Even-money bets are the foundation of most roulette betting systems, including the ones covered by the Martingale roulette calculator. They are simple, they pay 1:1, and they win close to half the time, which is exactly why the doubling logic of Martingale is written around them.
What Are Even-Money Roulette Bets?
An even-money bet pays the same amount you stake when it wins: bet $10, win $10 profit. There are three of them, each covering 18 of the numbers on the layout. They are the lowest-variance bets on the table, which is what makes them attractive for staking systems.
Red or Black
You win if the ball lands on any number of your chosen colour. Eighteen numbers are red, eighteen are black, and the zero (and double zero) are green, counting as losses. This is the most iconic even-money wager.
Odd or Even
You win if the number matches your chosen parity. Again eighteen numbers qualify, and the green zero pockets are excluded, which is where the edge quietly lives.
High or Low
Low covers 1 to 18 and high covers 19 to 36. It is the third even-money option and behaves identically to the others for both odds and payout.
Even-Money Bets in European Roulette
On the 37-pocket European wheel an even-money bet wins on 18 numbers and loses on 19, so the win probability is 18/37 (about 48.6%) and the house edge is 2.70%. This is the standard setting used for European roulette Martingale testing.
Even-Money Bets in American Roulette
Adding a double zero makes 38 pockets, so an even-money bet wins on 18 and loses on 20. The win probability drops to 18/38 (about 47.4%) and the house edge doubles to 5.26%. That extra pocket is why American roulette Martingale is measurably worse.
French Roulette and La Partage
French roulette uses the single-zero wheel but adds the La Partage rule, which returns half your even-money stake when the ball lands on zero. This effectively halves the house edge on even-money bets to about 1.35%, making it the friendliest variant for these wagers.
Why Martingale Uses Even-Money Bets
Because a 1:1 payout lets a single win recover all previous doubled stakes plus one base unit, even-money bets are the only clean fit for classic Martingale. Their near-even odds also keep losing streaks shorter on average than higher-paying bets. That is why the best bets for Martingale are all even-money, and why the roulette odds and payouts tool marks them as the baseline. Even so, even-money never means true 50/50, and the edge cannot be erased by staking.