Roulette Variations: French Roulette

There are a few major variations of Roulette that you should familiarize yourself with. Today I'd like to talk about one, French Roulette. Much like the more common versions you may have seen, American and European Roulette, French Roulette has the same premise---you wager on which number the Roulette ball will land on after the croupier sends it spinning around the Roulette wheel. There are special features in French Roulette that make it distinct from — and in some ways, superior to, the other Roulette variations.

The first thing you might notice when you look at a French Roulette table is that it is all the numbers are red. On the French Roulette wheel, as on all Roulette wheels, the numbers alternate red and black. And, as in all Roulette games, you can still place an even-money bet on red or black in French Roulette. So this is not a difference you need to pay much attention to.

The French Roulette wheel, like the European Roulette wheel, has only a single zero. From the player's point of view, this means that you have a higher probability of winning at French Roulette or European Roulette than you would have at American Roulette, which has both a single zero and a double zero. But the French Roulette game also provides another advantage, which European Roulette does not have. French Roulette game has a unique rule called La Partage. The La Partage Roulette rule is that if an even money bet is made, and the Roulette ball lands on zero, you lose only half your bet. This rule provides a significant statistical advantage to the French Roulette gambler.

French Roulette allows for all bets that you can find in American and European Roulette. However, French Roulette adds special bets known as Call Bets.

These call bets seem a bit strange and at first, however, there is a logic to the them, they are based on the positions of the numbers on the French Roulette wheel.

These are the call bets available in French Roulette:

Finales a Cheval: This is a bet on all numbers ending in either of two digits. For example, Finales a Cheval 2/5 is a bet on 2, 5, 12, 15, 22, 25, 32, and 35.

Finales en Plein: This is a bet on all numbers ending in a particular digit. For example, Finales en Plein 3 is a bet on 3, 13, 23, and 33.

Orphelins (Orphans): A bet on the eight remaining Roulette numbers that are not included in either the Voisins or the Tiers: 1, 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31, and 34.

Tiers du Cylindre (Third of the Wheel): A bet on the twelve numbers that are situated on the opposite side of the wheel from the 0: 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, and 33.

Voisins du Zero (Neighbors of Zero): A bet on the seventeen numbers that surround the 0 on the French Roulette wheel: 0, 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, and 35

Call bets aren't necessary to memorize, nor are any they any more likely to win than the regular inside bets and outside bets that are available. But they do add an interesting and unusual twist to your regular Roulette betting repertoire, and that always adds to the fun of playing Roulette.

From the name of the call bets above, you may have noticed is that a French Roulette table is in French. In fact, the very name "Roulette" is a French word meaning "little wheel." To further help your understanding of the game, here is a glossary of some of the French terms you will encounter in French Roulette:

Pair - even numbers

Impair - odd numbers

Manqué - the low numbers 1-18

Passé - the high numbers 19-36

P-12 (Premiere 12) - the first dozen (1-12)

M-12 (Moyenne 12) - the middle dozen (13-24)

D-12 (Derniere 12) - the last dozen (25-36)

Well, I hope this lesson has helped you. Remember, knowledge and planning are the keys to winning. So now that French Roulette has been demystified for you, play, enjoy and win!