Can Roulette Dealers Make You Lose?

Many players speculate as to whether or not a roulette dealer can make you lose. The issue is hotly debated on forums. But realistically, a player needs to have a roulette wheel of their own, and a lot of experience to know the truth. It makes sense that the people that know the truth are either dealers, or people with their own wheels. I’ve probably spun wheels far more than most dealers, and know well what’s possible.

Would a Dealer Want To Make You Lose?

Firstly it is illegal for dealers to deliberately influence the winning number. Although it would be very difficult for a casino to prove what a dealer was thinking. But would a dealer want you to lose?

I know many dealers, and I’ve never found one that wants players to lose. The only exception is when a player is particularly rude to a dealer. The fact is dealers aren’t paying out their own money. It is the casinos money. And most dealers are more than happy to see you win. In fact there was a case in my local casino where dealers became fed up with watching players lose. And they ended up deliberately overpaying players. Remember that dealers are human too, and it can be distressing to watch normal people lose a lot of money.

There may still be the occasional nasty dealer that wants everyone to lose, but it’s safe to say it’s rare.

How Could a Dealer Make Spins Predictable?

A dealer can successfully target a particular number, or avoid numbers, but only in very strict conditions. Before I explain how this can be done, I’ll explain how dealers can make spins more predictable.

Basically the dealer could spin at consistent speeds. So the rotor speed may be 4 seconds per revolution, and the ball may complete eight revolutions before falling. But still the following strict conditions are needed to make this work.

First and foremost, the wheel must have a very strong dominant diamond. So the ball will hit a particular diamond very frequently. Secondly, the ball needs to fall in a reasonably predictable way. And thirdly, the dealer needs to spin the wheel and ball at consistent speeds. This is a basic skill that comes with practice. The dealer doesn’t need to spin at precisely the same speeds. There is always an acceptable margin of error.

Now consider if these conditions are met, and the ball is released right above green zero. The wheel may pass the green zero 12 or so times before falling. And since the ball is mostly hitting the same diamond, and is bouncing predictably, the spin will be quite predictable. At its basic level, this is dealer signature. Simply the dealer is spinning consistent speeds.

But importantly the dealer may not be targeting a specific wheel sector. Still the consistent spin speeds will lead to predictable patterns. It would be like throwing lots of rocks over a fence, where you wouldn’t know exactly where they landed. But you’d know a pile of rocks was forming somewhere over the fence. You just wouldn’t know where until you checked.

Importantly, what the dealer would be targeting is a specific “distance” the ball has traveled. The distance is relative to the rotor. Keep this in mind before reading on.

Can the Dealer Target or Avoid a Specific Number?

Targeting and avoiding specific numbers are very different things.

To AVOID a number, the dealer would need:

a. The perfect wheel and conditions

b. The skill to accurately spin at the desired speed to target consistent areas (distances)

c. Slightly change the spin speeds so that the outcome (distance) will be different to previous spins

d. Note the numbers they want to avoid, and adjust the ball release point.

In this sense, it is entirely possible for a dealer to avoid particular areas of the wheel. But don’t let this concern you because it would take a tremendous amount of skill, and this is in ideal conditions. But assuming it was done, at best the dealer could just adjust the spin speeds only slightly, so perhaps the “end number” is on the other side of the wheel. But it would be easier for them to just randomize the speeds, which would at least greatly reduce the same “distance” from occurring.

But what about TARGETING a number? Well that’s even more difficult. Because the dealer would need to adjust the spin speeds to target the right “distance”. They are not a computer and can only estimate speeds to target an area. I won’t say it’s impossible, because anything is possible. But is it realistically possible? No. And using our fence example again: Targeting a specific number would be like throwing a rock over the fence to hit a metal bell. We’d just try different combinations of speed, and listen for the “ding” sound when the bell was hit. Then we’d need to repeat the speeds to target the right area. Again it’s all theoretically possible, but realistically not something you need to worry about even if the dealer had perfect conditions. And the wheels that make it possible just don’t exist in modern casinos.

How Difficult Would It Be For Dealers?

If you need convincing, buy a wheel yourself and test. You will find you can easily roll the ball a set number of revolutions before it falls. It is easy to target perhaps 4 revolutions of the ball. But most casinos will void all bets if the ball completes less than four revolutions. In realistic casino conditions, the ball will travel at least eight revolutions. Can you consistently target eight revolutions of the ball? Actually it’s quite difficult. Even with a lot of practice, you will very often be incorrect by two or more revolutions. You could still be accurate to 8 revolutions most of the time.

Next use a stopwatch to count 15 seconds, which is a typical time that a roulette spin takes. At the beginning of the spin, align the zero pocket with a particular diamond. And start the watch and spin the rotor at a consistent speed of around 3 seconds per revolution. At the end of the 15 seconds, note which number is beneath your start diamond (call this your “end number”). Repeat the process and see how consistent the end number is. You will find that the slightest speed difference makes a big difference to the end number.

Putting this all together, it is very difficult to target the correct number of revolutions for the ball. And extremely difficult to spin the rotor with precisely the same speed. So can you realistically spin both the rotor and ball consistently together with precision to target or avoid sectors? Realistically, no.

Conclusion

On the right wheel and in the right conditions, a dealer can quite easily make spins predictable. But targeting or avoiding sectors is very different. Realistically it is possible, but only in very strict conditions. And the chances of it happening are so remote that you should never worry about it. A more likely possibility is the casino using magnetic balls to avoid winning numbers. This actually does happen, but is very rare. It is discussed in detail at www.roulettephysics.com/casino-roulette-wheel-magnets/