What is French roulette?
French roulette is a single-zero roulette variant with the same 37-pocket wheel as European roulette, but it includes additional rules — La Partage and En Prison — that reduce the house edge on even-money bets from 2.7% down to 1.35%.
La Partage and En Prison
La Partage means ‘sharing’ in French. When the ball lands on zero, outside even-money bets (red/black, odd/even, high/low) receive half their stake back instead of losing everything. En Prison is an alternative: the bet is locked on the table for the next spin, and if it wins the stake is returned in full. Both rules effectively halve the house edge on those specific bets.
Called bets
French roulette also traditionally features called bets — groupings based on sectors of the wheel rather than sections of the number layout. Voisins du Zéro, Orphelins, and Tiers du Cylindre are the main ones. These bets cover specific arcs of the wheel and are placed by calling them to the croupier or through a racetrack betting layout. Online French roulette games usually include these as a separate racetrack interface.