Roulette was one of the most popular casino games in Europe, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In fact, to this day there are always herds of roulette system players, still trying to figure out how to beat this game. Of course, the only true winning roulette “strategy” is to own a roulette game and let the gamblers do what they do best, which is to gamble until all the money is gone. But this time-proven fact, backed with sound mathematics, doesn’t stop thousands of people still try to beat this game with various systems and pseudo theories, such as the Martingale System described on my parody site, National Center for Irresponsible Gambling. Just search the online forums for “winning roulette systems” and you’ll see how many people are still trying to figure out how to win at roulette. Some ever swear by their systems. Of course, those are not the same people that have been trying to beat this game in past centuries. As the old saying goes, A sucker is born every minute.
This post is definitely not about how to beat the game of roulette. It is simply a post to show you the inside mechanics of a roulette wheel. Here’s a picture.
This is a photo of a display model of a standard casino roulette wheel, with a wedge sliced out, so people (i.e. potential customers) can see a cross-section of the inside. Every part is fabricated to a very tight tolerance, to ensure proper balance. Furthermore, when the wheel is being installed the technicians must use a special level, especially made for roulette wheels. That is the most important part of the installation, because if the wheel is not leveled, it will have a bias. That bias may not help you predict what numbers the ball is likely to land in, but it will cause the ball to start its descent always at the same spot.
