French roulette wheel
All 37 pockets in order, with the Voisins, Tiers and Orphelins slices marked.
PNG · 2400 × 2400 px
Wheel guide · Updated
French Roulette: The Wheel, La Partage and Every Call Bet
French roulette uses the same single-zero wheel as European roulette, plus one rule that changes the math: when the ball lands on 0, even-money bets lose only half. That cuts the house edge on red, black, odd, even, high and low from 2.70% to 1.35%. Here's how the zero rules work, what the French words on the table mean, and exactly what each call bet covers.
- Call bets mapped on the wheel and table
- La Partage and En Prison worked through
- Free wheel and table images to download
- 37pockets, one zero
- 1.35%even money, La Partage
- 2.70%every other bet
- 4classic call bets
The rules
What Makes Roulette French
Sit down at a French table and three things differ from the European game. The wheel isn't one of them.
The same wheel as European
37 pockets: 1 to 36 in red and black, plus one green 0, in exactly the European order. A straight bet pays 35 to 1 and hits 1 spin in 37, the same as at the European table next to it.
Half back when zero lands
With La Partage, an even-money bet loses only half its stake when the ball lands on 0. Some tables use En Prison instead and hold the bet for one more spin. Either way, those bets cost about half as much.
French names and a racetrack
The layout is labeled in French (Rouge, Noir, Pair, Impair, Manque, Passe) and there's a racetrack for call bets: set groups of chips that cover a slice of the wheel rather than a block of the table.
New to the game? Start with how to play roulette, or compare all three wheels in European vs American roulette. At the other end of the scale, triple zero roulette adds a 000 pocket and charges 7.69% on every bet.
Interactive
Call Bet Map: See Exactly What Each Bet Covers
Pick a call bet, or tap any number on the wheel or the racetrack to bet it with two neighbors on each side. The slice lights up on the wheel, the chips appear on the table, and you'll see what every number pays.
Neighbors of zero
Voisins du Zéro
The 17 numbers around zero, from 22 round to 25. The biggest call bet.
- Chips
- 9$9 a spin
- Numbers covered
- 17of 37
- Chance a spin pays
- 45.9%every hit finishes ahead
- House edge
- 2.70%about $0.24 a spin
What a hit pays, after the chips that lose
- +$150, 2 and 3
- +$94, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32 and 35
- −$9any of the other 20 numbers
Where the chips go: 2 chips on the 0/2/3 trio; 1 chip on each of the splits 4/7, 12/15, 18/21, 19/22 and 32/35; 2 chips on the 25/26/28/29 corner.
The Four Call Bets at a Glance
| Call bet | Numbers | Chips | How it's placed | A hit pays ($1 chips) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voisins du ZéroNeighbors of zero | 1722, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25 | 9 | 2 chips on the 0/2/3 trio; 1 chip on each of the splits 4/7, 12/15, 18/21, 19/22 and 32/35; 2 chips on the 25/26/28/29 corner | +$15 on 0, 2 and 3 +$9 on 4, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32 and 35 |
| Tiers du CylindreA third of the wheel | 1227, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33 | 6 | 1 chip on each of the splits 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30 and 33/36 | +$12 on 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33 and 36 |
| OrphelinsOrphans | 81, 20, 14, 31, 9, 17, 34, 6 | 5 | 1 chip straight on 1; 1 chip on each of the splits 6/9, 14/17, 17/20 and 31/34 | +$31 on 1 and 17 +$13 on 6, 9, 14, 20, 31 and 34 |
| Jeu ZéroZero game | 712, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15 | 4 | 1 chip on each of the splits 0/3, 12/15 and 32/35; 1 chip straight on 26 | +$32 on 26 +$14 on 0, 3, 12, 15, 32 and 35 |
Call bets are built from ordinary straight, split, trio and corner bets, so every one keeps the 2.70% house edge, and La Partage doesn't apply to them. Orphelins with splits is sometimes called Orphelins à cheval, and Jeu Zéro is also known as Zero Spiel. Price any of them with your own chip in the roulette odds calculator, or play them on the racetrack in our roulette simulator.
The zero rules
When Zero Lands: La Partage vs En Prison
Both rules only touch the even-money bets: red, black, odd, even, 1–18 and 19–36. Follow one $10 bet on red through each.
- Your bet$10 on RougeRed, an even-money bet
- The spin0The ball lands on zero
- La Partage$5 backHalf the stake comes back to you, the house keeps $5
What zero costs you: $5.00, every time. House edge on even money: 1.35%.
