Exotic Alternatives: 'Announce' Bets in Roulette

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When Martingale seems tiresome and Fibonacci's a chore, it's time to refresh your Roulette repertoire with 'announce bets', otherwise known as 'the French bets'. They can also be wrongly labelled as 'call bets'. In the UK, this specifically refers to bets made without the cash to back them up. The concept behind them is simple. A player calls the bet name to the dealer, hands over the relevant number of chips to cover the cost, and the dealer places the bet on the requested series of numbers. The bets a player can choose from are...

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Jeu Zéro (aka 'Zero Game', 'Zero Spiel' or 'the German Bet')

Arguably more German than French, zero spiel is a four chip (or a multiple thereof) bet on the numbers closest to zero, split as follows:

• One chip on the 0/3 split
• One on 12/15
• One on 32/35
• One on 26 straight up

On average, jeu zéro bets win 18.9% of the time, and should be considered a tactic only for risk-takers.

Voisins du Zéro (aka 'Neighbours of Zero')

An expanded version of the German bet, Voisins maximises win potential by covering a larger section of the wheel. Nine chips (or multiples thereof) are used to cover a total of 17 numbers as follows:

• Two chips on the 0, 2, 3 trio
• Two on the 25, 26, 28, 29 corner
• One on the 4/7 split
• One on 12/15
• One on 18/21
• One on 19/22
• One on 32/35

Maximum wins may be much smaller than the German bet, proportional to the amount staked, but the overall win percentage should average 45.9%. That's only marginally less than a bet on red/black or odds/evens, which have a win probability of 47.37%, and it's got a lot more panache!

Tiers du Cylindre (aka 'Thirds of the Wheel')

A bet for contrarians who want to stay as far away from the zero as possible, the 'third of the wheel' in question runs through the stretch of numbers from 33 to 27 and takes six chips:

• One chip on the 5/8 split
• One on 10/11
• One on 13/16
• One on 23/24
• One on 27/30
• One on 33/36

The odds of success with the Tiers is 32%, with potential winnings always three times the value of the initial bet, making the house edge the same as with red/black or Voisins. Although there's a larger chance of a series of losses.

Orphelins (aka 'Orphans')

As the name implies, these are the numbers neither around nor opposite the zero, and take up two areas on either side of the wheel. This announced bet takes five chips as follows:

• One chip on 1
• One chip on the 6/9 split
• One on 14/17
• One on 17/20
• One on 31/34

There's an average 24.3% success rate with Orphelins, but volatility is high and gamblers can easily be left hoping for that big win to recoup losses, so this is another tactic that's not for the faint-hearted.

Not all casinos, even the newest online casinos, accept 'announced bets', and when they do, it will normally be on a European, Single Zero Roulette table. So it pays to do the research before bamboozling an unsuspecting dealer.