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Roulette Terminology

The French casino game of Roulette is one of the most popular at any casino. The basic set up is simple to understand, rules are easy to grasp hold of and it can turn a huge profit in one single spin! One thing that might be difficult to understand is the terminology that surrounds the game, here’s a little guide to get you started. Once you’ve figured out your way around the game of Roulette you could play live roulette at Betfair to get some practice in!

Bet on the layout – A term used to describe a bet that has been placed anywhere on the numbers portion of the table.
Biased Wheel – Describing a wheel where not all numbers are equally likely to win on any spin. Some people claim stories of winning big on roulette wheels that are biased towards certain numbers.
Block betting – By placing bets on a block of numbers that are on the wheel, increasing your chances of winning if the ball is to land in a particular area. A common strategy for roulette players.
Call bets – A call bet is where a bet is announced verbally, although a lot of casinos won’t accept this as a form of betting unless the money/chips are immediately placed on the table afterwards.
Carr – The French term for a corner bet. A corner bet is where you place a bet on four numbers that are touching on the table.
Cheval – Another French term, this is for a split bet. Similar to the corner bet, the split bet is between two numbers that are next to each other on the table.
Colonne – Also a French term, for a column bet. A column is down the length of the table, there are three in total. You can place a bet on one of those columns at odds of 2:1.
Croupier – A casino employee who oversees the different tables, also sometimes known as a dealer.
Dozen bet – A bet placed on a certain set of 12 numbers. Similar to column bets there are three to choose from. On the numbers 1 to 36, you can bet on the first (1-12), second (13-24) and third (25-36) dozen.
En Plein – A French term for a straight-up bet. An En Plain is a bet that is placed on one single number on the table.
En Prison – A French phrase meaning ‘in prison’. This rule is applied to European Roulette and even-money wagers only. When the outcome of the spin is zero, some online casinos will let the player take back half of their bet or leave it for another spin; if the next spin is a zero, the bet is lost.
French bets – Usually one for the higher rollers, a French bet is where the player will cover large sections of the wheel at once.
House Edge – The mathematical advantage that the casino holds over the player.
Inside bets – Bets that describe a group of bets made on the table. Inside bets describe the types of bets that are on the inside section of the layout, where the wheel numbers are printed.
Orphans – Referring to the numbers 6, 17 and 34. These three numbers are neighbours on the wheel but far apart on the layout of the table.
Outside bets – Bets made on the outside of the table. This covers the lower payout bets such as red/black and odd/even.
Six line – A bet that covers two adjacent numbers in three rows on the table, covering six numbers in total.
Street – The name given to a bet placed on a single row on the table, covering three numbers in total.
Voisins du Zero – A French term for placing a bet on the numbers which neighbour zero on the wheel.

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