- Your bet$10 on RougeRed, an even-money bet
- The spin0The ball lands on zero
- En Prison$10 heldThe bet stays on the table, locked, for one more spin
- Red next, 18 in 37$10 backYour stake is released, with no winnings48.6%
- Black next, 18 in 37$10 lostThe house takes the whole bet48.6%
- 0 again, 1 in 37Usually lostSome tables lock the bet up again instead2.7%
What zero costs you on average: $5.14, or $5.00 where a second zero locks the bet again. House edge on even money: 1.39% or 1.35%.
- Your bet$10 on RedAn even-money bet
- The spin0The ball lands on zero
- European table$10 lostZero is just another losing number for red
What zero costs you: $10.00. House edge on even money: 2.70%, or 5.26% on an American wheel.
Why half back halves the house edge
Picture $10 on red for one perfect cycle of the wheel, where every pocket comes up once. That's 37 spins and $370 bet. Red wins 18 times (+$180) and loses 18 times (−$180), so you're exactly even until zero comes up.
Zero is the whole house edge. On a European table it takes your $10: down $10 on $370, or 2.70%. With La Partage it takes $5: down $5 on $370, or 1.35%.
La Partage or En Prison?
On average they cost almost the same. La Partage settles it at once and always costs you $5 of a $10 bet. En Prison is a coin flip for the whole stake: about half the time you get all $10 back, the rest of the time you lose all of it. If a second zero loses the bet, En Prison is very slightly worse. The free French roulette game on our site uses La Partage.
-
French, La PartageHalf back when 0 lands$1.351.35%
-
French, En PrisonHeld one spin; a second 0 loses$1.391.39%
-
EuropeanNo zero rule$2.702.70%
-
American0 and 00, no zero rule$5.265.26%
$100 in total bets × house edge: the long-run average. Any single session can end well up or well down.
Interactive
What La Partage Saves You: Cost Calculator
Enter what you usually bet on red, black, odd, even, low or high, how fast the table spins and how long you play. A live table runs about 40 spins an hour; software roulette can be much faster.
Total bet over the session: $800
French, La Partage
$10.81
average cost at 1.35%
European, no zero rule
$21.62
average cost at 2.70%
American, double zero
$42.11
average cost at 5.26%
La Partage saves you about $10.81 against a European table, for exactly the same bets.
Averages, not predictions. Only even-money bets get the discount: inside bets, dozens, columns and call bets cost 2.70% on a French table, the same as European. Want to see the swings? Spin the French wheel in our roulette simulator with free chips.
The layout
The French Roulette Table, Translated
French tables label the layout in French. Tap any box to see what it means, what it pays and how often it wins.
Rouge
Red
The 18 red numbers.
- Covers
- 18 numbers
- Pays
- 1 to 1
- Wins
- 48.65%
- House edge
- 1.35%
An even-money bet, so La Partage applies: half back when 0 lands.
What You'll Hear at a French Table
- Faites vos jeux
- Place your bets
- Rien ne va plus
- No more bets: the ball is about to drop
- Les jeux sont faits
- The bets are down
- Chances simples
- The even-money bets: rouge, noir, pair, impair, manque and passe
- Finale en plein
- Every number ending in the same digit, straight up: finale 4 is 4, 14, 24 and 34
- Voisins de…
- A number and its neighbors on the wheel, usually two on each side
- Croupier
- The dealer
Every bet's French name, payout and odds are in the table below.
Odds
French Roulette Odds and House Edge, Bet by Bet
The payouts and the chance of winning are the same as on a European table. Only the even-money bets get cheaper.
| Bet | Pays | Chance to win | Edge, French | Edge, European |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Plein | 35 to 1 | 2.70% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| Split Cheval | 17 to 1 | 5.41% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| Street Transversale pleine | 11 to 1 | 8.11% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| Corner Carré | 8 to 1 | 10.81% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| First four (0, 1, 2, 3) Les quatre premiers | 8 to 1 | 10.81% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| Six line Sixain | 5 to 1 | 16.22% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| Dozen Douzaine | 2 to 1 | 32.43% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| Column Colonne | 2 to 1 | 32.43% | 2.70% | 2.70% |
| Red or black Rouge ou noir | 1 to 1 | 48.65% | 1.35% | 2.70% |
| Odd or even Impair ou pair | 1 to 1 | 48.65% | 1.35% | 2.70% |
| Low or high Manque ou passe | 1 to 1 | 48.65% | 1.35% | 2.70% |
Chance to win = numbers covered ÷ 37. Edge = 1 − chance × (payout + 1). With La Partage, an even-money bet gets half back on 1 spin in 37, which takes its edge from 1/37 to 1/74. Every bet, with its payout and true odds, is in our roulette payouts chart.
Free downloads
French Roulette Wheel and Table: Free Printable Images
Big, print-ready images to keep, print or use in your own guide. They're free to use, including on your site, as long as you link back to this page.
French roulette table, translated
Every box on the layout with its English name, what it covers and what it pays.
