French Roulette – How to Play French Roulette Online [2023]

As with most of our how to play roulette games, we aim to make this as simple a process as possible. Over the next few sections, you can learn the history behind the game. You will understand how bets in French roulette work. You will also learn what types of games you can play and how to turn the game to your advantage. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Playing French roulette online is all about finding the right game and understanding it. Most of the best online casino software developers have many games you can play. Playtech has a French roulette game you can find at all Playtech casinos. You can also play French roulette at casinos on our Netent casino list.

Of course, French roulette games from Microgaming are available, too. Here you can find our Microgaming casinos full list.

Virtually any major casino carrying several roulette variants (like Pinball roulette) is likely to offer French roulette. However, before you can sign up and play, you need to understand the basics. Let’s start at the beginning, then, with a brief bit of roulette history.

The history of roulette goes back to the seventeenth century. Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and scientist, was working on a machine to help him understand probability. What he developed was the roulette wheel. Unsurprisingly, his perpetual motion machine became rather popular.

In 1842, Francois and Lois Blanc saw potential in it and added a zero to the game as it gave the house a more significant edge. French roulette has remained relatively the same since that all-important zero appeared.

Americans would later add a double zero, but we can forget all about that. The double-zero only doubles the house edge even further, so we have no interest in it. Nor do any serious gamblers. However, we are interested in the French wheel. So, how does it work? Let’s look at a basic French roulette wheel in closer detail.

A French roulette wheel is the same as the wheel used in European roulette (including free European roulette). There are thirty-six numbered pockets, in both red and black (check here how to always bet on black in roulette). There is also a green pocket, which represents zero (0).

The French roulette table layout is also marginally different from those found in American roulette. In the original French version of the game, the outside bets were along both sides of the betting table. This contrasts with American roulette, where they are on the left-hand side. But more about how to play American Roulette you can find in our updated guide. You will also note the French roulette table layout features it bet names in French, not English. You will come to learn those throughout this guide, though.

In principle, players place their chips on specific sections of the betting table. We’ll show you how in just a moment. After wagering, the croupier spins the wheel. If the ball lands in a pocket favourable to the bet placed, a win pays at a predetermined rate.

If the balls lands in an unfavourable pocket, the bet is lost. If it lands on zero, one of three things could happen. You could lose your stake, you may get half of it back, or you could get to place half of it again. All this, we will discuss in detail in the next few sections.

Choosing to play French roulette online is a touch easier than in a land-based, brick and mortar.

The RNG (random number generator) roulette games such as European Roulette Gold will automatically know whether you are placing announced and full/maximum bets.

Naturally, there is no need to “announce”. Some games, such as William’s Hill’s French roulette can be played for free, too. We advise this, as it gives you a bit of practice in a no-risk environment.

If you opt to play live French roulette, you may still be able to announce your bets. However, most live dealer roulette games only have one-way audio, so this is unlikely.

In live dealer games played over a video stream, you can hear the French roulette dealer. However, you often converse with them via a chat box instead. Firing off a simple message that you wish to announce your tiers du cylindre, or full/maximum bets will suffice.

Now let’s look at the most important thing when playing roulette online games  – the bets themselves. French roulette arguably has more examples of bets than its European and American counterparts.

With that in mind, it is ideal if you learn most of the types of bets in the game. The next section of this how to bet on roulette guide covers that.

There are three types of bets in French roulette. Inside Bets, Outside Bets and Call Bets.

The latter being the “announced bets”. Let’s begin.

Roulette inside bets have a smaller chance of coming off than outside bets. However, they pay out more significant prizes. There are seven for you to get to grips with, and they include:

Straight Up bet: A bet on a single number on the table

This involves wagering on two numbers. These must be adjacent to one another, with the chip placed on the line between the numbers. For instance, a split bet can involve 6 and 9.

Street bets are wagers on three numbers (for instance, 13, 14 and 15). These three numbers must all appear on the same row. For a street bet roulette place your chip at the beginning of each row.

A corner bet sees your chip placed on the line where four numbers meet. For instance, the intersection between 10, 11, 13 and 14. It is a bet on four numbers.

A wager on two rows of numbers, for instance, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Your chip is placed on the left-hand side of the two rows in question, on the border line between them.

Trio bets are bets on 0, 1 and 2, or 0, 2 and 3. Place your casino chip on the intersecting line between them.

This bet is on 0, 1, 2 and 3, with your bet placed at the left-hand side of the intersecting border line between zero and the first row.

