How the Roulette Racetrack Layout Works — Neighbours Tiers and Orphans Explained

This page explains how the racetrack diagram works, why it mirrors the physical sequence of numbers on the wheel instead of the numerical order on the standard betting grid, and what each section of it represents. You’ll find a breakdown of the three fixed bets, each covering a set arc of the wheel, plus the variable neighbours bet, where you pick the pivot number yourself. A bet that looks scattered on the felt forms a clean, continuous run on the racetrack, and that’s the difference you need to understand to read any call bet correctly. By the end, you’ll be able to identify each section, know what numbers it covers, and follow how those bets are placed.

What the Racetrack Layout Is and Why It Exists

The racetrack is an oval diagram that shows all numbers in the exact order they appear on the physical wheel. That order is completely different from the sequential number grid on the standard betting layout. Because the racetrack mirrors the wheel, a player or croupier can identify and cover a continuous arc of adjacent pockets in one action, rather than hunting across a scattered grid. The racetrack is standard on European and French roulette tables and is usually absent from American tables, where the double-zero wheel uses a different number sequence and call bets aren’t part of the tradition. It’s a physical map of the wheel’s geography, nothing more. The sections below separate the fixed bets, whose coverage and chip composition are set in advance, from the variable bet, where you choose the pivot number freely.

The Inner Call-Bet Area Versus the Outer Neighbours Circuit

The racetrack has two functional zones. The inner area contains the labelled fixed section bets, each presented as a single named region that can be announced verbally or selected as one unit. The outer ring shows individual numbers in wheel order and is where you place the variable neighbours bet, picking any number as the pivot.

At a land-based casino, the racetrack sits beside the croupier and players can’t reach it directly. Bets are announced verbally, and the croupier places the chips on the main layout on your behalf. In online roulette, the racetrack is a clickable interface: select a region in the inner area or a number on the outer ring, and the software automatically places the correct chips across the relevant positions on the betting grid.

Why Wheel Order, Not Grid Order, Determines These Bets

Because the racetrack mirrors the physical sequence of numbers around the wheel, call bets group numbers that sit next to each other on the wheel. They’re not grouped by numerical value, colour, or any of the properties used to organise inside and outside bets on the standard grid.

The result is that any fixed call bet looks like a scattered, arbitrary set of numbers when you read it against the standard betting grid. Read it against the racetrack, and the same bet forms a continuous arc. That gap between how a bet looks on the felt and where it actually sits on the wheel is the most important thing to understand when reading call bets. Every bet described below is defined by its position on the wheel, so you need to think in wheel geography, not grid order.

Voisins du Zéro, The Largest Fixed Section Bet

Voisins du Zéro is the largest of the three fixed section bets on the racetrack. It covers a continuous arc of the single-zero wheel centred on zero, including zero itself. One announced call covers 17 numbers in a single action, which is the whole point of the racetrack’s design. Voisins du Zéro is the clearest example of that.

Numbers Covered and Wheel Position

Voisins du Zéro spans 17 consecutive numbers running from 22 to 25 along the wheel, passing through zero. In wheel order, those numbers are: 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25. That’s nearly half of the 37 pockets on the single-zero wheel. A few reference points help you locate the arc quickly on a physical wheel or racetrack diagram:

• Arc boundaries: the sector runs from 22 at one end to 25 at the other, in wheel order.
• Zero’s position: zero sits inside the covered range, not at either boundary. It’s the centre around which the arc is built.
• Total count: 17 pockets, making this the largest single continuous sector among the three fixed bets.

Chip Composition and Bet Placement

The bet requires 9 chips spread across a fixed combination of split bets, a corner bet, and a trio bet. None of this is adjustable; the pattern is standardised across European roulette tables. Because the total chip count is fixed at 9, any stake placed on Voisins du Zéro must be divisible by 9. Each chip represents one unit of that stake. The table below lists each component, its bet type, and how many chips it gets.

How Voisins du Zéro Sharpens Wheel Interpretation

Once you know Voisins du Zéro is a fixed 17-number arc, an announced call bet at a live table becomes much easier to read. The announcement isn’t shorthand for a vague region. It identifies exactly which wheel sector is covered and exactly how the chips are distributed.

This also explains what the chip stacks on the felt actually represent. Five splits, one corner, and one trio produce an uneven pattern when you read it against the numbered grid, because the grid is organised by number sequence, not wheel geography. Read it against the wheel, and the same placement forms a coherent arc. Once you know the fixed composition, you can look at the felt after a Voisins placement and immediately understand why chips appear where they do.

Tiers du Cylindre, The Third of the Wheel

Tiers du Cylindre covers the arc of the wheel directly opposite zero, forming the large counterpart to Voisins du Zéro on the other side. Some casinos label it “small series” or “series 5–8,” but the bet is identical regardless of the name. Unlike Voisins, which mixes split bets, a corner, and a trio, Tiers is structurally uniform: every component is a split, with no straight-up, corner, or trio bets. If you think of Voisins and Tiers as two large opposing arcs, the Orphelins numbers are simply everything left over, belonging to neither arc.

