Roulette Terms

Roulette Terms from A to Z

If you want to become a true master of roulette, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the terms you can see below.

Once you learn the roulette lingo, you may consider yourself a bit of an expert and you’ll definitely enjoy the game more.

• A

American Roulette – an American variant of roulette, popular in the USA and the Caribbean which has a double-zero pocket besides the standard zero. This variant has 38 pockets unlike European roulette which has 37 (36 + zero).

• B

Backtrack – the outer rim of the roulette wheel where the ball is spun.
Bankroll – the amount of money the player has for betting.
Biased Wheel – a term which describes a wheel with a flaw where certain numbers appear more frequently than it’s probable.
Black Bet – betting that the number in the next spin will be black.
Bottom Track – the inner rim of the roulette wheel where the ball slides before bouncing into the pockets.

• C

Carr – French term for the corner bet.
Cheval – French term for a split bet.
Colonne – French term for Column Bet.
Column Bet – betting on one of the three available columns. Usually pays 2:1.
Croupier – casino employee also called the dealer (bank).




• D

Double Zero – a term for the 00 pocket on American roulette.
Dozen Bet – placing a bet on three of the available group numbers (1-12, 13-24 or 25-36).
Derniere – a French term for a bet on the last group of numbers (25-36).

• E

En Plein – a French term for the Straight Up bet.
En Prison – this is French for “In prison”. This rule only applies to even-money bets. When the outcome of the spin turns out to be zero, the player’s money is “imprisoned”, awaiting another spin. If the outcome of that spin is another zero, the player loses all their wager.
European Wheel – a term for the European roulette variant which has a single zero pocket.
Even Money – a wager on odds of 1:1. Odd/Even, Red/Black, and High/Low usually pay even money.

• F

Fibonacci System – a progressive roulette betting system where each bet is a combination of the two previous winning numbers.
Five Number Bet – betting on a group of five numbers (0,00,1,2, and 3), only common for American roulette.
Flat Bettor – a player who bets the same amount every time.
French Bet – a common bet for high-rollers in European casinos which covers more groups of numbers all at once.

• G

Gaffed Wheel – a colloquial term for a rigged roulette wheel.
Golden Numbers – a group of numbers have hit out of proportion in terms of probability.

• H

High Bet – an even money bet on the top half of numbers (19-36).
House Edge – the mathematical advantage the casino has over players. European roulette has a house edge of 2.70%, while the American variant has 5.26%.

• I

Impair – a French term for the Odd bet.
Inside Bet – betting on the numbered area of the roulette wheel.



• L

La Partage – a rule of European roulette where the player can lose half of his even-money stake and doesn’t have the option of leaving the ball “En Prison” for the next spin.
Line Bet – a bet made on a line of six numbers.
Low Bet – bet made on the lower numbers (1-18).

• M

Manque – a French term for a low bet.
Marker – device used by the croupier to mark the winning number.
Martingale System – a roulette betting system in which the player doubles up his bets after a loss.
Mini Roulette – an online casino roulette variant which features 13 numbers (0-12). The odds are adjusted due to the lower numbers.

• N

No Action – a call by the croupier which cancels all bets and repeats the action.
Noir – a French term for a black bet.
Non-value Chip – a term for a chip whose value depends on the number of chips taken and the amount of a buy-in.

• O

Orphans – betting on 6, 17, and 34, numbers which are far apart on the layout, but neighbours on the wheel.
Orphelins – similar to the Orphans bet, it’s betting on a specific group of numbers far apart on the layout, but neighbours on the wheel.
Outside Bet – betting on the outside (felt) layout on the table before the wheel.

• P

Pair – a French term for even bets.
Parlay – a roulette betting system with which a player doubles the bet for the next spin.
Passe – a French term for High bets.
Pinching – a colloquial term describing the illegal removal of chips from the table after the ball has landed.
Pocket – This is an area on the roulette wheel where the ball can land.



• Q

Quarter – betting on four numbers, usually a square or corner bet.

• R

Red Bet – betting on a red number.

• S

Six Line – a bet on two adjacent rows of numbers that covers a total of six numbers. Usually pays out 5:1.
Sixainne – this is French for Six Line Bet.
Split – this is an inside bet made by the player when he places a chip on a line between two numbers, usually pays outs 17:1.
Straight Up – a bet made on a single number. Has traditional odds of 35:1.
Street – a bet made on 3 numbers.

• T

Tiers du Cylindre – French for thirf of the wheel, betting on a specific group of neighboring numbers on the layout.
Transversale – a French term for a straight bet.

• V

Voisins du Zero – French for “Neighbors of zero”, betting on a group of numbers neighboring the zero.

• W

Wheel Clocking – a term which describes carefully watching the wheel to see if there’s any bias.
Wheel Roller – another term for the croupier.

• Z

Zero – the term for the 0 pocket on the roulette wheel.