When playing roulette we generally concentrate our efforts on the betting table. You are a Four Star General on a battlefield and your enemy is the casino! The table is where the action. Carefully moving artillery pieces into position, hoping for direct hit on the enemy. But be careful, the enemies killer weapon is the wheel! There are roulette wheel secrets you should know about, and while I wont give all the secrets away hopefully I’ll give you something to think about.
I’m not an expert, but I have taken the time to examine the wheel and see where numbers sit in relation to each other.
Be a smart gambler, not a greed gambler
An important note – please read:
Throughout this blog I’ll refer only to European Roulette which has a single zero because that’s how it was designed. Americans bastardised it to give casinos a better house edge. Location of numbers on the wheel differs from single 0 to double or even triple zero wheels. I only play single 0 and here in Australia there are plenty of them. They may not be as accessible in the USA.
Ever heard players proclaim; “I was so close”
Many times I’ve watched players bet on a number, 26 Black for example, and 27 Red comes up. Inexperienced punters get excited and scream “I was so close, oh well, maybe next time!”. Of course seasoned players know the truth and it couldn’t be further away on the wheel and wasn’t close at all.
Roulette is surprisingly deceptive by design! Table layout is numerical and the wheel looks like someone vomited numbers all over it – just as colourful too. No relationship between the two exists, except they share the same numbers.
It isn’t random at all and was designed carefully to give false hope, an extra layer of randomness, and perhaps for enticing you to play more. Or even lose more and never achieve Bill Gates riches.
Look at the wheel below, a single 0 wheel. Can you see where 26 Black is in relation to 27 Red? The two numbers are miles away from each other. The same can be said for almost every other number, so in reality if you want to scream “I came close” when choosing 26 Black the ball would need to land on 35 Black, 3 Red, 0, or 32 Red, certainly not 27 Red.
Now look at the battlefield
You can see right away the differences, one seemingly random vs. numerical. For most players it wont matter, but understanding the wheel can help your game.
Roulette was crafted to be challenging, with a giant dose of randomness thrown in for good measure. No doubt the original designer Blaise Pascal, a truly clever Frenchman, likely tried various configurations before landing on the final product.
Dozens or Columns and Wheel layout
Many choose to bet on Dozens, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Dozen and frequently a combination of two different dozens at the same time.
An alternative dozens style is a Column Bets. Columns provide a dozen numbers have, in my opinion, a small advantage because of the number positions on the Wheel. For the 1st Column bet (3-36) the numbers 3, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24 are all on one side of the wheel, and reasonably close together. The 2nd Column (2-35) number 2, 5, 8, 11, 17, 23, 26, 32 are also on a different half of the wheel. In fact, 2, 5, and 8 are almost next door to each other.
Roulette is a confusing but fun game
Not everyone can be expected memorising where numbers are on the wheel. To be honest, often I can’t remember where I live – but the truth is your game may improve through understanding what’s going on around the wheel.
There are also some other sneaky bets which are rare and may not be available at your casino, such as Neighbors Bets, or other crazy lesser known wagers like Orphelins (Orphans) and Voisins Du Zero (Neighbors of Zero). These are known as Call Out bets. You must ask your croupier if the casino accepts Call Out Bets – and which ones.
My final thoughts
Taking time to examine the wheel can gain you small advantages over the casino, and let’s face it anything we can do to improve our chances is worth doing.
Roulette is not a game of skill and if you think it is, you’re kidding yourself. If you’d prefer a game of skill you should play Black Jack or Poker. Roulette is pure luck and that is half the fun for me.
For more roulette tips see my other Roulette Adventures Blogs and if you are just starting our checkout my blog on Roulette Etiquette at a live table.
Always remember, be a smart gambler not a greedy one.
Happy Roulette Adventures everyone
