Learn how roulette hedge betting works, including examples of covering roulette outcomes, the risks involved and how OddsMonkey calculators can help you work out stakes.
Quick answer
Roulette hedge betting means placing additional bets on different roulette outcomes to change your potential profit or loss. For example, betting on both red and black covers those two colours, but zero remains uncovered. Hedging can reduce exposure on some outcomes, but it does not remove roulette's house edge or guarantee a profit.
Roulette hedge betting is a form of hedging where you place stakes on multiple roulette outcomes rather than relying on one selection.
The basic idea is simple: instead of accepting the full potential loss from one bet, you use another bet to offset some of that exposure.
For example, imagine you place £10 on red. If the ball lands on red, the bet wins, but if it lands on black or zero, your £10 stake loses.
A hedge could involve placing another bet on black. This gives you exposure to both red and black, although the two bets need to be considered alongside the roulette wheel's zero pocket or pockets.
The important distinction is that reducing risk on one set of outcomes isn't the same as eliminating risk altogether.
The UK Gambling Commission classifies roulette as a game of chance, with its outcome determined by chance rather than skill.
To understand hedge betting roulette, you first need to look at the different types of roulette bets available.
Depending on the roulette variant, you can bet on:
A hedge involves placing additional stakes that cover a different outcome from your original position.
Suppose you place:
If red wins, the red bet produces a £20 profit while the black stake loses £10, giving a net result of £10 profit before considering any other bets.
If black wins, the black bet produces a £10 profit while the red stake loses £20, giving a net result of £10 loss.
If zero lands, both bets lose.
This illustrates an important point about roulette hedging: the stakes can be adjusted to change your exposure, but simply betting on opposing colours does not create a guaranteed profit.
The exact outcome also depends on the roulette format and the bets being used.
Yes, you can place bets covering different roulette outcomes, but whether doing so creates a useful hedge depends on the odds, stakes and outcomes covered.
For example, a player might initially back a particular number and then place additional bets covering neighbouring numbers or broader outside markets.
However, roulette is fundamentally different from many sports-betting hedging situations because the underlying game has a built-in house edge.
This means you should not assume that placing bets on opposing outcomes automatically creates an arbitrage opportunity.
The roulette variant matters.
European roulette has a single zero, while American roulette has zero and double zero.
That additional pocket changes the mathematical probabilities and increases the house edge on standard bets.
For a UK-focused strategy, European roulette is therefore particularly relevant, as it is the common single-zero format encountered in British online and casino roulette.
Let's look at a simplified example.
Imagine a European roulette wheel and you place:
£50 on red
You then decide to hedge part of your position by placing:
£25 on black
Your overall exposure is now:
Result
Red Bet
Black Bet
Net Result
Red
+£50
-£25
+£25
Black
-£50
+£25
-£25
Zero
-£50
-£25
-£75
*Illustrative figures before considering any other costs or rules.
The example shows why it is important to look at every possible outcome, rather than focusing only on the two outcomes being hedged.
OddsMonkey expert insight
"A useful way to assess a roulette hedge is to ignore the headline payout and map the final profit or loss for every outcome first. That quickly shows whether the additional stake is genuinely reducing your exposure or simply moving the potential loss somewhere else."
James, OddsMonkey Hedge Betting Expert
A hedge can alter the size of a potential win or loss, but it doesn't make the zero disappear.
Roulette hedging can involve different types of bets, but the useful question is not simply how many numbers a bet covers. The key consideration is how the additional stake changes your overall profit or loss across every possible result.
For example, red and black are opposing outside bets that cover 36 of the 37 pockets on a European roulette wheel. Zero remains outside both selections. Similarly, odd and even leave zero uncovered.
Inside bets can also be combined with other selections, but covering more numbers does not automatically make a hedge more effective. The total stakes, payouts and uncovered outcomes all need to be considered together.
Bet
Outcomes covered
Hedge consideration
Red or black
18 numbers
The opposing colour leaves zero uncovered
Odd or even
18 numbers
The opposing selection leaves zero uncovered
1-18 or 19-36
18 numbers
Zero remains uncovered
Dozen
12 numbers
Two or more dozens can cover additional outcomes
Columns
12 numbers
Other columns can be used to cover different numbers
Straight-up
1 number
Additional bets can cover selected numbers
The purpose of this table is to show how different selections affect coverage; it should not be interpreted as suggesting that any particular combination creates a guaranteed profit.
There are several ways bettors may think about hedging roulette positions.
This is the simplest example.
A bettor places stakes on both colours, potentially changing the amount won or lost depending on the colour that lands.
The zero remains an uncovered outcome.
The same basic concept applies to odd and even numbers.
You can use different stakes on each side to alter your potential exposure.
Again, zero is not covered by either bet.
A bettor who has backed a particular number could potentially use additional bets on other numbers or outside markets to reduce their exposure.
The more outcomes you attempt to cover, however, the more important the underlying odds and total amount staked become.
