Taking Your Roulette Game to the Next Level with Call Bets

Tiers du Cylinder

Tiers du Cylindre means “one-third of the wheel”, which is a very accurate name for this type of call bet. It covers 12 out of 37 numbers, namely 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, and 33. The numbers sit on the opposite side to the Voisins du Zero section of the wheel.

You need 6 chips or 6 multiples of chips to make this bet. The chips are placed on the following splits – 5/8, 11/10, 13/16, 23/24, 27/30, and 33/36. If any of the 12 numbers shows on the next spin, the player receives 17 units on top of their original bet on the winning split but loses the five units wagered on the losing splits.

The probability of winning with Tiers du Cylinder is quite substantial at 32.43%. This combination bet is not always called by its French name. You can encounter it under the name Series 8/5 in South African casinos. At some roulette tables, it is also known as the Small Series bet.

Voisins du Zero

The Voisins du Zero (or “Neighbors of Zero” from French) is quite popular with seasoned roulette players and for a good reason. It covers nearly half of the single-zero wheel, particularly the 17 numbers that sit opposite to the Tiers numbers. These include 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, and 25.

Take a peek at the roulette wheel and you will immediately see why the bet is called this way. It covers 9 numbers to the left of the zero, 7 numbers to its right, and the zero itself. This is easily the most famous call bet because it stands very decent chances of winning, with a probability of 45.94%.

This complex bet requires a minimum of 9 chips, with 1 unit placed on each of the five splits between 4/7, 12/15, 18/21, 19/22, and 32/35, 2 units on the corner of numbers 25/26/28/29, and 2 units on the trio of 0/2/3. The payout depends on what type of bet you win with. Voisins pays 17 to 1 for winning splits, 11 to 1 for the trio, and 8 to 1 for the corner.

Orphelins

You have probably noticed the Voisins and the Tiers sections almost slice the wheel in half. The two smaller sections that are left out consist of the so-called “orphan” numbers. The French name of the bet, Orphelins, sounds more sophisticated, though. One section contains numbers 17, 34, and 6 while the other consists of numbers 1, 20, 14, 31, and 9 for a total of 8 numbers.

There are two variations of this bet. The more common version is called Orphelins en Cheval and requires 5 chips, with the player posting 4 units on the splits between 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, and 31/34 and betting 1 unit straight up on number 1. If you are wondering, Cheval is the French name for split bets. Provided that any one of the orphaned numbers shows, you win at odds of 17 to 1 for the splits and 35 to 1 for the straight up bet.

Another way to make this wager is by betting straight up on each of the included numbers, which is known as Orphelins en Plein. You need 8 chips or 8 multiples of chips for Orphelins en Plein. Either way, this bet is less likely to win when compared to the Tiers and the Voisins, which makes sense as it consists of eight numbers only. Its probability is 21.62%.

Jeu Zero or Zero Spiel

For the sake of accuracy, we would like to specify Jeu Zero is not exactly a French bet. This combination wager originated in German casinos where it was known as Zero Spiel, which translates as “zero game” or “zero play”. You have probably guessed this wager has something to do with the zero.

Jeu Zero is a miniature of Voisins of Zero in that it also features pockets in close proximity to the zero but the numbers it covers are fewer. They include 15, 32, 0, 26, 3, 12, and 35. The player needs 4 chips for Jeu Zero.

These are posted on the splits between 0/3, 12/15, and 32/35 plus 1 chip straight up on number 26. You win 35 to 1 if 26 shows and 17 to 1 when any of the split numbers hit. The probability of Jeu Zero is 18.92%.

The Neighbors

Neighbor bets should not be confused with the Neighbors of Zero (Voisins) as this is an entirely different category of wagers. The original Neighbor bet includes any number of your choice plus two adjacent numbers on each of its sides on the wheel.

In essence, you are betting straight up on each of the 5 numbers for the chance to earn a payout of 35 to 1. For example, a bet on 13 and its neighbors covers numbers 11, 36, 13, 27, and 6. Some online roulette variants (like those created by NetEnt and Microgaming) allow players to adjust the number of neighbors, giving you a choice from 1 to 8 neighbors.

For instance, you might select number 9 and eight neighbors on either of its sides covering a substantial portion of the wheel (5, 24, 16, 33, 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 3, and 35). In this case, you are risking a total of 17 chips for the chance to win 35 chips, with a probability of 45.94% (the same as that of Voisins).

Note these are 5-chip wagers by default, so it is advisable to specify the number of neighbors if you are looking to bet on more than two adjacent pockets on either side of your selected number. The probability of winning with the default 5-chip Neighbor bet is understandably lower at 13.51%.

Those of you who are feeling more adventurous can venture to combine several Neighbor bets on the same spin. One such example is a bet on 8, 11, 13 and the Neighbors where you risk 15 chips, covering each of the numbers 6, 10, 23, and 27 with 1 chip, numbers 8, 13, 30, and 36 with 2 chips, and number 11 with 3 chips.

