Believed to have originated in the 18th century, French Roulette is one of the oldest variations of Roulette. While the basics and the gameplay of French Roulette are the same as the traditional online Roulette version, it comes with two additional rules that drastically reduce the house edge.
As such, French Roulette is the go-to choice for players who’ve been playing Roulette for years or even decades. In this article, we explain everything you need to get started with French Roulette at a live casino online. Continue reading!
French Roulette basics and gameplay
French Roulette is basically an exciting version of European Roulette with some tweaks and twists to the rules and betting layout. The French Roulette wheel features a total of 37 slots – numbers from 1 to 36 and a single 0. The numbers between 1 to 36 are coloured in alternate red and black, whereas the zero pocket is coloured green.
Unlike some novice players would think, the numbers on the French Roulette wheel are not arranged in a consecutive fashion. Instead, they are set in the following order:
0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25, 17, 34, 6, 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33, 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26.
Another thing that distinguishes French Roulette and the traditional variant is the betting layout. In French Roulette, the wheel is placed at the centre of the table with betting grids on both sides. Also, the labels on the betting layout are written in French, though you may also find English wording at the best online casino.
As with some other mobile casino games, it’s quite easy to get started with French Roulette. Here, your main aim is to wager on where the ball will come to a stop on the spinning wheel. As with other Live Roulette variants, you can wager on a specific number, a group of numbers or a colour. If you win, you’ll be paid according to the paytable of the game. Also, you may receive a Roulette bonus at some online gambling sites.
A look at the different types of French Roulette bets
If you’ve played Roulette before, you’ll find that the bet types in French Roulette are quite similar to that of the classic European version of the game. Below we’ve explained the different bet categories in French Roulette:
Inside bets
These bets are placed on the inner section of the French Roulette table. Inside bets in French Roulette include:
En Plein (straight-up wager)
– Placed on a single number, En Plein is one of the best Roulette bets in French Roulette. The payout here is 35:1.
En Cheval (split wager)
– This French Roulette bet is made on two adjacent numbers on the betting table. A winning En Cheval wager pays 17:1.
Carre Simple (street wager)
– With this French Roulette bet, players can wager on a row of three numbers. Carre Simple comes with a payout of 11:1.
Carre (corner wager)
– This French Roulette wager covers 4 adjacent numbers and pays 8:1 if you win.
Sixian (line wager)
– An extended version of Carre Simple, this bet covers two rows of three numbers each. Its payout is 5:1.
Outside bets
These bets are placed on the outer section of the French Roulette betting layout. Below are the different types of outside wagers in French Roulette:
Colonne (column wager)
– On the French betting layout, the 36 Roulette numbers are divided across twelve rows and three columns. The Colonne bet allows you to place wagers on any of these three columns. The payout here is 2:1.
Premier Douzaine (Dozens wager)
– This French Roulette bet also covers 12 numbers, but in a consecutive fashion. Again, the Premier Douzaine bet pays 2:1.
Rouge/Noir (Red/Black wager)
– This Roulette wager is made on all red or all black numbers. It is paid out at odds of 1:1.
Impair/Pair (Even/Odd wager)
– A bet that the ball will land in an odd number slot or an even number slot. Winning Impair/Pair bets are paid at 1:1.
Special rules in French Roulette
As with the European version, the online Roulette wheels of French Roulette feature single zero slots. So, it’s no surprise that the house edge in French Roulette is the same as the traditional variant – 2.7%.
But interestingly, players can further reduce the house edge to 1.35% by using any of the two special French Roulette rules – La Partage and En Prison. With the La Partage rule, the amount of your even money wagers are paid in half if the ball lands in the zero slot.
The En Prison rule is also based on the same principle as La Partage, and it comes into play when the ball stops in the zero slot. However, it provides players with the chance to win back their lost even-money bets by leaving them for the next spinning round.