Roulette is an appealing table game for many reasons. It is quick to play, the rules are easy to understand and there are quite a few betting options available. In this blog post, Gambling Zone will look at the imprisonment bet in detail. This is a special type of bet that you can only find in some roulette games.
Explaining the Imprisonment Rule
Imprisonment also goes by the name of ‘en prison’. Technically speaking, it is not a bet that you place, but a rule that affects some of roulette’s bets. There are only two versions of roulette that use the rule: European and French. In these games, the wheel has a total of 37 pockets: numbers 1-36 and 0.
You will not find imprisonment in games of American roulette, whose wheel has 38 pockets (1-36, 0 and 00). The imprisonment rule works in a straightforward way and can be beneficial. It involves even money bets, i.e. the red/black, odd/even and low/high bets, all of which have a 1:1 payout.
If you place an even money bet and 0 is the winning number, the imprisonment rule comes into effect. What then happens is that your bet remains in play (or ‘in prison’, which is what ‘en prison’ means) for the next round. On the subsequent spin, if your even money bet wins, you get your initial wager back; if your bet loses, you lose your wager.
The imprisonment rule therefore makes even money bets less risky to place. If the rule is not in place, an outcome of 0 results in a loss for any even money bet. When the rule is in place, you may end up getting your wager back, which is better than losing it altogether.
It is worth pointing out that if your bet is ‘in prison’ and the next spin produces a 0, what happens next depends on the game’s rules. In some roulette games, a 0 results in the imprisonment rule coming into effect again; in others, a 0 makes you win or lose your bet.
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How Does Imprisonment Compare to La Partage?
How Does Imprisonment Compare to La Partage
Imprisonment is similar to la partage (French for ‘the sharing’). Only one of these rules can be in play at a time; no roulette game uses both of them. With la partage, whenever 0 is the winning number, you get half of your even money bet back.
La partage is a simpler rule than imprisonment since it does not involve your bet applying to the next spin. All it does is make a losing even money bet have less of an impact on your finances. It softens the blow, so to speak, by letting you keep half of the original wager.
What is also worth mentioning is RTP, which is a game’s long-term average payout. When either imprisonment or la partage is in effect, the RTP of even money bets increases from 97.3% to 98.65%. This means that even money bets are slightly better since you should, in theory, lose less money over
Where to Find Roulette Games With the Imprisonment Rule
If you want to see the imprisonment rule in action for yourself, join one of the best roulette sites that Gambling Zone has recommended. At any of these, you should find at least one roulette game that has the imprisonment rule in play. Look for European and French versions of the game.
Check the game’s description and you might find a mention of the imprisonment rule there. If not, load the game and read its paytable. This explains the game’s rules, payouts and features in full detail. It should mention the imprisonment rule if it is a part of the game.
If there is no mention of imprisonment anywhere, it is most likely not one of the game’s rules. There are plenty of roulette games - both digital and live - that have the rule in effect. You should find one of them in no time at all.
