The house advantage
On a single zero roulette table the house advantage is 2.7%. On a double
zero roulette table it is 5.26% (7.9% on the five-number bet,
0-00-1-2-3). The house advantage is gained by paying the winners a chip
or two (or a proportion of it) less than what it should have been if
there was no advantage. (See
Roulette Quiz -
The Casino Advantage.)
The 'En Prison' rule
A roulette rule applied to even-money bets only, and by some casinos
(not all). When the outcome is zero, some casinos will allow the player
to either take back half his/her bet or leave the bet (en prison = in
prison) for another roulette spin. In the second case, if the following
spin the outcome is again zero, then the whole bet is lost.
The 'La Partage' rule
The la partage roulette rule is similar to the en prison rule, only in
this case the player loses half the bet and does not have the option of
leaving the bet en prison for another spin. This refers to the 'outside'
even-money bets Red/Black, High/Low, Odd/Even and applies when the
outcome is zero. Both the La Partage and the En Prison roulette rules
essentially cut the casino edge on the 'even-money bets' in half. So a
bet on Red on a single-zero roulette table with the la partage rule or
the en prison rule has a 1.35% house edge and one on a double-zero
roulette table has a house edge of 2.63%.
The payouts
A bet on one number only, called a straight-up bet, pays 35 to 1. (You
collect 36. With no house advantage you should collect 37 (38 in the USA
on double zero roulette wheels).
A two-number bet, called split bet, pays 17 to 1.
A three-number bet, called street bet, pays 11 to 1.
A four-number bet, called corner bet, pays 8 to 1.
A six-number bet, pays 5 to 1.
A bet on the outside dozen or column, pays 2 to 1.
A bet on the outside even money bets, pays 1 to 1.
Object of the game
To win at roulette the player needs to predict where the ball will land
after each spin. This is by no means easy. In fact, luck plays an
important part in this game. Some players go with the winning numbers
calling them 'hot' numbers and therefore likely to come up more times.
Others see which numbers did not come up for some time and bet on them
believing that their turn is now due. Some players bet on many numbers
to increase their chances of winning at every spin, but this way the
payout is considerably reduced. Other methodical players use specific
roulette systems or methods, money management systems, or both.
French roulette rules
The French roulette rules are
very much like the European roulette rules. It has the same 37 numbered
wheel with one zero but a different table layout for the outside bets.
See
Table layout
The player odds in French
roulette are the same as in European roulette (only one zero) and better
than the odds in American roulette (two zeros). The players loose only
50% of their even-money bets when the outcome is zero, known as the 'La
Partage' rule.
The object of the game is still
the same - to predict which number out of possible 37 the ball will land
on. And of course, they speak French. Below are the English and
equivalent French terms for the various roulette bets:
Inside bets
-
One number Straight up = En
plein
-
Two numbers Split Bet =
Cheval
-
Three numbers Street Bet =
Transversale
-
Four numbers Corner = Carre
-
Six numbers Line Bet =
Sixainne
Outside bets
-
Twelve numbers Column =
Colonne
-
Twelve numbers Dozen =
Douzaine
-
Red or Black = Rouge, Noir
-
Even or Odd = Pair, Impair
-
Low or High numbers = Manque,
Passe
