French Roulette: Why Play This Game?

Eventually, every gambler has to let Lady Luck decide the outcome. That said, how much control she has is determined by what game you choose to play! Roulette is the perfect example of this. You can strategize about what bets you want to place, and what kind of return you expect. At the end of the day, whether you win or lose depends on the wheel, and if it gives you the number you need to win.

While you cannot control the whims of fate, you can choose the type of Roulette you play. Everybody knows about the big two: European and American Roulette. However, hidden past those two and their many variants lies French Roulette. You may not even recognize it at first glance, seeing as it has an identical layout to European Roulette.

Despite this, one rule drastically increases the value of French Roulette. In fact, we would go as so far to say that it makes it a must-play! What is this mysterious rule? How does it work? Read on to find out!

Introducing La Partage

Avid readers may remember us already discussing the La Partage rule before. The way it works is quite simple. It is only in effect when playing even money bets. This leaves you with three options: red/black, even/odd or high/low wagers. In standard Roulette, a ball landing on a zero would mean you lose money. However, that is not the case with La Partage!

When the wheel draws zero on a French roulette table, the rule kicks into effect. Instead of losing the entirety of your wager, you get half of it back. It may not seem like much, but it is a massive decrease in the house edge. If you are playing with La Partage enabled, your RTP will be 98.65%!

The Debut of En Prison

Roulette changed a fair amount before it finally settled on the game we know and love today. Which is why some French roulette tables offer a different rule with the same effect. Once again, En Prison only works with even money bets. The name translates into English as in prison, which is quite fitting given what it does.

When a zero is drawn, you do not lose half the money. Instead, the entirety of the wager is seized temporarily. What happens next depends on the next round. If the player wins, they get their money back. If they lose, then the wager disappears forever into the dealer’s pockets.

In our experience, En Prison appears less frequently compared to La Partage. There is no easy way to search for it either, since both fall under French Roulette.

Things to Note

We already mentioned this, but we feel it is worth stressing again. Both of these rules only come in effect for even-money bets. Losing to zero when playing a corner will not result in getting half of that wager back. That only applies to the three bets we mentioned earlier: even/odd, high/low and red/black.

This makes either rule ideal for playing with a positive progression betting system! Any of these systems requires even money bets to work. Ultimately, their flaws come from the fact you do not have a fifty-fifty chance at winning. French Roulette does not solve the problem entirety. What it does is give you far better odds than what you would get from European and American Roulette!

Closing Thoughts

French Roulette is not an easy game to find. While it is the favourite of Indian Casino Club staff, we rarely get to play it. Every time we do, we always have a blast. Roulette by itself is a lot of fun. Add those two rules into the mix, and you have an amazing release! We wholeheartedly recommend it to any roulette fan.