Looking to shake up your roulette game a little? Hit the racetrack and discover the unique orphelins roulette bet, whose five bets cover eight numbers in one click. Curious? Let’s go!

What Are Orphelins?

Orphelins, from the French meaning ‘orphans’, are a set of nine numbers on the roulette wheel. A standard European Roulette wheel is split into sectors, each of which has a French name: tiers du cylindre (thirds), voisins du zéro (for the neighbours bet), and orphelins. While the voisins du zéro are the 17 numbers closest to 0, and the tiers du cylindre are the 12 numbers opposite the 0, the roulette orphelins sector contains the eight remaining numbers.

What Are The Orphelins Numbers?

The orphelins numbers are 1, 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31, and 34. On the roulette wheel, they are split into 2 sections of five and three numbers: 1, 9, 14, 20, and 31 to the left of the 0, and 6, 17, and 34 to the right of the 0.

Where Are Orphelins on the Roulette Table?

European Roulette Special Pro game with the orphelins numbers of 1, 6, 9, 14, 20, 31, and 34 on the roulette table.

The eight orphelins numbers are spread across the roulette table. 1, 31, and 34 are in the first column, 14, 17, and 20 are in the second column, and 6 and 9 are in the third column. Since the orphelins are based on the position of the numbers on the roulette wheel, they don’t correspond to any particular pattern or order on the roulette table.

Rules of the Orphelins Bet

As you might have noticed from the image above, the orphelins bet isn’t a collection of straight up bets on all involved numbers. According to roulette rules, it covers eight numbers in just five bets as follows:

Numbers Bet type 
Straight up 
6, 9 Split 
14, 17 Split 
17, 20 Split 
31, 34 Split 

As you can see, most of the bets covering the orphelins in roulette are actually splits, with a straight up bet on number 1. One of the big benefits of playing the orphelins is the extra chance on the number 17: roulette orphelins rules mean this number is actually covered twice!

How To Place The Orphelins Bet

Oval-shaped Roulette racetrack of numbers with the orphelins section in the centre

Sector bets like the orphelins bet are referred to as call bets because in land-based casinos, they can only be placed by the croupier on request. When playing online roulette, however, you can place the orphelins bet manually, by betting on all the involved numbers, but that kind of defeats the quickfire nature of the bet! The orphelins bet is best placed via the racetrack: an oval-shaped representation of the roulette wheel that allows you to quickly place call bets.

Placing the orphelins bet simply involves choosing your chip value, then clicking on the orphelins section on the racetrack. Since the orphelins bet involves five different bets, the total bet amount will be your selected chip value x5, eg. with a £1 chip value, the total bet amount will be £5. When you’re done, click to spin the wheel.

Orphelins Payouts

The orphelins bet consists of one straight up bet and four split bets, with roulette orphelins odds paying 35/1 for straight up bets and 17/1 for split bets. So if you place an orphelins bet and number 1 comes up, you’ll get 35x the chip value. If 20 comes up, you’ll get 17x the chip value, as the 20 is covered by a split bet. Finally, if 17 comes up, that’s a bit special as it’s covered by two split bets, so you’ll get 35x the chip value for that one.

Try the Roulette Orphelins Bet

The roulette orphelins bet is a great way to cover eight numbers on the roulette wheel in a single click. It’s a popular part of roulette strategy as it’s technically five bets in one and is focused on areas of the wheel rather than areas of the roulette table. Look for the racetrack or special bets menu next time you play European or French Roulette and try the orphelins bet for yourself.

FAQs

How do you place an orphelins bet?

The orphelins bet is placed by selecting your chip value then clicking the centre sector of the racetrack. It is sometimes found within a special bets menu. Alternatively, you can place the five bets manually.

Which numbers are covered in an orphelins bet?

The eight numbers that make up the orphelins bet are 1, 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31, and 34. The five bets on these include a straight up bet on number 1 and splits on 6/9, 14/17, 17/20, and 31/34.

How much does the orphelins bet pay out?

Orphelins bet payouts depend on the winning number. The number 1 straight bet pays 35/1, while the split bets pay 17/1. The exception is 17, which is covered by two split bets and therefore pays 35/1.

Sarah McIver

Sarah McIver

Sarah is a veteran copywriter for the gambling industry with experience spanning more than two decades. When she's not immersed in the world of wordcraft, she can usually be found playing retro video games, slicing colourful blocks in VR or teasing her cheeky but loveable cat.