What is Inside Bet?

Inside bets in roulette are wagers placed on the inner section of the table layout — on individual numbers or on small groups of adjacent numbers. The category covers the straight-up (a single number), the split (two adjacent numbers), the street (a row of three), the corner (a block of four) and the six-line (two adjacent rows of three). They contrast with outside bets, which cover the larger groupings such as red or black, odd or even, and the dozens. Worked example: a straight-up bet pays 35-to-1. On a single-zero European wheel there are 37 pockets, so the true odds against any one number are 36-to-1. Staking 1 unit returns 35 in profit plus your stake when you win, but the gap between the 36-to-1 true odds and the 35-to-1 payout is exactly where the house edge of 2.70% lives. On a double-zero American wheel, with 38 pockets, the same 35-to-1 payout produces a steeper 5.26% edge. Why it matters: inside bets offer the largest payouts on the table but the lowest probability of success on any single spin, so bankrolls swing sharply. A common mistake is to assume a long-format strategy of covering many inside numbers reduces the house edge; it does not — every pocket carries the same edge, so spreading chips merely smooths variance without improving the long-run return. Choosing a single-zero wheel over a double-zero one halves the cost. See also outside bet, house edge and roulette.