Pretty much every adult under the sun knows the objective of roulette: to bet on a number, group of numbers or colour and hope that the ball lands in the right pocket of the wheel once it has stopped spinning.
Most will have seen the traditional roulette betting board as well, with each of the numbers displayed alongside the various group bets that can be placed. Chips are placed on the desired sectors accordingly.
But there’s a graphic on that betting board that can confuse even those with prior roulette experience. The racetrack, the sort-of semi-circle of numbers and colours set to the side of the main betting options given its name due to its shape, has the ability to befuddle anybody.
By the end of this guide to the roulette racetrack, you should hopefully have a much better understanding of what it is and what you can do with it.
What is the Roulette Racetrack?
Most variants of roulette allow you to place so-called ‘call bets’, which are groupings of numbers that are grouped together on the wheel.
Born out of roulette’s French traditions, these call bets have suitably Gallic names:
- Voisins du Zero
- Orphelins
- Tiers du Cylindre
- Neighbours
We’ll cover each of these bet types in more detail shortly, but the general idea with call bets is that you can wager on numbers that cover a specific area of the wheel – rather than picking out individual numbers or group bets. This also saves dealers the headache of having to place your chips across each of the numbers on the betting board, because they can simply use the racetrack instead.
These call bets are therefore quick and easy to place, and by selecting a call bet you can wager with a known probability on each spin of the wheel, e.g. Voisins du Zero covers 17 numbers of a typical single-zero roulette wheel, giving you an implied win probability of 17:37 – or around 45%.
Voisins du Zero
The three French call bets – Voisins du Zero, Orphelins and Tiers du Cylindre – are named on the racetrack, and you can place your chip on the inside of the track (the reason for that will become clear later).
Voisins du Zero is the sequence of numbers running along the roulette wheel from 22 round to 25, and that incorporates 17 different possible winning options – that 45% win probability mentioned already.
The term Voisins du Zero can be translated into English as ‘neighbours of zero’, and that’s exactly what you are betting on here: the number 0, plus the eight numbers on either side of it to bring your total to 17.
In some variants of roulette, the Voisins du Zero call bet is known as Serie 0/2/3.
Orphelins
When you are playing roulette with a dealer, you can call the Orphelins bet and they will place your chips on the designated section on the racetrack.
The Orphelins bet comprises eight numbers that sit opposite each other on the wheel. These are 7, 17 and 34 on one side and 1, 9, 14, 20 and 31 on the other.
When you look at the roulette wheel, you will notice that the Orphelins group sits in the middle of the Voisins du Zero and Tiers du Cylindre groupings, separating them from one another.
Tiers du Cylindre
The Tiers du Cylindre bet, sometimes known colloquially as Tiers, is a section of numbers that sit opposite Voisins du Zero on the roulette wheel.
Specifically, this group of 12 numbers runs from 27 around to 33, and covers approximately one-third of the entire wheel – your actual win probability is 12:37 or 32%.
As usual, the dealer will place your chips on the racetrack to signal your wagering intent when you call up the Tiers du Cylindre or Tiers bet.
Neighbours Bet
Somewhat different to the three other call bets mentioned, the Neighbours option lets you wager on a single number of your choosing.
You will also be betting on the two numbers on either side of your selection, so the Neighbours bet comprises of five numbers in all.
You won’t see Neighbours on the roulette racetrack, but you can still place the bet by placing your chips on the outside of the racetrack – or by calling for the dealer to do it for you.
Jeu Zero
The four options detailed above are the most common and popular call bets to be found on the roulette racetrack.
But with some variants of the game, you may just see another option on the racetrack: Zero, or Jeu Zero to give it its full name.
This selection comprises of seven numbers in total, starting with 0 and moving two to one side (15 and 32) and four to the other (3, 12, 26 and 35).
So, in total, the Jeu Zero call bet requires seven individual wagers to be placed on that particular section of the wheel.
How to Bet Using the Roulette Racetrack
As mentioned, when there’s a dealer overseeing the action, you can call out your bet using the names described above to save time and hassle – the dealer will take your chips accordingly and place them on the racetrack.
In online roulette, you can select your stake size that will be used to determine how many chips are in play. So, a Neighbours wager requires five bets to be placed as you’re selecting five numbers – if your stake size is £1, then your total outlay will be £5.
The game’s in-built software will place your call bet when you click on one of the racetrack presets on screen.
Roulette Call Bet Payouts
The idea of placing a call bet in roulette is that you are Dutching multiple numbers together, which increases your chances of a winning spin.
You are eating into your profit margin too, but with a call bet you only need the wheel to land on your required section in order for a win to be secured.
Each call bet requires you to place combination wagers like corners, splits and baskets. Which of your numbers wins ultimately determines your payout. For example, with Voisins du Zero, you could win at 8/1 for a winning corner number up to 17/1 for a split.
Here’s just some of the call bet payouts in roulette:
- Voisins du Zero – Corner (8/1 up to 11/1), Basket (8/1 up to 11/1), Split (17/1)
- Orphelins – Split (17/1), Single Number (35:1)
- Tiers du Cylindre – Split (17:1)
- Neighbours – Single Number (35:1), Any Nominated Number (6:1 Dutched)