Call bets, also known as French bets, are a special category of wagers in roulette and are usually accepted at higher-stake tables in brick-and-mortar casinos. Players can make this type of wager simply by “calling” what they wish to bet on rather than placing the chips on the table themselves. In fact, only croupiers are allowed to place the chips for call bets on the layout. This makes it easier for players to bet on more complex combinations of numbers.
Sometimes, call bets are accepted when there is a crowd surrounding the table – in such cases, some players have no other option but to call their bets because they cannot come near enough to the table and place the chips on their own.
Call bets are often mistaken with announced bets, yet there is a difference between the two. When players “call” their bets, they actually do not have any chips on the layout. The croupier simply marks the bet on the table for them. However, in many gambling venues, especially those in the UK, call bets are prohibited because this practice is considered betting on credit.
Many landbased casinos, however, do accept announced bets. High-stake players can still call or announce their bets as long as they have a sufficient amount of chips on the layout to cover their wagers. Call bets cover series of numbers, located in specific sections of the wheel. The name of each type of call bet is actually derived from the numbers’ positions on the spinning device.
Naturally, players get the chance to place these complex bets from the comfort of their homes as many online casinos offer roulette variations where call bets are available. Popular options include Common Draw Roulette by Betsoft, Microgaming’s Diamond Edition of Premier Roulette, and Playtech’s 3D Roulette, among many others.
Read on if you are interested in becoming more familiar with the types of call bets that can be made on roulette.
Les Voisins du Zéro or Neighbours of Zero
One of the most popular call bets is the so-called Les Voisins du Zéro which translates as Neighbours of Zero. This call bet includes all 17 numbers that lie between numbers 22 and 25 (including these two) on the wheel. The numbers are as follows – 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2 and 25. Please note this type of bet can be placed in European roulette only since the numbers, surrounding the zero on the American roulette wheel are arranged in a different sequence.
The Neighbours of Zero bet takes nine chips which are placed on several splits. Five of the chips are placed on the splits of 4-7, 12-15, 18-21, 19-22, and 32-35. Two chips are staked as a split bet at the intersection with numbers 0, 2 and 3 and the other two are placed as a corner bet, covering numbers 25, 26, 28 and 29.
Naturally, while playing roulette over the Internet, gambling enthusiasts can easily opt for this wager type with just a single click on the area from the racetrack that is labelled Voisins du Zero.
Another important thing roulette mavens should be mindful of is that if their call bet is settled as a winning one, the payoff they will be rewarded will be determined by the winning number. A payout of 17 to 1 is granted for the split numbers, 8 to 1 for the corner bet, and 11 to 1 for the combination of three numbers.
Odds and Probabilities
Low Limits Roulette
High Stakes Roulette
American Roulette
European Roulette
Jeu Zero or Zero Game
Interestingly enough, this call bet did not originate in France. Its origins can be traced back to German gambling venues where they were referred to as Zero Spiel or Zero Game. Jeu Zero bets cover only seven numbers – those that are located the closest to the single-zero pocket on the wheel, including the zero itself. This includes numbers 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, and 15. Of course, the Neighbours of Zero bet also covers the said numbers, but in Jeu Zero, only four chips are required to place the bet. So, 1 chip is staked as a split bet on 0-3, another chip is staked on the split between 12-15, a third chip is placed on number 26 as a straight up bet and the last chip – on the split between 32-35.
The payout for winning Jeu Zero bets depends on the number the ball lands on. If number 26 comes up, players are paid out 36 to 1, but if any of the remaining six numbers are spun, the payout will be 18 to 1.
This wager type is also popular among gambling enthusiasts as the five-piece bet, and what players need to know is that it has a variation that requires placing one more Straight bet on 19.
Les Finales or Final Bets
There are two variations of Final bets. The first one is the so-called Finales en Plein in which case players can bet on numbers ending with the same digit. An example would be a Finales en Plein bet on numbers 0, 10, 20 and 30. It is important to mention that for numbers ending in 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, four chips are used, while for the numbers which end in 7, 8 and 9, the players need three chips. This is so because only three numbers on the European roulette wheel have 7, 8 or 9 as final digits.
The Finales a Cheval is another variation of Final bets which is placed on splits of numbers ending with the same digit. For split bets on 0-1, 1-2, 2-3, 4-5 and 5-6, the player will need five chips. Split bets on 0-3, 1-4, 2-5, 3-6, 7-8 and 8-9 require four chips. Three chips are used for the pairs of 4-7, 5-8, 6-9, 7-10, 8-11 and 9-12.
In some online roulette variations, Microgaming’s Premier Roulette for example, players can place Finales Cheval Plein bets. This type of Final bet involves both split and straight up bets. An example of Finales Cheval Plein would be a bet on 1-2 (split), 11-12 (split), straight up on numbers 21 and 22, and 31-32 (split). Combining split bets and straight up bets is necessary in this case because of the design of the table layout. Since numbers 21 and 22 are not located next to each other, it is impossible to place a split bet on them.
