Call Bets in Roulette Explained: The Advanced Wagering Options You Should Know
Walk into a high-limit roulette room in Monte Carlo or Macau and you will hear the croupier announce bets in French — names like Voisins du Zéro, Jeu Zéro, and Le Tiers du Cylindre. These are call bets, sometimes written as "announced bets," and they represent a layer of roulette strategy that most casual players never explore. Understanding them does not transform roulette from a game of chance into a game of skill — the house edge remains what it is — but it does open up a more sophisticated way of interacting with the wheel, one that experienced players find genuinely engaging.
What Exactly Is a Call Bet?
A call bet is a bet that covers a specific, predetermined group of numbers on the roulette wheel rather than on the felt layout. The crucial distinction is that these groups are defined by where the numbers sit on the physical wheel, not by how they are arranged on the betting grid. When you place a standard inside bet, you are choosing numbers based on their position on the table. When you make a call bet, you are essentially betting on a section of the spinning cylinder itself.
The terminology can be slightly confusing because "call bet" and "announced bet" are used interchangeably in many casinos, yet some establishments draw a technical distinction between the two. Strictly speaking, an announced bet is one where the player verbally declares the bet before placing chips, and the croupier acknowledges it before the ball drops. A call bet, in the strictest traditional sense, is one where a player calls the bet out loud and the casino effectively extends credit until the round is settled. In practice, most modern casinos treat both terms as the same thing and require chips to be present before play concludes.
Call bets are a feature of European and French roulette, which use a single-zero wheel. You will not typically find them offered at American roulette tables, partly because the double-zero wheel changes the mathematical structure of the sections, and partly because the tradition around them is rooted firmly in European casino culture.
The Racetrack: Where Call Bets Live
Most European roulette tables — both physical and online — feature an oval or ellipse-shaped auxiliary betting area known as the racetrack. This is a miniature representation of the wheel itself, with numbers arranged in the same order as they appear on the cylinder. Rather than being grouped by value, the racetrack arranges numbers in their true wheel sequence: 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25, 17, 34, 6, 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, 33, 1, 20, 14, 31, 9, 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26 — and then back to 0.
The racetrack is where you place call bets visually. Each of the standard sections is marked on it, and many digital roulette versions allow you to click directly onto the racetrack to place an entire call bet with a single action. Understanding the racetrack is half the battle; once you see the wheel laid out flat, the logic behind each named section becomes immediately clear.
The Four Main Call Bets
There are four classic call bets that appear on virtually every European roulette racetrack. Each covers a specific arc of the wheel and requires a different number of chips to place.
Voisins du Zéro (Neighbours of Zero) is the largest of the standard call bets, covering the 17 numbers that sit on either side of the green zero pocket on the wheel: 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, and 25. It requires nine chips to place and involves a combination of splits, a corner, and a trio bet. Because it covers nearly half the wheel and includes the zero itself, it is the most comprehensive single call bet available.
Le Tiers du Cylindre (A Third of the Wheel) covers 12 numbers on the opposite side of the wheel from the zero: 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, and 33. Six chips are required, placed as six split bets across these pairs. Tiers is popular because it costs fewer chips than Voisins while still covering a substantial arc of the wheel — and it tends to hit reasonably often given its breadth.
Orphelins (Orphans) covers the two small arcs of the wheel that are left uncovered by Voisins and Tiers — the numbers that are, as the name suggests, orphaned from the two main sections. These are 17, 34, 6 on one side and 1, 20, 14, 31, 9 on the other, making eight numbers in total. Five chips are needed: one straight-up bet on 1 and four split bets covering the remaining numbers. Orphelins bettors are backing the sections of the wheel that other call-bet players tend to ignore.
Jeu Zéro (Zero Game) is a compact subset of Voisins du Zéro, focusing on the seven numbers closest to the zero: 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, and 15. It requires four chips — three split bets and one straight-up bet on 26. Players who want exposure to the zero neighbourhood without committing nine chips to the full Voisins bet often favour Jeu Zéro as a more economical alternative.
