Multistrike video poker. What we’re going to do here is take a detailed look at the roulette wheel and table for European, American and French roulette. We will start out with a brief look at the history and then get into some detailed diagrams and descriptions for each version of the game.
We will then get into various manufacturers and design differences, before rounding off with our opinion on the bold claims you read online about roulette wheels being predictable and easily beaten.
Interestingly, a roulette dealer trained in a European casino will reverse the rotation of the wheel and ball following every spin. If you see a triple zero roulette table, just run. Many of the procedures and devices on a roulette table are to try and ensure the results are random. The Roulette Date wheel is only available on the Datejust models with the dial options mentioned above, however, since the Datejust is powered by the Rolex caliber 3135 you can have it custom installed in other watches with the same movement. It makes for a fun mod on a Yacht-Master, Submariner, Sea-Dweller or Deepsea – it will also work on a.
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Brief History of the Roulette Wheel
According to a French novel called “La Roulette”, the game has been played as it’s known today since 1796. These early games included both a 0 and 00.
The earliest form of a roulette wheel dates all the way back to the 1600’s from a French mathematician called Blaise Pascal, pictured right.
He inadvertently created a roulette wheel in his quest to create a perpetual motion machine. In simple terms, he wanted to create a wheel that could spin on its own indefinitely without an energy source. He failed in this endeavour.
It was roughly in the 1860’s when the Monte Carlo casino began offering a single 0 roulette wheel and this is the version of the game that spread across the world with the exception of the USA. American roulette games still retain the original concept of 0 and 00 slots to this day which increases the house advantage. More information on the house advantage can be found lower down.
European Roulette Wheel and Table
The most popular version of the game across the world, both online and in real casinos. One of the first things that you need to understand about roulette is that the table is not representative of the wheel. If you place a bet on the first Dozen, you are betting on numbers 1 through to 12 but those numbers are evenly spread across the wheel. Here’s the order of the numbers on a European roulette wheel starting with 0:
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
The order of numbers may appear random, but they’re purposely designed to confuse the player and conform to the golden rule that black and red numbers must alternate. From there, odd/even and 1-18/19-36 are evenly distributed across the wheel with no more than two numbers of the same type adjacent to each other on the wheel. In other words, at no point are there more than two consecutive odd numbers or two consecutive 1-18 numbers and so on.
European Specific Bets
European roulette has 4 bet types that you won’t find in the American game known as Call or Announce bets. They’re named this way because in real casino conditions, the player will say the bet out loud and the dealer will place the bet for them.
The image to the right shows which numbers each of them covers. We’ve already discussed these bets in detail on our page on roulette bets but here are the descriptions again.
Jeu 0 – One chip is placed on each of the following Splits: 0-3, 12-15, 32-35 and then the number 26 with a Straight Up bet. In total, 4 chips are placed and 7 numbers are covered.
Voisins du Zero – One chip is placed on the following Splits: 4-7, 12-15, 18-21, 19-22, 32-35. Then there are 2 chips on 0-2-3 Street and 2 chips on 25-26-28-29 Corner. In total, 9 chips are placed and 17 different numbers are covered.
Orphelins – One chip is placed on the following Splits: 6-9, 14-17, 17-20, 31-34 and then the number 1 with a Straight Up bet. In total, 5 chips are placed that cover 8 numbers (17 is covered twice).
Tiers du Cylindre – One chip is placed on the following Splits: 5-8, 10-11, 13-16, 23-24, 27-30, 33-36. In total, 6 chips are placed and 12 numbers are covered.
American Roulette Wheel and Table
The American version of the game features an extra slot but the payouts remain the same, pushing the house edge up to 5.26% from the 2.7% you get with the European game. When it comes to real casinos, you’ll only find this table in the USA, Canada and high end casinos in places like London.
What’s curious about the design of the American roulette wheel is that the numbers are in a completely different order to the European game while following the same design principles. Here’s the order of the numbers starting with the 0:
0 – 28 – 9 – 26 – 30 – 11 – 7 – 20 – 32 – 17 – 5 – 22 – 34 – 15 – 3 – 24 – 36 – 13 – 1 – 00 – 27 – 10 – 25 – 29 – 12 – 8 – 19 – 31 – 18 – 6 – 21 – 33 – 16 – 4 – 23 – 35 – 14 – 2
French Roulette Table
It’s also worth giving a quick mention to the French roulette table which you can see to the right. The wheel is exactly the same as the European game but the table has a different layout.
