Originated in 18th century France, French Roulette is a unique and interesting variation of the standard Roulette game. Over the years, the game has become increasingly popular among casino players, all thanks to its low edge and the enticing side betting options it comes with.
For novice players, we have created a beginner’s French Roulette guide that details the basics and working mechanism of French Roulette. Also, it covers several other things to help you get started with the game.
Basics of French Roulette
The French variation of Roulette is based on the European Roulette wheel. If you’ve played European Roulette before, you’d be knowing that its wheel features 37 different pockets. One of these slots carries a green colour and has a zero in it. The remaining pockets have numbers from 1 to 36 and are coloured in alternate red and back.
Speaking about the table layout, French Roulette has the wheel placed at the centre of the table. And the French wheel is surrounded by betting grids on either side.
Also, the French table has all its wording written in French, making it easy for players to distinguish between French Roulette and other Roulette types. Another difference between French Roulette and other Roulette games is that the former’s table layout has a dedicated section for placing call bets.
In French Roulette, the main aim is to wager on where the small white ball will land on the spinning wheel. In the French version, players can go with several different bet types, including inside bets, outside bets and side wagers.
French Roulette rules explained
The basics and the Roulette odds of the French variation are quite similar to that of European Roulette. But French Roulette comes with two unique rules that are exclusive to the game. They include:
La Partage
This rule is only applicable to even money bets in French Roulette. With this rule, you’ll get half your stake amount back if the ball happens to land in the zero pocket. The other half portion of your wager is kept by the casino here. Also, the La Partage rule reduces the house odds in Roulette to 1.35%.
En Prison
This is a variation of the La Partage rule. Here, your even money wagers are kept for the next spin if the ball stops in the zero pocket. If the ball lands in a zero slot again, your wager will again be kept in place for another spin. This continues until the ball lands in a non-zero number. At this point, you can either win or lose your bet amount.
How to play French Roulette online?
As with other online casino games available at the mobile casino, playing French Roulette online is quite easy. Below we’ve given the step-by-step procedure for the same:
Place your wagers
When playing French Roulette online, you first need to choose your chip size to wager with. Then you’d need to place your virtual chips in the designated area for your chosen bet type.
Initiate the gameplay
With the online version of French Roulette, you don’t need to wait for the dealer to spin the wheel. Instead, you just have to click/tap on the ‘Spin’ button and the wheel will start spinning.
Wait for the outcome
After initiating the spinning round, the wheel will eventually come to a stop and the small white ball will land in a slot. Online French Roulette games make use of the RNG software to generate random results.
The result
If your bet turns out to be correct, you’ll be paid according to the paytable of the game. At this point, you can either continue to play Roulette in the next round or quit.
A look at French Roulette call bets
Below we offer an insight into Roulette bets that are exclusive to the French version of the game:
Voisins du Zero Bet
The name of this wager translates to “Neighbours of Zero” in English. Going from 22 to 25, this French Roulette bet covers nine numbers on one side of the zero pocket and nine on the other side. This bet requires a total of 9 chips to play.
Le Tiers du Cylindre Bet
The English translation of this bet is “Thirds of the Wheel”. So, it covers exactly one-third part or 12 numbers (from 27 to 33) on the French wheel. This call bet is quite popular among Roulette players and can be found in any top Roulette tournament.
Orphelins Bet
This Roulette call bet includes a total of 8 numbers that weren’t covered in the bets mentioned above. Consisting of 4 split wagers and a single chip covering 1, this bet requires a total of 5 chips to play.