Certain expert roulette players have claimed they can beat casinos by exploiting wheel bias. To do this, they need to observe and record results over many spins of the wheel.
Tracking numbers without raising suspicion is no simple feat, but it can be accomplished. Depending on how lopsided a wheel may be, many samples may need to be examined before becoming viable.
The Myth
Although a roulette wheel is manufactured using precision engineering, it remains mechanical. Over time the deflectors, ball track, and pockets may wear down over time but this should not result in more frequently hitting numbers than expected over a sustained period.
An alternative scenario might include loose metal dividers that let some give through between numbers, making it less likely for balls to hit their intended pockets. Such anomalies are much harder to notice and would require multiple observations before any significant profits could be derived for an advantage player.
Joseph Jagger employed six clerks during the 1800s to track each roulette wheel’s results and recorded thousands of spins – successfully exploiting its simple yet effective bias for millions in profits.
The Reality
Casino staff members are trained to identify biased wheels. Along with tilt checks, staff inspect other physical aspects such as ball tracks, deflectors and pockets as well as its base and rotor in order to spot biased wheels that display bias – any minor defects in these parts could result in inaccurate results and should they show bias, the wheel will be immediately removed from play before advantage players notice and begin exploiting it.
Pocket bias occurs when certain numbers win more often than they should and is difficult to detect due to needing to analyze thousands of spins before reaching a conclusion. Section bias, on the other hand, is much easier to spot: when balls favor entire sectors of a wheel and land on certain numbers more frequently; thus allowing it to be detected with a smaller sample size than pockets bias would. For example if red 14 keeps winning outliers like it shouldn’t, this is indicative of an inflated wheel.
The Proper Way to Take Advantage of a Biased Wheel
Roulette wheels are used extensively in casinos, and their physical integrity may become compromised for various reasons. Even minor tilts on a wheel may disturb its ability to generate random results; an advantage player’s dream come true! A biased wheel offers untold riches for advantage players who make time to find it.
Tracking results from thousands of spins can help identify wheel bias, as this allows you to spot patterns where certain numbers consistently outrank others.
Be mindful that this form of bias cannot be detected through regular inspections or tune ups; sophisticated data logging equipment must be employed in order to detect any anomalous events, such as specific pockets being hit more often.
The Implications
Casinos devote significant resources to ensure their wheels remain free from physical anomalies that could create bias, such as regular maintenance checks, rotating and replacing wheel heads as necessary, and installing advanced monitoring systems capable of tracking spin outcomes and quickly detecting irregularities. They remain wary of players who clock or record the results of spins as this behavior is considered suspicious by them.
Even the highest quality roulette mechanisms don’t come without some degree of bias; this can be seen when various pockets and sections appear more frequently on the wheel.
No one knows for certain if this alone will make playing a biased wheel profitable, but any advantage play strategy must take into account that particular numbers will eventually balance out by appearing less frequently on any particular wheel. While this process could take thousands of observations to happen, players should still bet on these numbers until their frequency decreases and more evenness occurs.