Numbers, Splits, and Chip Structure

Tiers du Cylindre covers 12 numbers on the arc running from 27 to 33, on the side of the wheel opposite zero. The bet is placed as exactly 6 split bets, requiring 6 chips in total, so any scaled stake must be divisible by 6. Because every component is a split, a winning number always produces the same result: the winning split pays 17:1, returning 18 chips on the one chip placed there while the other five chips are lost, for a net gain of 12 chips on the 6-chip stake.

The six splits that make up the bet are:

• Split 1: 5 and 8
• Split 2: 10 and 11
• Split 3: 13 and 16
• Split 4: 23 and 24
• Split 5: 27 and 30
• Split 6: 33 and 36

Variant Structures Built on the Tiers Base

A named variant called Gioco Ferrari extends the standard Tiers structure by adding straight-up bets on four numbers within the Tiers arc: 8, 11, 23, and 30. This turns the 6-chip split-only arrangement into a 10-chip mixed structure that combines the original six splits with four additional straight-up placements. At tables where this variant is available, it’s sometimes marked on the racetrack with a red letter G to separate it from the standard Tiers label. In practice, a Tiers bet isn’t identical across all tables: a croupier placing “Tiers” at one venue may be placing a different chip count and composition than at another. Checking for the Gioco Ferrari marker, or its absence, is the reliable way to confirm which structure is actually being placed.

Orphelins, The Numbers Left Behind

Orphelins covers the 8 numbers on the single-zero wheel that belong to neither Voisins du Zéro nor Tiers du Cylindre. Where those two bets each occupy a single unbroken arc, Orphelins is the only fixed section bet that spans two separate, non-continuous arcs on opposite sides of the wheel. That two-arc structure is what sets it apart from the other fixed bets. Once you understand all three fixed bets, they account for every pocket on the single-zero wheel exactly once, with no overlaps and no gaps.

The Two Arcs and Their Numbers

Orphelins is built from two wheel arcs that don’t connect to each other: one arc with 3 numbers and one with 5, for a combined total of 8 pockets. The list below maps each arc onto the wheel in the order the numbers appear around it.

• First arc (3 numbers in wheel order): 17, 34, 6
• Second arc (5 numbers in wheel order): 1, 20, 14, 31, 9

Standard and Straight-Up Variants Compared

The standard Orphelins bet, known as Orphelins en Cheval, uses 5 chips spread across one straight-up and four split bets. A variant, Orphelins en Plein, replaces every split with a straight-up, requiring 8 chips in total. Both versions cover the same 8 pockets, but the stake is distributed differently, which changes the payout depending on which number lands. The table below sets out both variants side by side.

The Neighbours Bet, The Variable Call Bet

The neighbours bet is the only call bet on the racetrack whose coverage isn’t fixed in advance. You pick any single number on the wheel, and the bet extends symmetrically outward from that pivot to include a set number of pockets on each side. Voisins du Zéro, Tiers du Cylindre, and Orphelins each cover a predetermined set of numbers that can’t be moved. The neighbours bet has no such constraint, because the pivot goes wherever you put it. This is how you build a custom wheel sector instead of accepting one of the three predefined arcs.

Standard Composition and Sector Width Variants

The standard neighbours bet covers five consecutive wheel numbers, placing one straight-up chip on each: the chosen pivot number and the two pockets immediately to its left and right on the wheel. The total stake is five chips, each independently eligible for the standard straight-up payout. At some online and electronic tables, you can adjust the sector width, narrowing coverage to three numbers or extending it to seven. In every case, the chip count matches the sector size exactly, because each position gets exactly one straight-up bet. A wider sector spreads the same concept across more pockets with a proportionally larger total stake.

How Neighbours Bets Are Placed and Combined

At a land-based casino, you announce the neighbours bet verbally to the croupier, who places the required chips on the standard betting layout on your behalf. In online roulette, you click the pivot number on the outer ring of the racetrack interface, and the software distributes the chips automatically. Neighbours bets are often combined with fixed section bets in a single spoken announcement at live tables, and at some tables a croupier treats “and the neighbours” as implied when a player calls a specific number without further detail. Knowing this convention helps you correctly parse a compound spoken call and avoid misreading the total stake or the numbers in play.

Fixed Versus Variable Call Bets, Reading the Racetrack at a Glance

The racetrack organises its call bets into two categories: three fixed section bets whose coverage and chip composition are set and can’t be repositioned, and one variable bet where you select the pivot number and the bet extends symmetrically from there. Together, the three fixed bets account for every pocket on the single-zero wheel exactly once. On a single-zero European wheel, the house edge on all racetrack call bets is 2.70%, the same as any other single-zero bet, because the racetrack changes only how bets are placed, not their underlying probability. That uniform edge applies regardless of which category a bet falls into or how many chips it requires.

Side-by-Side Reference of the Four Call Bets

The table below presents every call bet on the racetrack across the same dimensions, giving you a single reference you can read against the racetrack diagram without going back to each bet’s individual description. The composition column summarises the bet types used within each bet; chip counts and pocket coverage come from the facts established earlier in this article.