PNG · 3000 × 2000 px
Call bets cheat sheet
Exactly where the chips go for Voisins du Zéro, Tiers, Orphelins and Jeu Zéro.
PNG · 2400 × 3000 px
Our test
Betting Systems Lose Less on a French Table
Martingale, D'Alembert, Fibonacci and Paroli all bet on even money, so La Partage softens every zero they hit. We ran our Martingale test on each wheel: 200,000 simulated sessions per wheel, each starting with $100, betting $1 on an even-money bet, doubling after each loss and stopping at $150 or when the next bet couldn't be placed.
French La Partage
51.5%
of sessions reached $150
European Single zero
48.8%
of sessions reached $150
American Double zero
43.4%
of sessions reached $150
A better wheel isn't a winning system. On all three, the sessions that bust lose far more than the ones that reach the target win. The full test is in our Martingale guide, and you can compare all eight roulette systems we tested.
Where to play
Where to Play French Roulette Online
We checked the lobbies at all 10 casinos we review and didn't find French roulette at any of them. Here's what we suggest instead.
Free, with La Partage
Practice French roulette
Our free French Roulette game, by BGaming, uses La Partage. Bet red for 30 or 40 spins and watch what happens to your chip when zero lands.
Closest real-money game
European roulette
The same wheel and the same 2.70% on every bet, just without the even-money discount. It's in almost every lobby we checked, including the three sites below.
Found one elsewhere?
Check the rules panel
Look for La Partage or En Prison in the game rules, or a return of 98.65% on even-money bets. If neither is there, it's European roulette with French labels.
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French Roulette: Common Questions
What is French roulette?
French roulette is the single-zero game played on the same 37-pocket wheel as European roulette, with a zero rule on even-money bets. With La Partage, a bet on red, black, odd, even, 1–18 or 19–36 loses only half its stake when the ball lands on 0. The layout is labeled in French and there's usually a racetrack for call bets.
What is the difference between French and European roulette?
The wheel and the payouts are the same. The difference is La Partage (or En Prison) on even-money bets, which cuts the house edge on those bets from 2.70% to 1.35%. Every other bet, from a straight to a dozen, keeps the same 2.70% edge on both tables.
What is La Partage in roulette?
La Partage ("the sharing") is a rule for even-money bets: when the ball lands on 0, you get half your stake back and the house keeps the other half. A $10 bet on red loses $5 instead of $10. It halves the house edge on those bets, to 1.35%.
What is En Prison in roulette?
En Prison ("in prison") is the other zero rule. When 0 lands, your even-money bet stays on the table for one more spin. If it wins, you get the stake back with no winnings; if it loses, it's gone. Where a second zero loses the bet, the edge is about 1.39%; where the bet is held again, it's 1.35%, the same as La Partage.
What is the house edge on French roulette?
1.35% on even-money bets with La Partage, and 2.70% on everything else. That makes red, black, odd, even, low and high at a French table the cheapest bets in standard roulette.
What are Voisins du Zéro, Tiers and Orphelins?
They're call bets: set groups of chips that cover a slice of the wheel. Voisins du Zéro uses 9 chips on the 17 numbers around zero, Tiers du Cylindre uses 6 chips on the 12 numbers opposite zero, and Orphelins uses 5 chips on the 8 numbers the other two miss. Jeu Zéro is a smaller 4-chip version of Voisins.
What does Orphelins mean in roulette?
Orphelins means "orphans". It covers the 8 numbers that Voisins du Zéro and Tiers du Cylindre leave out: 1, 20, 14, 31 and 9 on one side of the wheel, and 17, 34 and 6 on the other. It takes 5 chips: 1 straight on 1 and splits on 6/9, 14/17, 17/20 and 31/34.
Does La Partage apply to call bets?
No. Call bets are made of straight, split, trio and corner bets, so they keep the 2.70% edge on a French table. La Partage only covers the six even-money boxes.
Can I play French roulette online in the US?
It's hard to find. We didn't find French roulette in the lobbies of any of the 10 casinos we review. You can play a free French roulette game with La Partage on our site, and European roulette, the closest real-money game, is at almost every site we checked.
Do betting systems work better on French roulette?
They lose less, but they still lose over time. In our Martingale test, 51.5% of sessions reached the target on a French wheel against 48.8% on a European one, because La Partage softens every zero. The losing sessions still cost more than the winning ones bring in.
Sources: Wizard of Odds: roulette rules and house edge · Wikipedia: En prison and La Partage · Wikipedia: roulette call bets
21+
Play for fun, with a limit
La Partage makes roulette cheaper, not winnable. Set a budget before you start and stop when it's gone. If gambling stops being fun, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit ncpgambling.org for free, confidential help. More on our responsible gambling page.