil Wayne style. However, if you want to see cash-money green, it’s best to avoid focusing your bets on the green pocket in roulette. It’s a long shot with a 35:1 payout that rarely lands.

A straight-up bet on green (the zero) offers the same payout as any single number (35:1). While it is possible to go from zero to hero on one lucky spin, the odds of hitting it (2.7%) are far lower than any other bet.

But hey, we’re not here to gang up on the zero. We wouldn’t recommend betting on any single number, as they all have the same low odds of winning.

Strategies You Can Try That Include Betting On Green

Although we don’t recommend betting on it straight-up, you don’t have to pretend like the zero/s doesn’t exist. There are perfectly legitimate roulette strategies that make use of the green pocket/s.

James Bond Strategy

The James Bond strategy splits your bet across multiple sections of the wheel to cover most outcomes while still leaving room for the zero. The classic version uses $200 per round. You place $140 on high numbers (19-36), $50 on six numbers (13-18), and $10 on the single zero.

This setup covers 25 out of 37 pockets on a European wheel, giving you about a 67.6% chance to win something on each spin.

Kavouras Roulette Strategy

The Kavouras roulette strategy is a unique, high-coverage system that spreads your chips around the wheel in a seemingly random pattern, but it’s actually very calculated. It uses 20 numbers and 8 total units.

Place 1 unit on the corner with the numbers 0, 1, 2, and 3. Place 2 units on the double street with 31-32-33-34-35-36. Then, put 1 unit each on five splits: 8-11, 13-14, 15-18, 17-20, 27-30.

This bet covers 20 numbers total, for a 54.04% chance of winning something.

Betting on green might not be the smartest move by itself, but strategies like the James Bond and Kavouras systems prove that green doesn’t have to be ignored; it just needs to be part of a bigger plan. So, whether you’re testing these systems or crafting your own, Cafe Casino has plenty of tables waiting for your next spin. Go ahead, place your bets, and see if luck lets you “go green” today. Just don’t forget about the bottle, too – *wink wink*.