Roulette may appear like a game of chance, but its core science can be traced back millennia. From its initial release to its eventual resting place, physical events governed by age-old laws unfold over time.
The most notable pattern is dominating diamonds. These metal deflectors, often referred to as pins, slats, or stops, are designed to alter a ball’s path and randomize how it bounces back into play.
The Ball
A typical roulette wheel features an outer rim along which the ball travels, before losing momentum and falling off into a set of bumpers designed to scatter it chaotically. After traveling through this inner section containing 38 identically-sized pockets where it could possibly land.
So long as we possess all of the relevant information about its initial states, one can predict with reasonable accuracy where a ball’s final destination lies. Unfortunately, this cannot be done accurately in casinos due to chaotic motion of hitting bumpers and scattering over surfaces which destabilises such predictions.
On average, casinos always come out on top; but it is possible to increase your odds by exploiting certain physical laws. That was what the Eudaemons did – a group of physics graduate students who used theoretical insights and a simple computer hidden in their shoes to outwit Nevada casinos during the 1970s.
The Wheel
Wheels have long been considered symbols of good fortune. Indeed, ancient Romans depicted Fortuna, goddess of fortune, sitting atop her wheel of fate (rota fortunae). Though roulette wheels should be random, their mechanics can influence game odds and outcomes significantly.
Roulette wheels feature numerous distinctive components, each serving their own purpose. While some wheels may appear disorganized at first glance, others feature more structured layouts with distinct number orders such as alternately black-colored numbers alternating with red numbers; still others use random number orders altogether.
Some players believe they can predict where a ball will land by studying the structure of a particular wheel’s compartments or pockets. For instance, some wheels have curved frets which cause more frequent bounces while other have grooves which cause its movement in a particular direction.
The Dealer
Some roulette dealers believe they can influence the ball’s final position by spinning it at an increasingly consistent rate, leading it to hit pockets more frequently in certain regions, making winning easier. But this requires fulfilling certain conditions.
It can only work effectively if the dealer spins at an even speed or the wheel has been altered, though manufacturers are currently developing wheels which do not slow down, rendering this kind of system less effective.
Edward Thorp, a mathematics graduate student and later hedge fund pioneer, attempted to beat casinos using physics to predict the ball trajectories on different wheels and transmit his predictions via wearable computer. Although some critics criticized this strategy as being ineffective, it was hard to verify its claims of effectiveness.
Betting options
Roulette players have many betting options at their disposal, such as selecting specific numbers or groups based on color or parity (odd or even). Each type of bet provides different payout odds.
Inside bets, which consist of individual numbers or rows of numbers, have lower chances of winning than outside bets but offer higher payout odds. Common inside bets include red or black and odd or even.
Outside bets cover a larger area of the wheel with lower payout odds but greater chances of success compared to inside bets. They include low or high bets which cover half the numbers on the wheel; odd/even and column bets covering 12 consecutive numbers; trio bets including three adjacent numbers and dozen bets which cover first 12, second 12, and third 12 consecutive numbers; all have differing pay-out odds.