The biggest difference is that the Dozens are no longer marked as 1st 12, 2nd 12 and 3rd 12. Instead, they’re marked as P12, M12 and D12 which you will see in the bottom left and right corners of the table.
La partage rule – In terms of actual game play, the French game has the most advantageous rules because when the 0 hits, losing bets on Red/Black, Odd/Even and Low/High pay back half. So a £10 bet on Red would pay back £5 if the 0 hits.
En prison rule – In real casinos, they may opt to use the en prison rule instead of la partage. Every online game we’ve ever played has used la partage so you will only find en prison in real casinos. When the 0 hits, losing bets on Red/Black, Odd/Even and Low/High are marked as “en prison” by the croupier and neither win nor lose. Instead, they’re left on the table for the following spin and treated as any other bet.
Manufacturers and Design Differences
There are numerous manufactures of roulette wheels, each of which offer various designs and we aren’t talking about mere colours and textures. The major design difference between different wheels are the pockets. Each number has a pocket where the ball will eventually fall and the design around the pocket affects the bounce and scatter of the ball which impacts on the final result. Here are three different designs, click on them to see a larger version.
Huxley Stardust
The low fret design to the left is the most common design of wheel in real casinos. The low pockets allow the ball to bounce around from one pocket to another before finally losing momentum and coming to rest, resulting in unpredictability which is what the casinos obviously want.
The scalloped design has deeper pockets, resulting in less bounce and a slightly more predictable result so they are much rarer. The scalloped design could be described as “old and outdated” because most manufacturers have ceased making them. You aren’t likely to see one in a real casino.
The Huxley stardust design uses triangular pockets which can deflect the ball in either direction, creating even more unpredictability. For example, the ball can go from spinning anti clockwise around the track to going clockwise once it hits the rotor. Such movement is much less common on low fret and scalloped designs.
While there are many manufacturers of wheels, here are the two largest that we’re aware of:
TCS John Huxley – Their head office is based in London and they have offices around the world. They’ve won numerous industry awards for their craftsmanship of casino equipment and they supply casinos across the globe. Designing a new roulette wheel on their website is like designing a new car with multiple design and colour options available. Their website is www.tcsjohnhuxley.com
Cammegh – Another company based in the UK, Cammegh are a huge supplier to casinos across Europe and the USA. They have supplied roulette wheels to numerous huge casino brands including Caesars, Grosvenor, Gala and Ladbrokes. Their website is www.cammegh.com
Neither of these manufacturers have a “buy now” button on their website. Instead, you need to request a quote and the wheel will be built for you. You can expect the price of a new roulette wheel to be well over £1000. You can also buy them second hand on ebay which will cost roughly £400-£700 for a clean, undamaged, second hand model.
Roulette Wheels Can Be Beaten?
The majority of roulette systems are based on the table. This includes all of the mathematical strategies that we’ve written about. What this means is that they don’t influence the odds which stay at 2.7% and 5.26% respectively. They are based on progressions and in many cases, betting big to win small.
However, there are other systems, based on the wheel, that we haven’t written about. The aim of these systems, often called “visual ballistics” or “visual roulette system” is to forget about the table and focus entirely on the wheel by increasing the accuracy of predictions to get an edge over the casino.
Think of it this way: the house edge is 2.7% on European roulette. If you can increase the accuracy of your predictions enough to overcome this edge, the odds will be in your favour. The cheating (and in many cases illegal) way to do this is via a roulette computer which measures the speed of the wheel and ball to give a prediction. Visual systems work in much the same way, only they’re much less effective because you’re using your mind to make predictions.
The reason we haven’t written about them is simple; we don’t know anywhere near enough about them to give an accurate description. They involve monitoring the diamonds (8 of them around the outside of the wheel) and then studying the wheel, learning its tendencies and being able to make a prediction accurate enough to overcome the edge. From there, you would bet on approximately half of the wheel via Straight Up bets to accommodate your prediction.
Real information about visual roulette systems is hard to come by which is why we’ve been unable to learn about them. We haven’t found a single website that’s written about visual roulette systems for free with simple instructions on how it all works with step by step instructions. It always comes with an asking price that we aren’t prepared to pay.
Do we think it’s actually possible to predict the wheel without a computer? Yes, but we don’t believe its anywhere near as easy or practical as the websites that sell this information make out. It’s our belief that you would need to be very experienced in real casino conditions and well versed in the deceleration of the ball to even have a chance of making this work.
We also believe that a lot of the information sold online will be outdated and some of it will be nothing more than a scam. We aren’t prepared to buy all the rubbish information about visual systems to find the good one and that’s assuming a good one even exists. For all we know, they’re all scams.
