Corner bet roulette explained

What a corner bet in roulette covers

Any four numbers that form a two-by-two square on the grid can be backed with one chip placed on their shared corner. That means two numbers from one row of three and the two matching numbers from the next row: 1-2-4-5, 2-3-5-6, 31-32-34-35 and so on. Wikipedia’s roulette article (opens in a new tab) describes the chip going on the common corner shared by the four numbers; in French it is a carré.

The corner sits in the middle of the inside bets: it covers more than a split or street, and fewer than a six line. Our roulette hub has the bigger picture.

Corner bet roulette payout, odds and house edge

Wizard of Odds’ roulette basics (opens in a new tab) lists the corner at 8 to 1 on both wheels, winning 10.53% of the time with a 5.26% edge on a double-zero wheel. Single-zero figures come from counting 4 winning pockets out of 37.

Fair odds on a 37-pocket wheel would be 33 to 4, or 8.25 to 1. The casino pays 8 to 1, and that quarter-unit gap is the house edge. Over 37 spins at £1 a corner, the expected 4 wins bring in £32 and the 33 losses cost £33: down £1, or 2.70% of £37.

All 22 corners, and why middle numbers sit in more of them

Between each pair of neighbouring rows there are two corners (one on each side of the middle number), and there are 11 such pairs, so the layout holds 22 corners among the numbers 1 to 36. Not every number appears in the same number of them.

This is a quirk of geometry, not of odds. Number 5 sitting in four corners does not make it more likely to land; it only means you can cover it from four directions.

The first four: a corner bet that includes zero

Single-zero layouts let you back 0, 1, 2 and 3 together, placing the chip where zero meets the first row. Wikipedia’s payout table lists this European first four at 8 to 1, the same as an ordinary corner. Four pockets out of 37 at 8 to 1 gives the standard 2.70% edge, so it is a perfectly normal-priced way to include zero.

American tables do not have it. Their nearest equivalent is the five-number top line (0, 00, 1, 2, 3), which pays 6 to 1 and, by Wizard of Odds’ arithmetic, carries a 7.89% edge, the worst standard bet in roulette. Our basket and top line page compares both.

Corner, two splits or four straight ups: the same bet

Take the square 17-18-20-21 and £4 to spend. You could put it on the corner, put £2 on each of the splits 17/18 and 20/21, or put £1 straight up on each number.

Every route gives the same result, which is why every standard bet on a single-zero wheel has the same edge. The corner is just the tidiest way to place it, and it can matter if a table’s minimum applies to each chip.

Overlapping corners: the square around a number

A popular pattern is to put a chip on all four corners touching a middle number. Around 5, those are 1-2-4-5, 2-3-5-6, 4-5-7-8 and 5-6-8-9: four chips covering nine numbers, with 5 in all four squares.

Expected result over 37 spins: 32 + (4 × 14) + (4 × 5) − (28 × 4) = −£4, which is 2.70% of the £148 staked across those 37 spins. The pattern wins on 9 numbers in 37, about a quarter of spins, but the cost per pound is exactly the same as a single corner.

How to place a corner bet, step by step

1. Pick four numbers that form a square: two side by side in one row and the two directly next to them in the neighbouring row.
2. Check the table’s inside-bet limits, then choose a chip value.
3. Place the chip exactly on the point where all four numbers meet.
4. Hover or look for the highlight: all four numbers should light up. Two lit numbers means the chip is on a split line.
5. Confirm before betting closes. A winning corner pays 8 times the stake plus the chip back.

Corners on the racetrack: the voisins du zéro square

One famous call bet relies on a corner. Voisins du zéro covers the 17 numbers nearest zero on the wheel with nine chips: two on the 0-2-3 trio, one each on five splits and two on the 25-26-28-29 corner. Because that corner carries two chips, a hit on 25, 26, 28 or 29 wins 8 × 2 = 16 units while the other seven chips are lost, a 9-unit profit on the spin.

Wizard of Odds’ sector bets page (opens in a new tab) gives voisins and the other call bets the same 2.70% edge as single bets on a single-zero wheel. At £1 a chip, a full voisins costs about 24p a spin on average.

Corner bet odds over a session

A corner lands on average about once every 9.25 spins, but gaps are far longer than that suggests. The chance of no win in a run is (33/37) raised to the number of spins.

As for cost, Evolution says its Auto Roulette (opens in a new tab) can run 60 to 80 games an hour. At £5 a corner that is £300 to £400 staked an hour, and an average cost of £8.10 to £10.80. With a £50 budget and £5 a spin, ten straight misses, which happens about 32% of the time, ends the session before the first win. Our session budget calculator helps you pick a stake that fits.

Corner bet myths and common mistakes

• ‘Covering 5 from four corners makes it lucky.’ Overlap changes the size of the win on 5, not its 1 in 37 chance.
• ‘A corner that hasn’t hit in 30 spins is due.’ Every spin is independent; the gambler’s fallacy explains why it feels otherwise.
• Using corners to ‘cover the table’. The more corners you add, the more often something wins and the more you stake each spin. The edge on the total stays at 2.70%.
• Choosing American roulette. The same corner costs 5.26% on a double-zero wheel, almost twice as much.

Corner bets at UK online and live roulette

At standard single-zero RNG and live tables a corner pays 8 to 1 with a 2.70% edge. Evolution’s Lightning Roulette rules (opens in a new tab) also keep corners at their usual payout; only straight ups change. The Gambling Commission’s RTS 7 standard (opens in a new tab) requires online results to be acceptably random and bans compensated games.

Since 17 January 2025, every online roulette game in Great Britain must allow at least 5 seconds per game cycle, offer no autoplay, prevent simultaneous play on several games and show net spend and time played on screen. Table limits are set by each game, as the slot stake caps do not apply. For help keeping sessions short, see our guide to time-outs.

Where to play corner bet roulette

Our partner casinos are licensed in Great Britain, but their welcome offers are for slots, not roulette. Table and live games are often excluded from bonuses or count for less towards wagering, so check the full terms and each casino’s live and table lobby for single-zero roulette. 18+ and terms apply.

Casumo offers new customers a 50% bonus up to £100 on a first deposit of at least £20, with opt-in, 10x wagering within 7 days, a £5 maximum bet and game, play and payment restrictions. 10bet gives new UK customers a 100% match up to £25 when the casino welcome bonus is selected at sign-up and the first deposit is made within 7 days; it must be wagered 10x on slots within 3 days, bonus winnings are capped at £1,000 and Skrill and Neteller deposits are excluded. Coral gives new players who deposit and bet £10 or more on slots 100 free spins at 10p on selected games, accepted within 48 hours and valid for 7 days, with no wagering on winnings; Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, prepaid cards and certain debit cards do not qualify.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.