Tiers du Cylindre or Third of the Wheel
Tiers du Cylindre bets cover one-third of the wheel and are placed on 12 numbers located between 33 and 27. This section of the wheel includes the following sequence – 27,13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16 and 33.
The wager involves six chips which are placed on the six splits of 5-8, 10-11, 13-16, 23-24, 27-30 and 33-36. Winning Tiers du Cylindre bets have a payout of 17 to 1.
Roulette lovers might come across one more variant of this roulette bet that is popular among players as Tier 5, 8, 10, 11. What is specific about this variant of Tiers du Cylindre is that gambling enthusiasts need to make Straight bets on 5, 8, 10, and 11, which therefore means that they are opting for a ten-piece roulette stake.
Les Orphelins or the Orphans
This type of bet covers the two remaining sections of the wheel outside the Tiers and Voisins and features a total of eight numbers. Three of the numbers (17, 34 and 6) are located to the right of the single-zero pocket, while the other five (1, 20, 14, 31 and 9) are positioned to the left of the zero.
The bet is made with five chips. Four of the chips are placed on the splits between 31-34, 17-20, 14-17 and 6-9 and the remaining chip is placed as a straight up bet on number 1.
In terms of payoffs, the Straight bet pays out 35 to 1, but if any of the other numbers becomes a winning one, players will be paid out 17 to 1, which is the payout typical for winning Split bets.
Neighbour Bets
The way in which this roulette wager functions is not as straightforward as the above-mentioned bets, which is the reason why many players shy away from placing it. Most of the time, such bets can be made when the roulette variant players have picked has just one 0 pockets.
Neighbour bets cover one number that is chosen by the player, together with the two numbers that lay on the left and right side of that number on the wheel, which means that ultimately, a total of five numbers will be covered.
Thus, in the event that players pick 7, the rest of the numbers that will be incorporated into their Neighbour bet will be 12, 18, 28, and 29.
Neighbour bets that are settled as winning ones provide a payoff of 35 to 1.
Full Complete or Maximum Bets
If you are a high-stakes roulette player, the Full Complete bet might appeal to you. This wager type is particularly interesting due to the fact that it incorporates all inside bets and lays them on just one number.
If we assume that you want to make a Full Complete on 17, this will mean that you will make a Straight bet, Split bets on 17 and 14, 17 and 16, 17 and 18, 17 and 20, a Street bet that covers 17, 16, and 18, four Corner bets, and two Six Line bets.
Needless to say, the payoff for such a wager will be mind-blowing, but players should bear in mind that most of the time, the staked amount will hit the upper betting limit, which comes to explain why it will not appeal to rather budgeted players.
Red and Black Splits
The name of this call bet is pretty much self-explanatory as when players opt for it, they will cover all black or red splits. When the Red Splits are concerned, players will need 4 chips in order to cover them as they will bet on 9-12, 16-19, 18-21, and 27-30. When going for the Black Splits, a total of 7 chips will be needed as players will bet on 8/11, 10/11, 10/13, 17/20, 26/29, 28/29, and 28/31. No matter which option gambling enthusiasts will pick, the payoff they will be provided with will be 17 to 1.
Lucky Dip Bets
Those who enjoy playing the lottery most probably have heard of Lucky Dip, which is a participation in a lottery game with randomly selected numbers. Similarly to this type of lottery game, some roulette variations that you will come across online also offer Lucky Dip call bets.
Resorting to the same principle, this type of call bet will choose the numbers to bet on randomly rather than letting you decide on your own. Just like the name of the bet suggests, the entire betting decision is based on one’s luck as numbers are randomly chosen.
Some roulette versions offer this type of call bet under the name “Random 7”. Simply put, this betting feature will enable players to place seven chips on random numbers on the roulette table grid. The seven chips are either placed as straight-up bets or as splits, with players often ending up betting on more than seven random numbers.
If you play roulette online, you can also come across several live-dealer variations by Playtech, offering Lucky Dip call bets. Instead of placing seven random chips on the table, however, players will also have the chance to pick only five random positions or opt for a riskier game and place eight random bets. In this variation of roulette, the random bets are placed only as straight-ups. As the Lucky Dip call bets are typical straight-up or split bets, a correct guess will award the standard payout for straight-up or split bet.
Fixed and Variable Roulette Call Bets
Something players need to take into account before they opt for placing call bets is that they can be either fixed or variable. While variable call bets are concerned, instead of remaining the same, the numbers they cover will be determined by the preferences of players. Hence, an example of variable call bets will be Neighbours and Finals.
Fixed call bets, on the other hand, will invariably cover the same numbers. Such are Voisins du Zero bets, Jeu Zero bets, Orphelins bets, and Tiers du Cylindre bets.