Roulette Five-Number Bet
The five-number bet covers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 with one chip, and only the American double-zero layout has it.
Five numbers in 38, pays 6:1. ProbabilitymathProbabilityChance of an outcome, from 0 to 1 or 0% to 100%. One number: 1/37 = 2.70%.Read full → 13.16%, house edgemathHouse edgeThe share of each stake the casino keeps on average: 2.70% in European roulette.Read full → 7.89%: the worst bet on a standard roulette table. Also called the top line, the first five or the basket.
Where to place the five-number bet
One chipmoneyChipA token representing a fixed amount, placed on the layout to make a bet. Also: check.Read full → at the outer end of the line where the two zeroswheelZeroThe single green pocket that no even-money, dozen or column bet covers; the source of the house edge. Also: single zero, 0.Read full → meet the first streetbetStreetThree numbers in a row of the layout, pays 11:1. French: transversale.Read full →, 1-2-3. New Jersey’s rules put it on the common cornerbetCornerFour numbers sharing a corner on the layout, pays 8:1.Read full → of the 0, the 1 and the “1st 12” box; some layoutsequipmentLayoutThe printed betting grid on the table. Also: table, felt, cloth.Read full → print a “first five” box instead. It is the only bet that takes in both zeros and the first street at once, and the only five-number bet on a standard layout.
Five-number bet payout and house edge
Every other bet on the American table is priced the same way: 36 divided by the numbers covered, minus 1. For five numbers that gives 6.2 to 1, and the table rounds it down to 6. Five pocketsequipmentPocketOne of the 37 numbered compartments on the rotor. Also: slot, cup.Read full → in 38 win 6 unitsmoneyUnitThe base stake a system or a player works in. Progressions are described in units so they apply at any table.Read full → and 33 lose 1: (5 × 6 − 33)/38 = −3/38, a loss of 7.89% of every stake. A $10 chip on it for 100 spins loses $78.95 on average, against $52.63 for any other bet on the same table.
The same five numbers for less
Five one-unit straight upsbetStraight upA single number, pays 35:1.Read full → on 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3 cover exactly the same pockets. A hit pays 35 on one chip and loses the other four: +31 on 5 units, 6.2 to 1, the price the rule promises. They cost the table’s usual 5.26%. A splitbetSplitTwo adjacent numbers, pays 17:1.Read full → on 0-00 and the street 1-2-3 also cover the five numbers at 5.26%, though they pay differently depending on which number comes up. The single chip only saves placing four more, and it costs half as much again as the straight ups.
On the wheel
On the American wheel the five pockets fall in three places: 0 with 2 beside it, 00 with 1 beside it on the opposite side of the wheel, and 3 on its own between 15 and 24. Like the other layout bets it is not a sectorwheelSectorA contiguous arc of pockets on the wheel, as distinct from a group on the layout.Read full → of the wheel.
On a single-zero table
European and French tables have no five-number bet. With one zero, the corner where 0 meets 1, 2 and 3 is the basketbetBasketOn a single-zero wheel: 0, 1, 2, 3 with one chip, pays 8:1. Also: first four, quatre premiers.Read full →: four numbers, 8 to 1, and the usual 2.70%.
Questions
It is the line along the top of the layout, where the zeros meet the first street. Rule books and dealers also call the same spot the first five or the basket.
No. At 7.89% it costs half as much again as any other American bet; five straight ups on the same numbers cost 5.26%.
No. With one zero the same spot is the basket 0-1-2-3, four numbers at 8 to 1 and 2.70%.
Sources
- Ethier, S. N. The Doctrine of Chances: Probabilistic Aspects of Gambling.
- Bollman, M. Mathematics of the Big Four Casino Table Games: Blackjack, Baccarat, Craps, & Roulette.
- New Jersey Administrative Code § 13:47-20.32. Rules of the game of roulette.
- Crown Melbourne. Table Games Roulette Rules, version 19.0.