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The wheel is where the real magic happens in the game of roulette. It’s the core where the fate of all bets made is decided.
While it’s unimaginable to think of yourself as a roulette player without knowing the basic payout rules, it’s ultimately the wheel that makes the game.
From a design standpoint, much has changed since the roulette cylinder was invented by Blaise Pascal in the 17th century while trying to create the ever-evasive perpetual motion machine.
Over the years, the so-called devil’s wheel has gained immense popularity to become a quintessential image in the casino scene. No wonder historically mostroulette cheats make the wheel their primary target.
Nevertheless, not all roulette wheels are created the same. That’s why the first thing most roulette players do is decide whether to play American roulette or French/European roulette.
Let’s not forget there exists a series of other roulette variants in between.
In this post, we’ll plunge into the mechanics, physics, and science of the roulette wheel — how it works.
Plus, we’ll provide you with handy tips and secrets that casinos don’t want you to know when it comes to beating the wheel and making more wins at roulette.
How the Roulette Wheel Works
In every round of roulette play, the dealer spins the wheel in one direction (usually clockwise), then rolls the ball in the other direction (counterclockwise). The ball will roll on an outer circular track that’s steeped until it lands on one of the wheel’s pockets.
Even though not obvious to the untrained eye, there’s a lot that goes on between the time the ball is rolled and when it lands. And it all boils down to the mechanics of the wheel.
To get a clearer picture, it’s important to understand the core parts of a roulette wheel, and find out what role each plays.
Major Parts of the Roulette Wheel
a) The Diamonds
If you look closely at the outermost circular part of the roulette wheel, you’ll notice that the track is fitted with metal deflectors located at strategic spots.
Also known as deflectors, slats, pins, stops or disruptors, these metal deflectors aren’t there for aesthetic purposes. They help hit or deflect the ball and therefore disrupt its trajectory, making the outcome truly random.
Some diamonds face along the curve while others are installed perpendicular to the spin direction.
Of more importance to your gameplay and strategy is that the ball tends to hit some diamonds more often than others. These are aptly known as “dominant diamonds.”
Dominant deflectors occur for several reasons, including manufacturing defect, normal wear & tear, malfunction in the wheel, and so forth. In a lot of cases, there may be one or two dominant diamonds.
If you happen to figure out that a wheel has a dominant diamond before the casino does, this can certainly work in your favor. Unfortunately, casinos will remove the wheel as soon as they discover that the same.
(b) The Ball Track
The ball track is what it seems like — the circular path on which the ball rolls before it’s deflected by diamonds. This is a very crucial part if you want to use the prediction method to beat the table.
You see, in the previous years, the ball track had lips where the ball would roll before settling on the diamonds when much of its speed as been lost. At the time, players would predict where the ball would land from the track lips.
Today’s ball tracks no longer have track lips, which makes it difficult for players to use the prediction technique. Without track lips, the ball jumps, swings, and strolls around before being deflected into the pocket.
Even still, modern ball tracks are prone to mechanical wear & tear, especially cracks. Regardless of how the wheel is maintained, cracks will appear at some point.
If the casino doesn’t adjust the wheel, for instance, the croupier will tend to roll the ball from the same few spots, causing cracks and the appearance of dominant diamonds sooner than later. Velstone type wheels are less susceptible to these effects than epoxy wheels.
Even so, dominant diamonds can occur if the ball track is slanted, poorly designed or not installed properly. Even a slant of 1mm can create distinct dominant deflectors.
(c) The Frets
A fret is what separates two pockets on the wheel. It’s usually crafted non-magnetic materials like brass, aluminum, copper, plastic and so forth. High profile wheels have high frets and vice versa.
Low profile frets create a smooth flow of the ball over the pockets, adding more randomness to where the ball will eventually land. Some roulette wheels come with pre-designed frets with pre-fixed pockets, width, and height, reducing bias in the game.
(d) The Rotor
The rotor is the innermost part of the roulette wheel which usually rotates with the pockets. Because it’s responsible for the biggest portion of the bias, casinos usually switch rotors between wheels.
Considering that the rotor weighs about 66 pounds, any imbalance or physical defects in the component will probably cause bias, making it easy for players to predict the game.
(e) The Base
Typically composed of wood material with a metal core, this is the outer part of the roulette cylinder. It’s made with sturdy material, making the roulette as a whole durable and stable.
The ball track is the most delicate component of the base, and slight damage can have a domino effect on the wheel, creating a bias that players can take advantage of.
