French Roulette

How to Play

Roulette is easy for players to learn and understand. The basic principle of the game is simple: a massive wheel has a number of tiny pockets, and when it spins, a small white ball finds one of them. You can bet on what will happen to that ball in any number of ways, but the most direct is to bet on what will happen to it in relation to a single number (or numbers) on the wheel. Pockets 1-36 are your basic bets: any one of them can win or lose for you. Pocket 0 is a bit of a wild card. It has a 37 in front of it, which mathematically gives 0 and the house a bit of an edge.

French Roulette has a green 0, 13 black numbers and 13 red numbers. You can bet on red, black, odd numbers, even numbers, or on the range of manque (1-18), passe (19-36), not to mention the first 12, second 12, or last 12 numbers. You can place multiple bets on the same spin. You can also use multiple bets by betting on adjacent numbers within the table and placing your wager on the line separating them. One player's favorite method is to bet on 20 and 21 by placing a chip on the line between those numbers.

 

Here’s what the payouts look like:

• Bet: Payout
• 0: 36 to 1
• Any single number: 36 to 1
• Split (2 adjoining numbers): 35 to 2
• Basket (0, 1 and 2): 34 to 3
• Street (Bet on column of 3 numbers): 34 to 3
• Corner (Bet on 4 adjoining numbers): 33 to 4
• Six line (Bet on row of 6 numbers): 31 to 6
• Row bet: 25 to 12
• Dozen bet: 25 to 12
• Odd/Even: 19 to 18
• Red/Black: 19 to 18
• Manque/Pass: 19 to 18

French Roulette vs Regular Roulette

One major difference is with the French Roulette wheel. American roulette wheels tend to have a 0 and a 00, while the French and European variants of roulette wheels only have a 0. This difference between the two types of wheels slightly improves players' odds on red/black or odd/even bets.

The difference between French Roulette and European Roulette are two rules: La Partage and En Prison.

Most French tables automatically make La Partage an option for players. If the ball lands on 0, all even money bets (Red/Black, Odd/Even and Manque/Pass) are halved and half of the wager is returned to the player. This reduces the house edge on these bets to a minuscule 1.35.

Prison is more complicated. If a 0 is rolled, the dealer places a marker on all even money bets and locks those bets for one additional spin. If the player wins on that next spin, he or she is refunded on the locked bets (note: you don't get to keep any winnings on them). In the long run, this works out the same for the player as La Partage, although it adds an extra layer of gambling.

The European version of Roulette already has slightly better odds than its American counterpart, and Roulette as played in France - which is really just a slightly modified version of the European game - has even better odds because of La Partage/En Prison. So if you're going to play online Roulette, it really makes sense to play the French version.

Playing Roulette Online

As I mentioned earlier, casinos with French Roulette offer players the best odds of any Roulette game. However, not every casino offers the French version of the game. However, the casinos highlighted in the table above do offer French roulette. In fact, you could call these casinos excellent homes for gamblers who like to spin the wheel - not unlike some of the slot machines in these same casinos. Like all the casinos I recommend, the sites in the table above offer solid welcome bonuses for first-time players. And they all offer free French Roulette play, so you can try out the game before risking any real money.

Roulette Tips

My number one piece of advice for Roulette players is to keep in mind that no single outcome can truly be said to influence another. The tables just love to try and get players to play certain numbers because they're "hot" or "cold". Just because a 7 hasn't come up in the last 30 spins doesn't mean it's any more "likely" to come up on your next spin than any other number. And don't let fancy, smart-sounding talk about odds and outcomes fool you into thinking you can somehow outsmart the game by betting in certain ways.

Another suggestion I have is to mix up your betting a bit. I almost always come to the table with a bet on Red or Black, and then throw in a few bets on specific numbers. This gives me about a 50/50 chance of winning, with the added incentive that if I hit one of my numbers, the payout is pretty big.