Neighbours bet in roulette

How a neighbours bet in roulette works

A neighbours bet lets you back a small slice of the wheel centred on any number you like. You name a number, and you get a straight-up bet on it plus straight-ups on the two pockets either side of it in wheel order. The Wikipedia roulette article (opens in a new tab) gives the standard example: zero and its neighbours means 3, 26, 0, 32 and 15.

Unlike voisins du zéro, tiers or orphelins, which always cover the same fixed sections, a neighbours bet moves with your choice. That makes it the most flexible of the roulette call bets. It is also the simplest, because every chip is a straight-up paying 35 to 1.

Neighbours bet examples on a single-zero wheel

The neighbours of a number have nothing to do with the table grid. They depend only on the order of pockets around the wheel: 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, then back to 0.

Because the wheel wraps round, numbers next to zero borrow neighbours from both ends of the sequence. Take 26: its two neighbours on one side are 3 and 35, and on the other side 0 and 32.

Neighbours bet payout and odds

When one of your five numbers lands, that chip wins 35 to 1 and comes back with its winnings: 36 chips. The other four chips lose. On a five-chip stake, that is a net win of 31 chips. When none of the five lands, you lose all five.

The maths is clean: 5 × 36 ÷ 37 = 4.865 chips back per 5 staked, a 2.70% shortfall. Wizard of Odds’ sector bets page (opens in a new tab) gives the same 2.70% house edge for neighbours, along with the other classic call bets.

Three, five and seven-chip neighbours bets

Five chips is the usual size, but Wizard of Odds notes that neighbours bets can be three or seven units at some online and electronic games. A three-chip bet covers one neighbour each side; a seven-chip bet covers three each side. Check the racetrack settings or help screen to see which size a game uses before you click.

Wider bets hit more often but pay a little less net, and cost more per spin because more chips are in play. The percentage edge does not move. This is a good illustration of volatility: you are choosing how bumpy the ride is, not how expensive it is in percentage terms.

How to place a neighbours bet online and at the table

1. Open a European or French table with a racetrack; neighbours bets use the single-zero wheel order.
2. Check the help screen or racetrack setting for how many neighbours each side the game uses.
3. Pick your chip value; the total stake is that value times the number of chips (usually five).
4. Click your chosen centre number on the racetrack. Chips appear on that number and its neighbours on the main layout.
5. Check the five highlighted numbers and the bet total, then confirm or wait for the spin.

At a land-based table, say the number followed by “and the neighbours”, plus the chip value, for example “seventeen and the neighbours by a pound”, and hand over five chips. The croupier places them for you. Online, the re-bet button repeats your last bet; autoplay is banned on UK casino games.

Overlapping neighbours bets

You can place more than one neighbours bet, and if the centres are close together the bets overlap. Overlapping numbers carry two chips and pay double, but you have not gained anything: you have simply concentrated more money on fewer pockets.

Take neighbours of 0 and neighbours of 26 at £1 a chip. Between them they cover only six numbers (35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15), with 3, 26, 0 and 32 each carrying two chips. A hit on one of those four returns £72 on a £10 stake (+£62); a hit on 35 or 15 returns £36 (+£26). The average return is (4 × 72 + 2 × 36) ÷ 37 = £9.73, so the cost is still 2.70%. Our expected value guide explains how to run the same check on any combination.

Does it matter which number you pick?

Not for your chances. Every group of five neighbouring pockets has exactly the same 5 in 37 chance of catching the ball on a fair wheel. Many players choose a centre number for personal reasons, such as a birthday, and that is fine as long as you know it changes nothing about the odds.

• “Back the area where the last ball landed.” Each spin is independent. The previous result tells you nothing about the next one, as our page on independent events explains.
• “Back the sleeping numbers.” Numbers that have not appeared lately are not due. That is the gambler’s fallacy.
• “Read the dealer’s signature.” UK-licensed games must produce acceptably random results under the Gambling Commission’s RTS 7 standard (opens in a new tab), and players must not be able to touch the physical items that decide the result.
• “Neighbours bets are a system.” They are five ordinary straight-ups. Our roulette betting systems guide explains why no system or spread changes the edge.

Neighbours bet compared with other five-chip options

Five chips can be spread in many ways on a single-zero table, and each has the same 2.70% edge. What changes is which numbers you cover and how the wins are shaped.

A six line bet covers six numbers in two rows of the grid and pays 5 to 1. Orphelins covers more numbers but pays less on most of them. The neighbours bet sits at the higher-swing end of the three.

Neighbours bets and UK roulette rules

Neighbours bets are found on single-zero RNG and live roulette tables. They are not part of American roulette, which uses a different wheel order and carries a 5.26% edge. You must be 18 or over and verified before you play, credit cards are banned for gambling in Great Britain, and online casino games other than slots must take at least five seconds per game cycle.

Straight-up bets can lose many spins in a row: the chance of a five-chip neighbours bet missing ten times running is (32/37)¹⁰, about 23%. Set a limit you are comfortable losing before you start. If you need a break from all UK-licensed sites at once, GAMSTOP (opens in a new tab) offers free self-exclusion, and our safer gambling hub lists other support, including the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.

Where to play neighbours bet roulette

Our partners’ welcome offers are for slots or come as matched bonuses with game restrictions, so they are not a route into roulette play. Table games are often excluded from wagering or count less, so read the terms first. For a neighbours bet, check each casino’s lobby for single-zero tables with a racetrack. 18+, terms apply; see the roulette bonus guide.

• Casumo: for new customers who opt in, 50% up to £100 on a first deposit of £20 or more, wagered 10x within 7 days, with a £5 maximum bet while the bonus is active. Game, play and payment restrictions apply.
• 10bet: for new UK customers who choose the casino welcome bonus and deposit within 7 days, a 100% match up to £25, wagered 10x on slots within 3 days. Bonus winnings are capped at £1,000 and Skrill and Neteller deposits are excluded.
• Coral: for new players who deposit and bet £10 or more on slots, 100 free spins worth 10p each on selected games, to be accepted within 48 hours and used within 7 days, with no wagering on winnings. Runs 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027; some payment methods don’t qualify.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.