French Roulette
Fact Checked
One of the first roulette wheels was introduced to the Paris casinos over two hundred years ago. This makes French roulette the oldest variant of the game. When it was introduced, it was a huge hit in the gambling society of Paris. This game attracts millions of people to this day.
The look of French roulette is so iconic everybody knows it, even those gamblers who prefer to play online slots. The game set consists of the roulette wheel with slots numbered 0-36 and a red-and-black betting table set over green cloth. When you see that, you know you’re about to win big.
What you need to know about French roulette
French roulette is a part of gambling history that is making millions of people happy 200 years after its first appearance in casinos. Here’s why people love it to this day.
A thrilling gameplay
Drawing a card that may make or break the outcome of your wager is engaging in and of itself because of the money at stake. However, the process itself is rather plain. French roulette takes it to another level.
When you see the white ball skip over the roulette wheel, stumble on the number you’ve put hundreds of Rands on, and continue on its way, you just can’t but clench your fists and hold your breath, hoping it will stop there on the next round. French roulette is a great adrenaline rollercoaster, and that’s why millions of people love it.
Multiple ways to bet
Many casino games are pretty straightforward. Take a simple online slot, the only variety of bets there is betting higher or lower. In some slots, you can also choose the number of lines you bet on, but that rarely influences the payout rates.
With games like poker, it’s even harder to find interesting betting patterns. Sure, it’s a game that interests you by the intensity of rivalry on the table, but betting itself is trivial, to say the least. You can only increase the bet or pass.
Now, French roulette gives you total control over the bets you can make on the table. There are 37 numbers on the wheel, and endless opportunities to increase your wealth.
The bet that pays the highest is the straight bet. It’s also the riskiest one. You place a bet on one of the numbers on the wheel for a chance to get 35 to 1 payout. Sure, 36 out of 37 times you will lose your wager. But if you consider yourself lucky, you may get the courage to risk it all and get a huge win.
On the opposite end of the specter are the bets you can place on red, black, odd or even numbers. They cover half of the wheel, so your chances to win are significantly higher. The payout is lower as well. You get paid 1 to 1 whenever you win. It’s considered a safe bet, and a proper betting strategy will double your initial stake in the end.
If that’s not enough bets for you, here’s what you can choose from to compliment your betting strategy:
- Bet on two numbers, or split. Pays 17 to 1.
- Bet on a row of numbers, or street. Pays 11 to 1.
- Bet on four numbers, or corner. Pays 8 to 1.
- Bet on six numbers, or line. Pays 5 to 1.
- Bet on 12 numbers that appear in a column. Pays 2 to 1.
- Bet on either of three dozens shown on the betting table. Pays 2 to 1.
But wait, French roulette has even more betting opportunities for you to discover. The numbers on the roulette wheel are not situated in the right order. They’re mixed in random order where 32 goes right after 0.
In French roulette, you can place bets on numbers how they appear on the wheel. Call for Voisins du Zero bet, and you’ll place a series of bets on all numbers that are close to zero. Tiers du Cylindre bet places bets on the numbers directly opposite zero, and Orphelines involves betting on all numbers that are caught in between the two major bets.
All these bets involve a series of straight and split bets, with the minimum number of chips ranging from 5 to 9. Regardless of where the ball lands on the sector you bet on, you’re getting more chips that you wagered.
A great live casino game
French roulette is perfect for live casino. It doesn’t have the level of competition that some other table games have. You can just place your bet and enjoy the company of like-minded people online.
A point about playthrough requirements
There’s just one drawback in roulette and it has to do with the casino that hosts the game. You know that whenever you get a bonus at a casino, you have to bet a certain number of times before you’re able to make a withdrawal. Normally, that number is somewhere between 10x and 30x the bonus sum.
What many players don’t know is that your bets placed on roulette do not fully go towards covering the playthrough requirements. Only 10% of the bet counts. In some casinos, roulette bets do not count at all.
Take that into consideration before you set out playing French roulette online. You may want to skip your bonuses, play online slots as well, or be prepared to wait for a withdrawal to be possible.
French roulette vs American roulette
Whenever you place a bet on red, black, odd, or even numbers, your chances to win feel like 50%. In reality, they’re a bit lower than that. Because of zero on the wheel, the casino has an edge on you even in the safe bets.
In French roulette, the house edge is 2.7%. American roulette has two zeros on the wheel, so the edge is higher. It’s 5.26%. This is why many people prefer French roulette, safe bets are safer there.
French roulette vs European roulette
When it comes to the wheel, these two are identical. However, French roulette differs from the European variant of the game in terms of rules.
The first rule is called En Prison. When a ball lands on zero and you’ve placed an even money bet, you can use this rule to avoid losing a bet. It remains on the table for the next spin and if you win, you get it back. Alternatively, you can get half of the bet back under La Partage rule.
French roulette is the best when it comes to dealing with the house edge.
Best casinos to play French roulette
CasinoHEX is here to help you choose your casino wisely. Here’s what we recommend.
ZAR casino
ZAR casino may not have the biggest choice of roulette games possible, but it’s easy to use. You can deposit directly in ZAR. Besides, the playthrough requirement here is only 10x the bonus sum, so you’ll get to withdrawals faster.
Omni Casino
Omni Casino has plenty of ways to make a deposit and plenty of ways to win. It has multiple roulette games and some live options too.
Casino Cruise
This casino is great both for gamblers who want to play roulette only, and those who want to play every game an online casino has to offer. It has a huge pool of slot and table games to choose from.
My name is Banele Nkuna, and I am thrilled to be a part of the CasinoHEX.co.za team as the second editor.
With a passion for online gambling and a deep understanding of the South African market, I have been entrusted with the task of reviewing licensed online casinos and slots and preparing blog posts for our site.
Since joining in May 2023, my primary goal has been to provide our readers with valuable insights into the world of online gambling.