You don't necessarily have to hedge your entire position.
A partial hedge can be used when the objective is simply to reduce the amount that could be lost rather than completely offsetting the original position.
This is where calculating the resulting profit and loss across every possible outcome becomes particularly important.
For more information on types of hedge bets, take a look at the Hedge Betting Strategies guide.
That depends on what you are trying to achieve.
If the objective is to reduce exposure to a particular roulette outcome, placing additional bets can change your potential results.
But if the objective is to create a guaranteed profit, roulette hedging does not provide that outcome simply by placing bets on opposing selections.
Roulette remains a game of chance, and the Gambling Commission identifies roulette as an example of a game whose outcome depends entirely on chance.
The distinction matters because hedging and arbitrage aren't automatically the same thing.
OddsMonkey expert insight
"The number of bets on the table can make a position look more sophisticated than it really is. What matters is the combined return after every stake and payout is accounted for; adding another selection does not, by itself, change the underlying expectation of the game."
James, OddsMonkey Hedge Betting Expert
No. Roulette hedge betting should not be described as a guaranteed-profit strategy.
Covering multiple roulette outcomes can reduce exposure to some results, but uncovered outcomes can still produce a loss. In addition, roulette itself is a game of chance and the house edge means that hedging does not automatically create an advantageous mathematical position.
This is an important difference between roulette hedging and certain forms of sports-betting hedging or matched betting.
If you're looking at hedging more generally, see our guide to hedge betting for an explanation of how the strategy works across different betting situations.
The word "hedging" can mean slightly different things depending on the betting environment.
With sports hedge betting, you may have an existing position that changes in value as the event develops. For example, a football team you backed before kick-off might move significantly in price after taking the lead.
A bettor could then hedge by taking a position on the opposing outcome.
Roulette is different because the outcome of each spin is independent and determined by chance.
There isn't the same type of developing sporting event where information about the match changes the underlying probability in the same way.
This is why a roulette hedge should be viewed primarily as managing the distribution of your potential win or loss, rather than as a way of creating a guaranteed return.
For a broader explanation of how hedging works, take a look at the How To Start Hedge Betting guide.
Hedging can change your exposure, but it doesn't remove the risks associated with gambling.
What the data says
The Gambling Survey for Great Britain estimates that 2.4% of adults aged 18 and over had a Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) score of 8 or more in 2025. Among adults who had gambled in the previous 12 months, the estimate was 4.0%.
Source: Gambling Commission - Gambling Survey for Great Britain
Some key considerations include:
Online roulette offered to consumers in Great Britain falls within the Gambling Commission's regulatory framework, and remote casino operators serving Great Britain require the appropriate licence.
No, this is one of the most important points to understand about roulette hedge betting.
Placing bets on multiple outcomes doesn't automatically change the underlying mathematics of the roulette game. The zero — and double zero on American roulette — creates outcomes that aren't covered by standard opposing bets such as red versus black.
A hedge can redistribute your potential results, but it shouldn't be presented as a method for overcoming the house edge.
Before placing any hedge, work through these steps:
List every possible roulette outcome.
Record the stake and payout associated with each bet.
Calculate the net result for every outcome.
Check whether the hedge reduces exposure or simply redistributes it.
A calculator can help with the mathematics, but it cannot determine whether a particular roulette hedge is a sensible gambling decision.
Please note - The OddsMonkey hedging Calculator is mainly designed for sports hedge betting and may not always be suitable for roulette bets.
Roulette hedge betting can be understood as placing additional bets to change your exposure to different roulette outcomes.
However, it is important not to confuse reducing exposure with guaranteeing a profit. Roulette is a game of chance, and standard opposing bets such as red and black leave the zero outcome uncovered.
For bettors interested in hedging as a wider strategy, sports markets can offer different opportunities because prices can change and opposing positions may become available.
If you want to understand the fundamentals first, start with our Hedge Betting guide, then explore the strategy and sports-specific guides linked throughout this article.
If you're working with a sports-betting hedge, the Hedging Calculator can also help you calculate the required stake from the relevant odds and commission.
Yes, you can place bets on both red and black to change your potential win or loss depending on which colour lands. However, neither bet covers the zero, so a spin landing on zero can still result in both bets losing.
Yes, you can place additional bets on other numbers or wider roulette markets to reduce your exposure to a particular number. The more outcomes you cover, the more important it is to calculate the total stakes and potential result across every possible outcome.
No. Placing bets across multiple roulette outcomes can redistribute your potential results, but it does not remove the mathematical house edge built into the game. On European roulette, the single zero remains an uncovered outcome when using standard opposing bets such as red and black.
European roulette has one zero, while American roulette has both zero and double zero. The additional pocket on American roulette increases the house edge on standard bets, making the two formats mathematically different when considering a hedge.
Not simply by placing bets on opposing roulette outcomes. A hedge changes your exposure to different results, whereas arbitrage requires a set of prices that can produce a positive return across all covered outcomes.
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