If you are familiar with the European game of Roulette then you might have seen or heard of ‘neighbour bets’, AKA ‘section bets’ and ‘call bets’. The European Roulette wheel has a different layout for the numbers than the American wheel does, and included in the European game are these additional bets.
The wheel is broken up into three main sections, and the player has the option of betting on any of these sections simply by calling the bet out to the dealer and giving them the money for the bet before or during the spin. These are called “section bets”. We will cover exactly what these sections are later in this article.
A ‘neighbour bet’ will include 5 numbers. You basically choose the number that you want to use for the neighbour bet, and it will include that number, and the two numbers on each side of it on the Roulette wheel. So, for example, if you wanted to play “zero and the neighbours”, your bet would include the two numbers on each side, so your bet would cover numbers 3, 26, 0, 32 and 15.
For a neighbour bet, your bet will be broken down into fifths, with one fifth effectively going on each number. So if you threw in a £5 bet, it would effectively mean you have £1 straight up on each of these five numbers. You have to be aware of the table minimums, so if the Roulette table had a £1 minimum on the inside numbers, then the minimum neighbour bet you can do is £5 (which will effectively mean £1 on each of the five numbers).
You don’t physically have to place £1 on each of these numbers, you simply announce to the dealer that you would like to play zero and its neighbours (or whichever number you want to play), and they will mark this bet up. Then if one of the five numbers comes up that spin, they will place the relevant amount on the number and pay you out for it.
Roulette Section bets
As well as the Roulette neighbour bets, there are also section bets that you can play as well. This is where the wheel is broken down into three different sections, and you can bet on any of them whenever you like. The three sections are:
- Voisins du zero
- Orphelins
- Tier du cylindre
You can see from this diagram just what numbers each section includes. But we need to go into more detail of how the actual bets are broken down.
Voisins du zero
Voisins du zero is a 9 chip bet. So you need to bet in denominations of 9 when you play this section. The section includes 17 different numbers, including the zero on the wheel, and is the largest of the three section bets.
None of the bets cover any ‘straight up’ numbers (this is where the chip is placed on one number only). So the 9 different placements for the voisins du zero bet are as follows (the chip amounts mentioned are for a single 9 chip bet):
- 2 chips placed on the 0,2,3 corner
- 2 chips placed on the 25 to 29 corner
- 1 chip placed on the 4/7 split
- 1 chip placed on the 12/15 split
- 1 chip placed on the 18/21 split
- 1 chip placed on the 19/22 split
- 1 chip placed on 32/35 split
Orphelins
Orphelins is the smallest section on the wheel, covering 8 different numbers only. The section is actually broken into two different sections, each one separating the Voisins du zero and Tier du cylinder sections.
The Orphelins bet is a 5 chip bet, and they are broken down as follows:
- 1 chip placed on number 1 straight up
- 1 chip placed on the 6/9 split
- 1 chip placed on the 14/17 split
- 1 chip placed on the 17/20 split
- 1 chip placed on the 31/34 split
Tier du cylinder
So the remaining 12 numbers left on the wheel are all part of the Tier du cylinder section. This is a 6 chip bet, and each bet is placed on the following splits:
- 1 chip placed on the 5/8 split
- 1 chip placed on the 10/11 split
- 1 chip placed on the 13/16 split
- 1 chip placed on the 23/24 split
- 1 chip placed on the 27/30 split
- 1 chip placed on the 33/36 split
So all of these neighbour bets and section bets are exclusive to the French and European games of Roulette. You will not find any of these on the American game, as the numbers on the wheel are set out in a completely different way on the American wheel as to the European and French. These bets are all very easy to play, and now you have an understanding of what each of the section bets are, and how to play them you can start practicing on a European game.
You can play European Roulette now at Luxury Casino or Captain Cooks Casino, and try out your new-found knowledge on these bets on one of the many European Roulette that the online casino has available.
