The casinos of Paris may be a long way from South Africa, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy one of the city’s finest exports: French Roulette. This classic casino game has been around for hundreds of years and players across South Africa are invited to spin the wheel at the best rated online casino sites.
In this guide, we’ll prepare you for your table game experience with a complete guide to French Roulette, including tips, strategies, rules, payouts, and betting options.
To play French Roulette, just choose one of our recommended sites, sign up, fund your account, set a budget, and start placing those chips. Once you place your bets, the wheel will spin, the ball will drop, and wherever that ball settles becomes the winning number!
The only thing you need to know is where to place those chips. Many novice players stick with outside bets and single number bets, as these are the most basic. To bet on Black, for instance, you just place your chips on the big square marked “Black”. To bet on the number 20, just stack them on the “20” number square.
Other bets can be a little more complicated though and many inexperienced players don’t even know they exist!
Special bets are what make the game of French Roulette unique, adding an extra dimension for players to explore. These unique features include:
“En Prison” isn’t the only French Roulette feature that halves the house edge. There’s also something known as “La Partage”, which translates as “The Divide”.
When La Partage is active, all even-money bets that land on green have 50% of their stake returned. The dealer effectively “divides” the total stake, keeping half for themselves and returning the other half to the player.
Roulette has “Call Bets” and “Announced Bets”. With the former, the player announces which bets they want to place without adding their chips to the board. They essentially tell the croupier which bets they want to make, and the croupier marks those bets for them.
As this is a form of casino credit, it’s often reserved for high limit tables and is actually illegal in some countries. In the UK, for instance, casinos are not allowed to accept bets on credit, so Call Bets cannot be placed.
An Announced Bet works in a similar way, but the player adds the required amount of chips to the table. No credit is accepted and so the bet is legal in all countries and is more common at lower stake tables.
| Name of Bet | Chips | Numbers | Description |
| Voisins du Zero | 9 | 1 Chip on 4/7, 12/15, 18/21, 19/22, 32/35 and 2 Chips on 0/2/3, 25/26/28/29 | Translates as “neighbours of zero” |
| Jeu 7/9 | 6 | 7/8, 8/9, 17/18, 19, 27, 28/29 | “Game 7/9”. 6 bets, with two single numbers and the rest as splits. |
| Orphelins en Plein | 8 | 1, 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31, 34 | “Orphans in the open”. A bet on the numbers not featured elsewhere, with 8 straight number bets. |
| Orphelins a Cheval | 5 | 1, 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, 31/34 | “Orphans on horseback”. A bet on the numbers not featured elsewhere, posted as a single on 1 and splits on all others. |
| Finales a Cheval 0/1 | 5 | 0/1, 10/11, 20/21, 30 and 31 | A bet on all number splits that end in “0” and “1”. |
| Finales en Plein 0 | 4 | 0, 10, 20 and 30 | A bet on all numbers that end in “0”. |
| Tiers du Cylindre | 6 | 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30, 33/36 | “Thirds of the wheel”. Covers all numbers opposite “0”, with 6 chips placed on splits. |
Prepare for a session of French Roulette by keeping the followings tips in mind:
All Roulette variants use a similar wheel and betting board and you can place many of the same bets. However, there are some slight variations that change the odds and make some games more appealing than others.
French Roulette, for instance, contains a single green zero square and this reduces the house edge to 2.7%, close to half of the 5.26% provided by American Roulette, which has two of these spaces.
This green square essentially provides the casino’s edge for all outside bets, which includes Black/Red and Odd/Even.
As an example, when you place a bet on Black, you get a 1 to 1 payout, and if there were only Black and Red squares (18 of each) you’d have a 50% chance. It’s like flipping a coin. But the addition of a green square throws a spanner in the works and reduces that 50% chance to just 48.6%. That’s 48.6% for Red and 48.6% for Black, with the remainder serving as the casino’s edge.
As noted above, French Roulette has just one green zero square, which keeps the house edge to 2.7%. Some games also have a rule known as “En Prison”, so-called because the player’s bet is “imprisoned” for a spin if they place an outside bet and the ball lands on green.
If you bet on Red and the ball hit green, your bet remains active for one more spin and you’re given a chance to get your stake back. If the next spin shows Black, you lose; if it shows Red, your stake is returned.
The imprisonment rule reduces the house edge by half, which means it falls to just 1.35% for French Roulette.
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Need a little help with your chosen games of French Roulette? Try the following helpful options:
Just place your bets, spin the wheel, and wait! That’s all there is to it. You can use this guide to help you navigate your way around the Roulette table.
In recent years, South Africa has experienced a notable increase in online gambling activity, and for many, Casino.com ZA has helped in finding the destination of choice. French Roulette is a game that traverses many languages, countries, and cultures—one that can be enjoyed everywhere and by everyone.
We provide many South Africa players with insightful information on top games, bonuses, and banking options explicitly tailored to players from this country.
French Roulette odds range from a low of 1.35% to a high of 2.7%, while American Roulette comes in at around 5.26%. As a result, your odds of winning are nearly twice as high on French Roulette, potentially increasing your payouts during an extended gaming session.
It’s worth noting that while American Roulette was created in the US, single-zero games of Roulette are just as common in the States as they are elsewhere.
Most bets return a house edge of 2.7%, but this drops to just 1.35% for outside bets placed on games that feature the “En Prison” rule.
There can be some differences in the layout of the betting board, but the main difference is that Roulette introduces the La Partage rule.
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Now that you know everything about French Roulette, there’s only one thing left to do: Play! Sign up for an account at any of our highly rated casinos on Casino.com ZA today, collect your Welcome Package bonus, and start placing your bets.
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