In French roulette, outside bets are more likely to be won, but they pay out smaller prizes. As the odds of landing these are better than other types of roulette bets, outside bets are ideal for beginners. The French names for these bets are in parenthesis, and they include:

Red/black (rouge/noir) bets: Known as even-money bets, these involve betting on a single colour, either red or black. Put your chip in the red or black diamond on the table to bet. If the winning pocket matches the colour of your bet, you’ll win. Have a look at our guide on how to win at roulette red and black.

Odd/even (impair/pair) bets: Another type of even money bet. This time, you put your chip in the impair (odd) or pair (even) spot, and again, any number which matches your bet will result in a win.

High/low (passe/manque) bets: The final type of even money bet. Placing your chip in the passe spot will see any high number between 19-36 win. By contrast, a chip on the manque spot will see any low number between 1-18 win, if it appears.

Column bets: Players can bet on twelve numbers with column bets. Place your chip on the space below the final number in the column. A column, for instance, is shown as 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31 and 34. If any of those numbers pop up, you’ll win.

Dozen bets: Dozen bets involve wagering on twelve numbers, too, although this time they include 1-12 (Premier Douzaine), 13-24 (Moyenne Douzaine), and numbers 25-36 (Dernière Douzaine). A dozen bet is placed in the P12, M12 or D12 spot, accordingly.

Announced bets can also be known as racetrack bets, French bets and call bets. Place these bets in a separate part of the betting table, known as the racetrack.

In roulette, four French bets typically appear, and they include:

– Voisins du zéro: Meaning “neighbours of zero”, it includes all the numbers between 22 and 25 on the roulette wheel. Players stake 9 chips on splits, corners and trios, all pertaining to those numbers.
– Tiers du cylinder: Translated as “thirds of the wheel”, this bet involves twelve numbers from 27 to 33, those opposite the zero on the reel. At the cost of six chips, it requires six split bets on those numbers.
– Orphelins: As you will guess, this means “orphans”. It involves a five-chip bet divided into four split bets on all the numbers not featuring in the other two call bets, as well as single straight-up bet on number 1.
– Final bet: Also known as “finales”, this bet involves wagering on all numbers which end with the same digit. For instance, a wager might include stakes on 5, 15, 25 and 35. Final bets with numbers ending in 0-6 involve four chips, while those ending in 7-9 require just three chips. These are straight-up bets on each number.

French roulette brings two rules to the table, which you are unlikely to see in other roulette games. These are the En Prison and La Partage rules. This is how they work:

• En prison: If the ball lands on zero, either 50% of your bet or the entire bet will be “En Prison”. This varies from game to game. The prison rule dictates that if you win on your next spin, your bet will be released to you, although with no winnings.
• La partage: The La Partage rule can occur if you place an even-money bet and the ball lands on zero. This rule sees 50% of your wager returned straight away and lowers the house edge of the game to 1.35%.

French roulette uses fixed odds. European roulette odds are also fixed. This means that whatever you can win is predetermined before the event, according to a paytable. The amount you wager on which type of bet will determine your prize. The paytable below covers all possible payouts in French roulette.

* Orphelins payouts vary depending on the exact numbers you bet on

French roulette is more beneficial than other roulette games because it has a lower house edge. Because of its double-zero, American roulette has a house edge of 5.26%.

The house advantage drops to 2.70% in European roulette because it uses just a single zero. However, with its La Partage rule, the French roulette house edge is only 1.35%. Naturally, French roulette’s RTP is higher than its counterparts, so it is a more attractive proposition for players.

In short, even without French roulette tricks and strategies in place, the benefits of choosing this game over American and European roulette are there for all to see. The lower house edge and a greater variety of bets make it well worth a punt.

Now that you know a thing or two about how to play French roulette, it may be time to play. You will find plenty of the best online casinos for French roulette online on this page.

Some are notable for offering you French roulette with low limit wagers.

Others can cost upwards of $10,000 a spin and are very much French roulette VIP limit games. It is up to you to decide which option you go with, but all our websites come highly recommended.

If you still have a few lingering questions regarding French roulette, we aim to answer them in this next section.

Now that you’re familiar with how to play roulette, and how to take advantage of it, it is time to play. Check out any of the top French roulette online casinos listed on this page.

Each is guaranteed to offer you the game. Some even have free-to-play versions, which you can use to put the knowledge you’ve just gained into practice. All our recommended casinos have been vetted, checked and approved for fair play and secure gaming.