The Exotic Side of French Roulette - Neighbours Of Zero, Orphans And Neighbours And Thirds Of The Wheel Of Tiers
Roulette 5️⃣ is, at heart, a simple game. So trust French casino-dwellers to develop some rather more intricate ways in which to 5️⃣ play. If you're given the chance to play a French-style roulette table, then you should, as this will probably give 5️⃣ you access to the punter-friendly En Prison/La Partage rules. Combine these with a single zero layout (unlike double-zero American-style tables), 5️⃣ and the house edge falls to around 1.4%. However, if you are taking a spin on a true French table, 5️⃣ you'll find much that's, erm, foreign. And most of this will be due to the existence of bet types like 5️⃣ Voisins du Zero, Tiers du Cylindre, and Orphelins.
Whereas most roulette tables (in land casinos) assign coloured chips to the players, 5️⃣ so that winning bets can be easily identified, the chips on French tables differ only in the numerical amounts they 5️⃣ have printed on them. With nothing to distinguish one player from another, it becomes important not to have too many 5️⃣ chips on the board at the same time. The need for space partly inspired the invention of an additional grid, 5️⃣ called the 'Racetrack'. This oval-shaped section sits to the side of the main play area. it features all of the 5️⃣ same numbers - 0 to 36 - but within a different layout. Its point is to act as an extension 5️⃣ to the main grid, and to encourage some of the players to switch to exotic 'French Bets'. These French bets 5️⃣ were traditionally referred to as 'Call Bets' or 'Announced Bets', as they were too specialist to be featured on the 5️⃣ main tables, and players had to call out when they wanted to play them.
So what exactly are these bets, and 5️⃣ what do they consist of?
The Ins and Outs of Call Bets
If you look at the main wheel for roulette, you'll 5️⃣ see that it can be broken down into two large slices, along with a couple of smaller segments sitting between 5️⃣ them in the middle. Each of these sections contains a set of numbers that make up one of the following 5️⃣ bets:
Voisins du Zero - Meaning 'neighbours of zero', this bet refers to the 17 numbers on the wheel that reach 5️⃣ from 22, right round to 25. Slap-bang in the middle of this grouping is the Zero. Hence, all of the 5️⃣ numbers around it are its 'neighbours'.
Tiers du Cylindre - Translating as 'thirds of the wheel', this bet-type corresponds to an 5️⃣ exact third of the wheel, specifically the third at the bottom of the wheel. Its numbers stretch from 33 right 5️⃣ round to 27.
Orphelins - These 'orphans' are two small segments that take in the eight numbers not associated with either 5️⃣ the Voisins du Zero or Tiers du Cylindre. The numbers covered by Orphelins are 9, 31, 14, 20 and 1 5️⃣ on one side of the table, and 17, 34 and 6 on the other.
When you place one of these bets, 5️⃣ you effectively cover all of the numbers in the sequence. Some of the numbers, though, will be covered more than 5️⃣ once, or will have a different payout. In the next section, we'll look at exactly which numbers are placed, and 5️⃣ how this affects the payouts in each case. Note, though, if you simply want to place the bet, you don't 5️⃣ really need to know exactly which numbers are involved - it'll simply be a matter of clicking on the relevant 5️⃣ option on the table. These exotic combinations may be found in a separate section, such as the 'Call Bets' menu. 5️⃣ If you're not interested in the exact details of the bets themselves, you might want to skip the next section.
The 5️⃣ Exact Numbers and Maths Involved in Each Bet
Tiers du Cylindre is the simplest in practice. You take six chips and 5️⃣ place each of them on a different number combination: 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30, and 33/36. Each of the six 5️⃣ combinations gives you a 5.4% chance of success (2 out of 37), and you have a 32.4% chance of winning 5️⃣ overall. Each time you won with a combination, you would end up with a profit of 12 chips - 17 5️⃣ chips for the win, minus the five chips that you would have lost on the other combinations.
Orphelins are also fairly 5️⃣ straightforward. Here, you place a single chip on the number 1, and four further chips on the following number combinations 5️⃣ 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, and 31/34. You obviously have only a 2.7% (1 out of 37) chance of winning with the 5️⃣ 1, although you would scoop a profit of 31 chips when successful - 35 chips for the win, minus the 5️⃣ four chips lost on the other combinations. The four two-number combinations, on the other hand, would each give you a 5️⃣ profit of only 13 chips (17 chips for the win, minus the four losing chips), but would pay out 5.4% 5️⃣ of the time. This works out as a total win rate of 24.3%.
Most complex of all is Voisins du Zero. 5️⃣ This takes in 17 different numbers, and involves the placement of nine different bets. Five of those bets would involve 5️⃣ single chips being placed on five different number combinations: 4/7, 12/15, 18/21, 19/22, and 32/35. As before, these would each 5️⃣ carry a 5.4% chance of success, and would yield a 9 chip profit after deducting the eight chips lost on 5️⃣ other bets. However, Voisins du Zero also involves the placement of another four chips on slightly more elaborate combinations. Two 5️⃣ chips are used to cover 0, 2, and 3. If the ball lands on one of these numbers, you win 5️⃣ 15 chips overall - the double-payout of 22 chips, minus the seven chips lost on the remaining combinations. The success 5️⃣ rate here is a healthy 8.11% (3 out of 37). You would also put two remaining chips on 25, 26, 5️⃣ 28, and 29. These bets carry a win rate of 10.8% (4 out of 37). Voisins du Zero, then, has 5️⃣ wildly differing payouts accoridng to which of the number combinations comes good. Overall, though, it amounts to a 45.9% chance 5️⃣ of success.
Do the Bets Work?
So are any of these bets worth playing? Well, the success rate certainly differs, with Voisins 5️⃣ du Zero winning 45.9% of the time, Tiers du Cylindre 32.4% of the time, and the Orphelins just 24.3%. On 5️⃣ the other hand, the Voisins du Zero requires more chips (nine), and the Orphelins fewer(five). In fact, the house edge 5️⃣ for all three bets works out as exactly the same - 2.7%. The same as the standard house edge, then. 5️⃣ So, for all their fanciness, these elaborate bet types give you no more chance of success than a standard red/black 5️⃣ play.
That's not to say there aren't some advantages. If you suspect there may be some sort of defect (most likely 5️⃣ an imbalance) in the equipment, causing numbers in one section of the wheel to come up again and again, there's 5️⃣ a good chance that the affected numbers will be covered predominantly by one of the three French bets above. In 5️⃣ that case, playing one of these bets might be a good way to take advantage of the bias, but without 5️⃣ tipping off the dealer that a specific part of the wheel may be defective. All in all, though, we suspect 5️⃣ that most players will only want to use these strategies if they wish to show off their in-depth knowledge of 5️⃣ roulette bets.
The Details
Voisins du Zero - 45.9% success. 9 chips needed.
Tiers du Cylindre - 32.4% success. 6 chips needed.
Voisins du 5️⃣ Zero - 24.3% success. 5 chips needed.
Bet Placement
Voisins du Zero (nine chips):
One chip on: 4/7. 12/15, 18/21, 19/22, 32/35
Two chips 5️⃣ on 0, 2, 3
Two chips on 25, 26, 28, 29
Tiers du Cylindre (six chips):
One chip on: 5/8, 10/11, 13/16, 23/24, 5️⃣ 27/30, 33/36
Orphelins (five chips):
One chip on: 1
One chip on: 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, 31/34