(f) The Shaft
Measuring 32” in diameter, the bowl is the most prominent part of the roulette wheel. It consists of the low ball tracks, spindle/shaft, ball track, and the wooden panel.
The shaft is the crucial component that offers support to the rotor of the wheel. If the wheel isn’t maintained appropriately, the shaft is most likely to slant or bend, creating a bias. What that means is that the wheel rotor will revolve on a bent angle, implying that the ball with land on the lower side of the slant.
If you can notice such an issue with the spindle or shaft, you can easily clean the house before they find out and thus decommission the wheel.
The Pockets
These are slots where the ball eventually lands. Each pocket has the winning number written on it.
As you might have seen, there are several different types of pockets, with notable differences in fret design, depth of the pocket pad, etc.
Most recently, casinos have embraced roulette wheels which have shallow pockets, meaning the ball will scatter over them instead of getting stuck wherever it lands. In the past, the pockets were deeper, making it a little easier for players to predict.
Today, however, some wheels have frets that slant inwards, so the ball can easily hop from the narrow pocket to the next one. This makes it difficult to anticipate where the ball will finally land.
Here are the three most common types of roulette wheel pockets:
Low fret – These are essentially shallow pockets because they have low profile frets on either side. Such frets create more variance and reduce the predictability of the ball’s landing. They were designed by a game engineer called George Melas.
Huxley Starburst – These pockets are triangular in shape, deflecting the ball in one or the other direction. Typically, this design reduces what’s called scatter, the predictability of where the ball will bounce. If you are keen enough, you can easily predict Huxley Starburst outcomes.
Scalloped Pockets – Cammegh Wheels are well known for having scalloped pockets. These resemble low profile frets, but the pockets take the shape of metallic scoops or spoons.
Even though they are similar to low profile frets is several ways, the scalloped pockets reduce the jumping or hopping of the ball. However, the scatter or predictability of the ball bounce is quite huge.
Determining which type of pocket is more predictable or deliver the most randomness depends on several factors, including where the ball falls, its trajectory on the track, the position of the dominant diamonds (if they are there), the condition of the shaft, and the speed of the rotor.
When all are considered, however, Huxley Starburst pockets tend to have the highest level of randomness.
American Roulette Wheel vs. European Roulette Wheel
You’d be forgiven, but you’d be wrong, for thinking that the different types of roulette — European, American, and French — are created the same. The American roulette is different by design, gameplay, and layout from its European or French counterparts, but they do share some similarities.
Perhaps the most notable difference is that the American roulette wheel has an additional double zero (00) pocket on the cylinder.
Let’s take a closer look.
European Roulette Wheel
Most seasoned players prefer to play French roulette over the European roulette because La Partage and En Prison rules can be applied, helping reduce the house edge further in favor of the player.
![Numbers Numbers](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/casino-roulette-table-illustration-green-260nw-594227630.jpg)
That’s just about the only difference.
In saying so, both the French and European roulette wheels have a total of 37 pockets, ranging from 0 through 36.
Given that it has only one zero slot, the average house edge of European roulette is 2.7%, which is significantly lower than that of the American roulette.
Colorwise, the 36 number pockets are equally split, with 18 being red and the rest 50% black, while the zero pocket is green. Starting with zero slot and moving clockwise, the sequence of the pockets is as shown below:
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, and 26
Some bets are specific to the European or French roulette, and are usually placed by the croupier following the orders of the player. The dealer normally shouts out these bets before placing them for the CCTV and to avoid any confusion.
They include:
Voisins du zero: This is French for zero’s neighbors. And accordingly this nine-chip bet covers all neighbors to 0 and zero itself (i.e. 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25).
- One chip each goes to splits 32-35, 19-22, 18-21, 12-25, and 4-7.
- Two and one on 29-28-26-25 corner
- Bet two chips on 0-2-3 trio
Zero play: this is 4-chip bet that covers immediate zero neights – i.e 15, 32, 0, 26, 3, 35, 12
- One chip on 35-32 split
- One straight-up chip on 26
- One chip on 15-12 split
- One chip on 3-0 split
Orphelins: Also called orphans, this five-chip bet covers number 9, 31, 14, 20, 1, 6, 34, and 17
- One chip each on splits 34-31, 20-17, 17-14, and 9-6
- One straight up chip on 1
Tiers: This is a six-chip bet that covers numbers 27, 13, 36, 11, 30, 8, 23, 10, 5, 24, 16, and 33. In this bet, one chip each goes to splits 36-33, 30-27, 24-23, 16-13, 11-10, and 8-5.
