French Roulette: La Partage and En Prison — The Best Even-Money Rules in Roulette

French roulette uses the same 37-pocket single-zero wheel as European roulette, but adds two rules that dramatically improve the odds on even-money bets: La Partage and En Prison. These rules apply when the ball lands on zero — the one pocket that normally causes all outside bets to lose.

La Partage: Half Back on Zero

Under the La Partage rule ("the sharing"), when the ball lands on 0, all even-money bets (red/black, odd/even, high/low) lose only half their stake instead of the full amount. The other half is returned to the player. This is automatic — no decision required.

The mathematical impact is significant. On a standard European wheel, even-money bets have a house edge of 2.70% (losing on 1 out of 37 spins). With La Partage, the loss on zero is halved, reducing the effective house edge to 1.35% — the lowest house edge available on any standard roulette bet.

En Prison: A Second Chance

The En Prison rule ("in prison") is an alternative to La Partage offered at some tables. When zero hits, even-money bets are not collected — instead, they are placed "en prison" (marked on the table). On the next spin, if the imprisoned bet wins, the full stake is returned (but no winnings are paid). If it loses, the stake is collected. If zero hits again, the bet remains imprisoned for another spin (or is lost, depending on the house rules).

The expected value of En Prison is mathematically equivalent to La Partage — a 1.35% house edge on even-money bets. The difference is psychological: La Partage gives you immediate partial recovery, while En Prison gives you a binary second chance. Most players prefer La Partage for its simplicity.

Which Bets Are Affected?

La Partage and En Prison apply only to even-money bets: Red/Black, Odd/Even, and High/Low (1–18 / 19–36). Inside bets (straight-up, split, street, corner, six-line) and other outside bets (dozens, columns) are not affected — they lose normally when zero hits, with the standard 2.70% European house edge.

Strategy Implications

The 1.35% house edge on even-money bets makes French roulette the best variant for guard bet strategies. When using the simulator's guard/main split approach, placing guard bets on a French table means your safety net costs half as much in expected value compared to European roulette, and nearly four times less than American roulette.

For bankroll management, the reduced house edge means longer sessions and slower bankroll erosion. A player with a 500-unit bankroll placing 10-unit even-money bets can expect roughly twice as many spins before depletion on a French table compared to an American table.

How the Simulator Handles La Partage

When you select the French variant in the simulator, the La Partage rule is automatically applied. If the spin result is 0, any even-money bets (red/black, odd/even, high/low) return half their stake to your bankroll or profit pool. The spin result display will show the La Partage recovery amount separately so you can track its impact on your session.

For a comparison of all three roulette variants and when to use each, see Choosing the Right Roulette Variant. For the mathematics behind the house edge on all wheels, see European vs American Roulette: How the Single Zero Changes Everything.