French roulette is a single-zero roulette format with 37 pockets, French betting terminology, and a zero procedure that may protect qualifying even-money wagers. The wheel still contains 0 and 1–36. Standard inside, dozen, and column bets usually keep the ordinary 2.7027% single-zero house edge. The lower approximately 1.35% price belongs only to even-money bets when La Partage, En Prison, or an economically equivalent rule actually applies.
The word “French” is not enough by itself. Two tables can use similar wheels and layouts while differing on spoken bets, repeat-zero treatment, minimums, chip rules, and whether the player may choose between dividing and imprisoning a wager.
The wheel and the two parts of the layout
A traditional French game uses one zero. The numbered layout has the same core coverage as other single-zero roulette tables, but the labels may be French.
The betting surface can be understood in two parts:
- The number grid, used for straight, split, street, corner, six-line, dozen, column, and even-money bets.
- A racetrack or announced-bet area, where offered, used to place predefined groups based on neighboring wheel sectors.
A racetrack is not a second wheel and does not change the result. It is an interface for distributing chips across several ordinary number combinations.
French names on the number grid
| French term | Common English term | Numbers covered | Standard profit payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plein | Straight-up | 1 | 35 to 1 |
| Cheval | Split | 2 | 17 to 1 |
| Transversale pleine | Street | 3 | 11 to 1 |
| Carré | Corner | 4 | 8 to 1 |
| Quatre premiers | First four: 0, 1, 2, 3 | 4 | 8 to 1 |
| Sixain / transversale simple | Six-line | 6 | 5 to 1 |
| Douzaine | Dozen | 12 | 2 to 1 |
| Colonne | Column | 12 | 2 to 1 |
| Douzaine à cheval | Two adjacent dozens | 24 | 1/2 to 1 |
| Colonne à cheval | Two adjacent columns | 24 | 1/2 to 1 |
The fractional 1/2-to-1 payout means a $20 winning two-dozen or two-column wager earns $10 profit and returns the $20 stake.
French terminology changes the label, not the underlying coverage. A cheval still covers two adjoining numbers. A carré still covers four numbers meeting at one intersection.
The six chances simples
“Chances simples” are the even-money propositions:
- rouge/noir: red/black;
- pair/impair: even/odd;
- manque/passe: 1–18/19–36.
Each covers 18 nonzero numbers and pays 1 to 1. Zero belongs to none of the six groups.
Without a favorable zero rule, an even-money wager wins on 18 pockets and loses on 19:
[ EV=\frac{18}{37}(+1)+\frac{19}{37}(-1)=-\frac{1}{37} ]
The ordinary house edge is therefore 2.7027%, the same as other standard bets on a one-zero wheel.
The distinct feature of French rules is what can happen to these chances simples when zero lands.
La Partage: settle half immediately
Under La Partage, the dealer collects half of a qualifying even-money stake and returns the other half. The wager is finished on the zero spin.
A $60 red bet produces:
- red: +$60 profit;
- black: −$60;
- zero: −$30.
This changes the even-money expected value to:
[ EV=\frac{18}{37}(+1)+\frac{18}{37}(-1)+\frac{1}{37}(-0.5) =-\frac{1}{74} ]
The house edge is about 1.35135%.
La Partage normally does not protect a straight number, split, street, corner, first four, six-line, dozen, column, or racetrack combination.
En Prison: continue the wager
Under En Prison, zero leaves a qualifying even-money wager unresolved. The dealer bars or marks the position for a later spin.
Under a common procedure:
- a follow-up result on the selected chance releases the stake without profit;
- a result on the opposite chance loses the stake;
- another zero receives the treatment stated in the house rules.
The repeat-zero branch matters. Keeping the wager imprisoned can produce the same 1.35135% long-run edge as La Partage. Treating the second zero as a full loss produces an edge of about 1.3879%.
Do not infer the repeat-zero rule from the words En Prison. Read the posted procedure.
A table may offer a choice after zero
A traditional procedure may let the player choose between immediate division and waiting for another spin. That does not mean every French roulette table offers both choices.
