Live
2.70% edge
European Roulette
Single-zero wheel, 37 pockets, 2.70% house edge on every bet on the layout.
RTP 97.30%
Play free
Free tool
Bankroll Calculator
How long a bankroll survives at a given stake, spin rate and house edge.
Your session
37.0 hExpected playing time before the bankroll is gone
Expected cost per hour$13.50
Expected cost per 100 spins$27.00
Total turnover before ruin$18,518
Bankroll in units50
Risk of ruin in a 3-hour session*Low
* Rough guide based on bankroll measured in average bets and the variance of even-money betting. Straight-up betting swings far harder — expect to bust much sooner with the same bankroll.
Read this figure honestly. It is the expected time, not a
promise. Half of all sessions end sooner; a lucky one lasts much longer. The per-hour cost is the number
to budget around.
What 'expected playing time' really means
The headline figure divides your bankroll by the expected hourly cost. It is a median-ish guide, not a guarantee. Variance means roughly half of sessions end earlier and some last far longer. What it is genuinely good for is sanity-checking a plan: if the answer is under two hours, your stake is too high for your bankroll.
A rule that holds up
Keep your bankroll at 100 or more average bets for even-money play, and 250+ if you bet straight up. Below about 20 units, short-term variance alone will bust you regardless of the house edge — and that is the outcome people wrongly blame on 'a cold table'.
A worked example
$500 bankroll, $10 average bet, 50 spins an hour, European wheel. Expected cost is $13.50 an hour, so the expected life of the bankroll is about 37 hours of play.
That is the average of a very wide distribution. With 50 units of bankroll and even-money betting, a fair number of three-hour sessions will end early and a fair number will finish ahead. What the figure is genuinely good for is sanity-checking a plan: if the answer comes back under two hours, the stake is too high for the bankroll.
Session rules that survive contact with a bad run
- Decide the session budget before you sit down and treat it as already spent.
- Never redeposit in the same session. This single rule prevents most of the damage done at roulette tables.
- Set a time limit as well as a money limit. Fast tables can triple the hourly cost without feeling any different.
- Keep gambling money separate from money that has a job.
Privacy and how this tool runs
Everything on this page is computed in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted, logged or stored anywhere, there is no account, and the page works offline once loaded. The source is plain JavaScript in the page itself — you are welcome to read it.
All our figures use published paytables and pocket counts. If you find a number here you believe is wrong, tell us: we correct in place and change the date at the top of the page.
Written by
Daniel Voss
Former live-casino dealer turned probability writer. Builds every simulator on this site.
Questions
How big should my roulette bankroll be?
For even-money betting, at least 100 times your average bet for a comfortable session. For straight-up betting, 250 or more — the variance is far higher.
Does a bigger bankroll reduce the house edge?
No. It lengthens the session and reduces the chance of busting early, but the percentage cost of each wager is fixed.
Put it into practice for free
Every tool on this site is designed to be used next to a demo table. Open one in another tab.
Live
5.26% edge
American Roulette
Double-zero wheel. The extra pocket nearly doubles the house edge to 5.26%.
RTP 94.74%
Play free
Live
1.35% edge
French Roulette
Single zero plus La Partage — even-money bets lose only half when zero lands.
RTP 98.65%
Play free