French Roulette
French roulette is an interesting variant of the game of roulette. Roulette is not as difficult to play as some other games like poker. Also, the energy level is a lot more higher compared to games like blackjack and craps. Roulette originated in Europe and later became popular in America as well. European roulette and French roulette are the two variants of the game played in Europe. But when it comes to online roulette, European roulette, and not French roulette, is more popular with casinos.
Background
French roulette has been played in several parts of Europe since the 18th century and is believed to have started from Paris. The game became popular and moved on to other parts of the world. There were some modifications made as it reached the USA. The European variant of the wheel had only a single 0, whereas the American wheel had both a 0 and a 00 pocket as well. Over the years, the popularity of the game has increased with more people being able to play French roulette online. Today, most of the online casinos have online roulette games including French roulette.
Game rules
French roulette is very similar to European roulette. The only difference is in some of the bets that can be made. There are minor differences in the table layout as well, but that does not change the rules of the game. Whether you are playing French roulette online or playing it in land based casinos, the basic game play is the same. You place your bet on numbers or colors on which you think the ball might land on. However, the way to place these bets and the payout may vary with different casinos.
When it comes to the table layout, the section for outside bets is also slightly different in French roulette as the wheel is in the center and the outside bets can be placed on either side of the table.
Types of bets
To maximize your chance of winning in French roulette, it is very important that you know about the various bets that you can make. There are three types of bets that can be made in French roulette.
Inside bets
These bets are placed on the inside part of the table layout, where you bet on a number or a group of numbers. The most common bet is the straight up bet in which you bet on a single number. When you place the chip between two adjacent numbers in the layout, and the bet is called a split bet. Then you have the street bet that covers three numbers by placing chip on the boundary of a row which has those three numbers. By placing the chip on the corner, you cover four numbers touching that corner.
Outside bets
The section for these bets is placed on both sides of the French roulette table. The most common outside bet is the dozen bet, which allows you to bet on the 1st, 2nd or the 3rd dozen of the numbers. There is a column bet as well in which you can bet on twelve numbers that are in each column on the table. You can also place an adjacent dozen bet, which is a bet on adjacent dozen numbers like the 1st and 2nd dozen, or the 2nd and 3rd dozen numbers. If you place a bet on adjacent columns, it is called adjacent column bet. You can also place a bet on the color of the slot, even or odd numbers, or numbers between 1-18 or 19-36.
Called-bets
These bets are used only in European and French roulette. One of the most popular called-bets in French Roulette is Voisin du zero, where you bet on 0 and 16 other numbers surrounding it. Then there is Tires du cylinder bet, which covers the numbers from 27 to 33 in a clockwise manner. The numbers that are not covered by these two bets are covered in the Orphelins bet.
Another bet in French roulette is the Jeu 0 bet, which covers 0 and the six numbers surrounding it. You can also place a Finales bet, by calling out ‘Finales’ and a number. For instance, if you say “Finales 6” then you bet on all numbers with the last digit 6, that is, you bet on 6, 16, 26, and 36.
One of the interesting features you come across when playing French roulette online is the La Partage rule. As per this rule, when the ball falls in the 0 pocket, you get half your wagered amount back if you have placed a bet that pays even money.