The Société des Bains de Mer rules leaflet states that when zero occurs, even-money bets are barred and lose half their value; the player may ask to divide the bet or wait for the next spin, and it also says the player may change the chance while the bet remains barred. The same document states that spoken bets are forbidden. See the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer European roulette rules.
This is a useful real-world example of why the written table rule outranks general descriptions of “French roulette.” A different property may allow announced bets, prohibit chance changes, or use another second-zero settlement.
Racetrack and announced bets
French-style roulette is associated with named wheel-sector combinations such as:
- voisins du zéro;
- tiers du cylindre;
- orphelins;
- jeu zéro.
These are not single wagers with one universal payout. Each name instructs the dealer or interface to distribute several chips over specified straight, split, corner, or trio positions. The result is settled by the underlying chips.
For example, a winning number may pay one component while all other component chips lose. The player’s net result is:
[ Net\ result=Profit\ from\ winning\ component-Losing\ component\ stakes ]
This is why saying “Voisins pays 35 to 1” is wrong. A straight component may pay 35 to 1, but the complete called combination contains several simultaneous positions.
Use the separate roulette call-bets guide for chip distributions. On the table, confirm whether verbal calls are accepted, whether every call must be accompanied by chips, and when the dealer stops accepting them.
A complete spin from betting to settlement
Although staffing and table design vary, a controlled French roulette spin normally follows this order:
- Players place chips while betting is open.
- The croupier confirms unclear placements and announced combinations where permitted.
- The wheel and ball are put into motion according to approved procedure.
- “No more bets” is called before the outcome is known.
- The winning number is identified and marked.
- Losing inside and outside wagers are collected in the approved sequence.
- Zero-protected even-money bets are divided or barred according to the table rule.
- Winning wagers are paid from lower multiples and outside positions through higher-multiple inside positions, or in the property’s approved order.
- The marker is removed and the next betting period begins.
The exact payment order is an operational control. It helps prevent a losing chip from being moved into a winning area and makes surveillance review easier.
Worked layout example
A player places:
- $20 on rouge;
- $10 on the first dozen;
- $5 straight on 17.
If 17 black lands
- rouge loses $20;
- first dozen loses $10 because 17 is in 13–24;
- straight 17 wins $175 profit;
- net result: +$145.
If 8 red lands
- rouge wins $20 profit;
- first dozen wins $20 profit;
- straight 17 loses $5;
- net result: +$35.
If zero lands with La Partage
- rouge loses half, or $10;
- first dozen loses $10;
- straight 17 loses $5;
- net result: −$25.
The protected rule applies only to the $20 rouge position. It does not halve every chip on the layout.
French roulette and European roulette are labels, not guarantees
Both normally use 37 pockets. The useful comparison is the rule sheet, not the marketing name.
| Feature | Ordinary European-style game | French-style game |
|---|---|---|
| Wheel | Usually single zero | Single zero |
| Standard payouts | Usually the same | Usually the same |
| French terms | Optional | Common |
| Racetrack | Common but not universal | Common but not universal |
| La Partage or En Prison | May or may not be offered | More closely associated, still must be verified |
| Spoken bets | House rule | House rule |
For the wheel-price comparison, see European versus American roulette. For the exact bet-by-bet cost, use French roulette house edge.
Mistakes that change the actual wager
- Placing a chip on a line when a straight number was intended.
- Calling a sector name without knowing the required total stake.
- Assuming every French-labelled game offers half-loss protection.
- Applying La Partage to dozens, columns, or inside bets.
- Counting a released En Prison stake as profit.
- Treating zero as even, odd, red, black, low, or high.
- Confusing wheel order with the numerical order printed on the grid.
- Joining a table before checking minimums for inside, outside, and announced combinations.
What to verify before buying chips
A useful pre-play check takes less than a minute:
- Count the zeros on the wheel and rules display.
- Read the standard and proprietary payouts.
- Identify which bets receive La Partage or En Prison.
- Read the second-zero procedure.
- Check whether announced bets are accepted and how much each requires.
- Confirm table minimums, maximums, and chip denomination rules.
- Ask how unresolved prison wagers are handled if the table closes.
French roulette can be one of the lower-priced conventional roulette formats when its protected even-money rule is genuine. The advantage comes from settlement, not from the language on the layout and not from a system for predicting the next pocket.