Final Bets

The name of this type of call bet is pretty much indicative of what it is all about. A Final bet includes all numbers on the layout that end in the same digit like 5, 15, 25, and 35. The number of chips you need to commit with depends on what you pick. Obviously, if you choose numbers 0 through 6, you have to post 4 chips and 3 chips when you chose numbers 7, 8, or 9 since the wheel ends at number 36.

There are several ways to make this bet, with the most common option being Finale en Plein, i.e. you bet on each of your selected numbers straight up and collect 35 units per wagered unit when you win. For example, Finale en Plein 8 features three straight up bets on 8, 18, 28 while Finale en Plein 3 requires a total of four chips on 3, 13, 23, and 33.

Finale en Cheval is different in that some of the numbers are covered with split bets. The exact number of chips again depends on what final digit the player picks. For example, Finales Cheval/Plein on 6 and 9 is a 4-chip wager where you bet on the 6/9, 16/19, and 26/29 splits and 36 straight up.

Another example is Finales en Cheval on 7 and 10, which requires a chip on each of the following splits – 7/10, 17/20, and 27/30. A total of five chips are needed for Finale Cheval/Plein 2 and 1 where you bet on the splits of 2/1, 12/11, and 32/31 and straight up on 21 and 22 because they are not adjacent on the layout.

The probability of winning with a Final bet depends on its coverage. It is 10.81% and 8.11% when you bet the numbers straight up, 18.92% for Cheval/Plein with 7 numbers, 16.22% for Finale en Cheval with 6 numbers, and 21.62% for Cheval/Plein with 8 numbers.

Full Completes

This one is played mostly by high rollers because it requires way too many chips. It is also referred to as a Maximum bet because those who make it typically wager up to the maximum allowed on straight up, split, corner, double street, and street bets.

It is a complicated wager made with up to 40 chips. This intricacy is a combination of 1 straight up bet on the number around which you build the entire wager, 4 split bets, 1 street bet, 4 corner bets, and 2 double-street bets. The example below refers to a bet on 20 to the maximum, with a ceiling of $100 for inside bets. Of course, if you are performing this stunt online, you can make one such wager for less than the inside bets’ maximums.

• 1 chip on number 20 (to a maximum of $100)
• 2 chips on the 17/20 split (to a maximum of $200)
• 2 chips on the 20/21 split ($200 maximum)
• 2 chips on the 19/20 split ($200 maximum)
• 2 chips on the 20/23 split ($200 maximum)
• 3 chips on the 19/20/21 street ($300 maximum)
• 4 chips on the 17/18/20/21 corner ($400 maximum)
• 4 chips on the 16/17/19/20 corner ($400 maximum)
• 4 chips on the 19/22/23/20 corner ($400 maximum)
• 4 chips on the 21/20/23/24 corner ($400 maximum)
• 6 chips on the 16/17/18/19/20/21 double street ($600 maximum)
• 6 chips on the 19/20/21/22/23/24 double street ($600 maximum)

There you have it – 40 chips on the layout and a total of $4,000 in action. Of course, if the maximum for inside bets is higher at the table you are playing at, say $1,000, you will have to pour a stupendous amount of money on a single spin of the wheel.

The Full Complete bet from the above example obviously covers 9 numbers so it does not stand that good of a chance of winning, at least if you compare it with other call bets like Voisins. Its probability is 24.32%.

If you do win, the number of chips you get varies depending on the number the bet is built around. In the above example where you wager 40 chips, you will collect 392 chips. However, certain numbers require fewer chips to complete the bet and yield smaller payouts as you can see below:

• 0 requires 17 chips and pays 235 chips
• 1 and 3 require 27 chips and return 297 chips
• 2 costs 36 chips and pays 396 chips
• Numbers from the first column (4 to 31) and third column (6 to 33) require 30 chips and pay 294 chips
• Full Completes on 34 and 36 are 18-chip bets and return 198 chips
• 35 requires 24 chips and pays 264 chips

You are probably wondering how the payouts are settled when it happens so that the winning number is adjacent to the number you have chosen, for example, when you wager 40 chips on 20 to the maximum and number 23 shows.

Croupiers normally resort to the so-called station method to settle the pays, which involves counting the ways that the winning number hits the complete wager. In the above example, the winner, 23, does this in 4 ways (or 4 stations to put it properly) – 2 corners (20/23/21/24 and 19/20/23/22), 1 double street (19/20/21/22/23/24), and 1 split (20/23).

The croupier multiplies the number of stations by 30 and then adds the remaining stations, 8 in this case, to the result like so: (4 x 30) + 8 = 120 + 8 = 128. Thus, our hypothetical player should be paid 128 chips for a bet on 20 to the maximum when the adjacent 23 hits.

We struggle to understand why would anyone do this to themselves, i.e. unless they are filthy rich like Mike Ashley, the billionaire owner of Newcastle United, who famously won £1.3 million with a bet on 17 to the maximum in 2008 at London’s Mayfair.