Neighbours Bets: A Flexible Extension
Beyond the four named sections, many roulette tables offer what is simply called a "neighbours" bet — sometimes written as "X and the neighbours." This is not a fixed group but a customisable bet where you choose any number on the wheel and automatically cover the two numbers immediately to its left and the two immediately to its right, giving you five numbers in total for five chips. If you back 17 and its neighbours, for instance, you are also covering 25, 34, 6, and 2, because those are the adjacent wheel positions.
Neighbours bets give players more personal control over which part of the wheel they are targeting. Some players use them based on where the ball has been landing recently — a form of sector targeting that has no proven mathematical basis but remains a popular and harmless way to engage with the game more actively.
How Call Bets Affect the House Edge
This is the part that deserves honest discussion. Call bets do not reduce the house edge in European roulette; that figure remains a fixed 2.7% on every standard bet. Because call bets are essentially combinations of standard inside bets, each individual wager within them carries the same house advantage as it would if placed separately. The sophistication of the call bet lies in the convenience and the wheel-based logic of the grouping, not in any mathematical advantage it delivers to the player.
Where things get slightly more nuanced is in French roulette variants that apply the La Partage or En Prison rules, which return half a stake or allow it to ride when the ball lands on zero — but these rules typically apply only to even-money bets, not to call bets. So while a standard red/black bet benefits from these rules, your Voisins du Zéro wager generally does not, which is something worth bearing in mind.
Playing Call Bets Online
Online casinos have made call bets significantly more accessible than they once were. A decade ago, you needed to be sitting at a physical table to access the racetrack and make these wagers; today, most RNG-based European roulette games and virtually all live dealer roulette tables feature a racetrack overlay. Players who enjoy both the traditional call-bet structure and the atmosphere of live play will find a wide selection at platforms like Casinohipay.be, where European and French roulette variants come with full racetrack functionality in the live casino lobby. The digital interface actually helps beginners learn call bets faster, since hovering over a section on the racetrack typically highlights all the numbers it covers on the main grid simultaneously — a visual aid that is impossible at a physical table.
When playing online, it is worth checking whether the minimum bet per chip applies to each individual component of the call bet or to the overall stake. Because Voisins du Zéro requires nine chips and involves multiple bet types, the minimum effective stake can be higher than it first appears. Reading the game's pay table and rules before playing is always time well spent.
Practical Tips for Players New to Call Bets
Starting with Jeu Zéro or a simple neighbours bet is a sensible approach if you are unfamiliar with the racetrack. Both are easier to track visually and require fewer chips than Voisins, so mistakes are less costly while you learn. As you grow comfortable, layering Tiers alongside Jeu Zéro is a common combination — together they cover a large portion of the wheel while leaving the Orphelins section exposed, which some players then cover separately for comprehensive wheel coverage.
It is also worth being aware of bankroll management. Call bets, because they involve multiple chips placed simultaneously, can deplete a session bankroll more quickly than straightforward even-money betting. Setting a session limit before you begin and treating call bets as occasional features rather than your primary betting strategy will help keep the experience enjoyable and sustainable.
Why Bother Learning Them?
There is a genuine pleasure in understanding the geometry of a roulette wheel — in recognising that the numbers are not randomly scattered around the cylinder but arranged in a specific, carefully considered order. Call bets are built entirely on that arrangement. Learning them transforms the wheel from a spinning blur of red and black into something legible, a circle divided into meaningful arcs that you can think about and choose between.
That intellectual engagement is, arguably, the real value call bets offer. The house edge is not going anywhere, but the experience of playing European roulette with a working knowledge of Voisins, Tiers, Orphelins, and Jeu Zéro is a richer one than simply placing chips on red and hoping. For players who enjoy roulette as a long-term pastime rather than a casual punt, that richness is worth every minute spent learning the racetrack.