One of the biggest differences between European and French roulette and American roulette is that the first two types of roulette allow you to place two kinds of bets that you cannot make on an American table: neighbor bets and section bets.
The French and European wheels have a different layout from the American wheel that enables users to place these additional types of bets.
Section bets are placed on specific portions of the wheel. When you place a bet on a section, you are wagering that the ball will fall into one of the spots on that area of the wheel. Read on for an in-depth discussion about these sections and how section betting works.
Neighbor bets are bets on five numbers on the roulette wheel. When you wish to place a neighbor bet, you would say the number and then the phrase “and the neighbors.” This means that you are wagering that the ball will land on the number that you called or on the two numbers to the immediate right or left of it on the roulette wheel.
For example, a bet of “17 and the neighbors” would be a bet on 17; the two numbers to the left of it, which are 2 and 25, and the two numbers to the right of it, which are 34 and 6.
When you place a neighbor bet, your bet is divided equally among the five spaces. For example, of you bet $20, you would be placing $4 on each of the numbers according to the usual odds. It is essentially like placing five separate bets at once.
If you intend to place a neighbor bet, you must keep in mind the minimum that is in place at any given table, as the amount that you place on each number must meet the minimum bet requirements.
For example, if the minimum bet at a specific table was $10, you would need to bet $50, so that you were placing $10 on each of the five numbers. If the minimum was only $1, you would only need to bet $5 to meet the minimums.
Section Bets in Roulette
As previously mentioned, you can place section bets when you’re playing European or French roulette. A section bet is made on one of three sections that are broken down on the French and European roulette wheels.
These sections are:
- Voisins du zero
- Orphelins
- Tier du cylindre
At any time when you’re playing European or French roulette, you can choose to make your bet a section bet. Let’s take a look at each section:
Voisins du zero
The voisins du zero section includes 17 numbers with the zero included and is the largest of the section bet options.
When you place a bet on the voisins du zero section of the roulette wheel, you must bet in denominations of nine chips and adhere to table minimums.
Unlike neighbors bets, the voisins du zero bets are not placed on a single number. Instead, the chips are placed this way:
- 2 chips are positioned on the corner where the 0, 2 and 3 meet
- 2 chips are positioned on the corner where the 25, 26, 28 and 29 meet
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 4 and the 7
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 12 and the 15
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 18 and the 21
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 19 and the 22
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 32 and the 35
Orphelins
The orphelins is the smallest of the three sections and only includes eight numbers. When you place a bet on the orphelins section of the roulette wheel, you must bet in denominations of five chips and adhere to table minimums.
The chips are placed this way:
- 1 chip is positioned on the number 1 as a straight up bet
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 6 and the 9
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 14 and the 17
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 17 and the 20
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 31 and the 34
Tier du cylindre
The tier du cylindre section on the board consists of 12 numbers. When you place a bet on the tier du cylinder section of the roulette wheel, you must bet in denominations of five chips and adhere to table minimums.
The chips are placed this way:
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 5 and the 8
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 10 and the 11
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 13 and the 16
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 23 and the 24
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 27 and the 30
- 1 chip is positioned on the split between the 33 and the 36
Remember, section bets and neighbor bets can only be made on French and European roulette tables; you cannot place them when you’re playing on an American roulette wheel because the numbers are arranged in a different order.
The best way to familiarize yourself with these bets and how they affect your chances of winning roulette is to spend some time playing European or French roulette on the Internet at an online casino.
With a few games, you’ll quickly begin to understand exactly how these bets work.
