In most high stakes roulette games, you’re likely to see some bets that aren’t normally found at your local $10 minimum roulette table. Many of these bets fall into the realm of call bets — wagers that are made simply by announcing what the player wishes to bet on, rather than having the player actually place all of their bets manually. Since most croupiers (especially those who regularly work with high rollers) know what all of the common call bets mean, this makes it simple for players to wager in complex combinations without causing confusion.
Although the subject of call bets might seem a little confusing, it’s actually pretty simple to figure out what most of the frequently used call bets are, as well as how these bets actually work. Once you’ve got a handle on roulette call bets, you can even try making one, as long as you play at a casino where the staff is familiar with them!
Call Bets vs. Announced Bets
Before we get into exactly what these bets are, it’s important to understand the difference between a call bet and an announced bet. In a call bet, the player isn’t required to actually place any money on the table; the player simply announces his or her wager, and then the croupier marks the bet for them. In other words, with a call bet, the casino is actually extending credit to the player each time that bet is made.
In most cases, you won’t see people make true call bets. In some areas of the world, such as in the UK, it’s actually illegal to allow players to place bets on credit, making these bets impossible. Many other casinos will feel uncomfortable extending credit instantly at the roulette table, even if it is legal for them to do so.
Instead, most high rollers today make what are known as announced bets. These bets still allow the player to call out their bet. However, the player must immediately place enough money on the table in order to cover the cost of the bet in order to guarantee it will be accepted. This is still simpler for the player than making a complex series of bets, as they will not have to place the money on each individual spot on the table they wish to bet on; they simply must have the money on the table in order to make the bet.
Functionally, call bets and announced bets are identical, at least for our purposes. In both cases, the basic idea is that players are calling out bets rather than betting by placing chips on individual spots on the table layout.
Types of Call Bets
To be completely accurate, any bet on the table can be a call bet. It doesn’t seem to make much sense to call out the fact that you want to bet on red or an individual number, however; since there is some risk of your bet not being accepted (a call or announced bet is only valid when and if the croupier acknowledges it), simple bets are probably best made by placing your bets on the table as normal.
That means that when people talk about call bets, they’re usually talking about the kinds of bets that cover unusual patterns of numbers — those which would be cumbersome for a player to bet on without the croupier’s help.
Some of the most common call bets are the famous French bets. You’ll actually see a place on the layout for the French bets on some European roulette tables (sometimes called French roulette tables), though it’s still common to ask the croupier to handle these bets for the player.
French bets are known for covering certain portions of the wheel, based on the way that the numbers are ordered starting from the zero. Some of the most common French bets include:
Voisins du zéro: This “neighbors of zero” bet uses nine chips to cover 17 different numbers that lie between 22 and 25 on the wheel — all of the numbers closest to zero on the wheel. Those are 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25 (it only concerns the single zero wheel, as the double zero wheel layout is completely different).
With regards to the table layout, the bets would be the following:
Voisins du Nombre (Number Neighbors Bet/Neighbors bet)
This is a 5 chip bet, which you place on five numbers. It is like a straight up bet though you also bet on the neighboring numbers. If you want to bet, you just “call” the number you want to male the wager on. For example, if you say “number 24 and the neighbors by $10”, it means that you are betting on number 24 as well as 33, 16, 5 and 10. Your total bet will be $50, as the a $10 bet is placed on each if the 5 numbers.
Jeu zéro: The “zero game” covers just seven numbers, and uses four chips. This covers just the numbers very closest to zero.
Le tiers du cylindre: This bet covers the 12 numbers that lie farthest away from the zero, and does so by making bets with six different chips. It covers the numbers between 27 and 33: 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33.
Orphelins: The orphans bet is made up of the last eight numbers that aren’t covered by the above bets. Usually, this is done using five chips.
These numbers are located between the Tiers and the Voisins. There are two sets of the Orphelins: 17, 34, 6 and 1, 20, 14, 31, 9.
Another popular call bet is the “final bet.” In a final bet, players wager on every number that ends in the same digit. For instance, a call bet of “final 3″ would place bets on 3, 13, 23 and 33, and cost four chips to do so.
Finally, you’ll sometimes see high rollers make what is known as a full complete (or maximum) bet. This bet maximizes the amount of money that can be wagered on a single number by reaching the table maximum not only on playing that single number, but also the splits, corners, street and six line best that include that number. These bets can often cost up to 40 chips to complete, with each “chip” representing the table maximum on a straight-up bet! However, the rewards are also huge if that number should be hit: for a bet that costs 40 chips, a win on that number produces a prize of 392 chips (with smaller wins possible for hitting nearby numbers on the layout).