Neighbors: Any neighbors bet covers 5 consecutive numbers on the roulette wheel. You mention the middle number to the croupier and the bet will cover two adjacent numbers on either side.
American Roulette Wheel
What makes the American roulette wheel different from the European version is the fact that it has an extra double (00) slot, which is located at the opposite side from the single zero (0) slot.
Exactly like the European roulette, American roulette wheel also features numbers 1 through 36, which means it has a total of 38 pockets. 50% of these pockets are black, the other 50% are red, while the two zeros are green.
Because of the additional double zero slot, the house edge of American roulette is theoretically higher at 5.26%. Starting with single zero number and counting counterclockwise, the sequence of the wheel is as shown below:
0, 2, 14, 35, 23, 4, 16, 33, 21, 6, 18, 31, 19, 8, 12, 29, 25, 10, 27, 00, 1, 13, 36, 24, 3, 15, 34, 22, 5, 17, 32, 20, 7, 11, 30, 26, 9, and finally 28
As you can see, the two are different in terms of the sequence and number of pockets, as well as the house edge. However, the coloring of the slots is essentially the same.
What is the Logic Behind the Sequence of the Roulette Wheel?
In both European and American roulette, the sequence of the numbers (pockets) on the wheel is very different from what you’d expect. For instance, number 11 comes right after 36, instead of 10 in the arithmetic sense.
What’s the logic behind this somewhat awkward sequence? It turns out, wheel manufacturers and indeed casinos designed this layout to achieve the following 4 key results: High five casion.
- Make sure even and odd numbers are uniformly distributed on the wheel, ensuring as few odd or even numbers as possible are neighbors to each other.
- There is an optimal alternation between high (19-36) and low (1-18) numbers
- The colors (except for greens) should alternate entire along the roulette wheel.
- Somewhat laughable, the sequence was also meant to cause some confusion to the players so they can’t predict the gameplay.
Does Deceleration Rate of the Ball Affect the Gameplay?
Although modern technology has gotten rid of many issues that affect the roulette wheel, one problem remains: the deceleration of the ball as it rolls across the wheel.
Deceleration doesn’t affect most of the recent iterations or versions of the table, and manufacturers are working full-time to put the issue to rest once and for all.
Which are the Most Prominent Manufacturers of Roulette Wheels?
If you know the roulette wheels inside-out, then you might be familiar with big names like Abbiati, Cammegh and John Huxley will not come as a huge surprise.
What Does A Standard Roulette Wheel Look Like
One of the oldest makers of roulette wheels, John Huxley remains one of the most popular. Abbiati is the new kid on the block but has cut a niche for itself already in that short time.
Perhaps the most recognizable wheels in land-based casinos are Cammegh Classic and Huxley Mk7.
But how can one make sure the wheel is player-friendly?
Gunning for a modern design like Huxley Mk7 may be your best shot. However, you must keep an eye on the wheel for a few minutes to see if it indeed pays out.
In any case, see to it that your wheel of choice isn’t defective. If the ball tends to strike only one or two diamonds/deflectors. Also, make sure that the ball rolls without jumping or swinging on the ball track.
Roulette Winning Secrets: What to Look for:
1- Poorly Trained Casino Staff
Whereas casinos try to keep up with changes in technology, some may still have wheels that run on old systems, which means they can be predictable by a smart player.
Nonetheless, most casinos have software that analyzes outcomes for any predictable pattern. The good thing is that it usually takes the algorithm several days if not weeks to fish out any bias.
If the dealer and roulette staff are well-trained, they may find the bias sooner than the software.
As such, you should always find a table where the staff doesn’t seem to know how the roulette is beaten, especially if you are planning to use a predictive technique.
2- Dominant Deflectors
We have already discussed this subject in great detail above. Given that the ball is often rolled from the same point, wear & tear can happen in particular areas of the wheel. This creates dominant diamonds.
If the wear & tear are very pronounced, the dominant diamonds will be so obvious that you can predict with a high degree of accuracy where the ball will land.
3- Design
Yes, manufacturers go above and beyond to design optimally random roulette wheels. However, it’s hard for something that uses manual components to be 100% random and unpredictable.
In saying that, the design of the wheel should tell you a little bit about the gameplay of the roulette. Don’t forget that the 2.7% house edge is factored in somewhere — it’s all upon you to use the design elements to your advantage.
4- Check for manufacturing defects
Roulette Wheel Layout Printable
Roulette wheels do have defects no matter how small they are. These defects make the wheel predictable to some extent. As a smart player, you should be on the lookout for slants, cracks, imbalance, and other manufacturing defects, so you can determine how the ball will fall in your favor.