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Roulette
Physics in the Game
Written by: Stefano Rossi | The review was last updated: 03 July 2024 | Fact-check by: Kim Birch
Roulette's a staple at casinos, and punters have been trying to crack it for yonks. Walk into any brick-and-mortar casino, and you'll spot the iconic roulette table beckoning you over. The standard wheel's a ripper - it's exciting, engaging, dead simple, and packed with thrills. The classic roulette setup we know and love hasn't changed since 1796, which is why it's a hit with gamblers of all ages.
Not only is the game a blast, but it's also pretty intriguing. The science behind it is fascinating, but it does my head in sometimes. Some blokes reckon they can predict where the ball will land using force and trajectory, trying all sorts of methods to outsmart the house. But is it really possible to figure it out?
We've got roulette inventor Blaise Pascal to thank for the current game design. This French maths whiz and physicist was actually trying to build a perpetual motion machine. While he didn't quite nail that, he did create a revolutionary wheel that's had a massive impact on the gambling industry.
The science of spin: How Aussie roulette wheels keep punters guessing
The spin time of a roulette wheel isn't set in stone. It usually goes for about 4 minutes, but this can change depending on how the croupier runs the game and how busy the table is. Interestingly, the roulette wheel has caught the eye of many scientists. Figuring out where the ball will land has been a hot topic for those keen on the science behind it.
The idea of cracking the code to predict the ball's landing spot is so fascinating because if someone could work it out based on the wheel's speed and direction, they'd be rolling in it. People have tried using all sorts of fancy physics, looking at things like where the ball touches the wheel and how fast it's going. But roulette moves at a cracking pace, and it seems near impossible to work it all out in time.
These days, most decent online casinos with live dealers offer roulette. For digital games, they use Random Number Generators to keep things fair. You can also find live gaming options for roulette bets where you watch a real wheel being spun in a casino via video stream.
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Psychology plays a big role in roulette, making the game more complex than it seems. While the wheel is completely random, many punters still rely on gut feelings, lucky streaks, and past results when placing their bets. This can lead to some dodgy strategies and superstitions that overcomplicate things.
Even though you can't predict where the ball will land, most players spend ages mulling over their choices instead of just picking a spot at random. It's this psychological element that adds an extra layer of intrigue to roulette.
At first glance, roulette might look straightforward. But once that wheel starts spinning, there's a lot more going on than meets the eye.
Roulette's mind games: Aussie punters' edge
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Crunching the numbers: Predicting roulette ball landings
It's not uncommon to see punters giving it their all to predict roulette outcomes, trying to suss out where the ball's most likely to land. While some theories are grounded in maths and science, others are just a load of old cobblers based on myths and superstitions.
A few of these theories gained a fair bit of traction. For instance:
Roulette physics: How the ball bounces on the wheel's edge. Predict the win.
There's no shortage of wild tales about punters trying to outsmart the roulette wheel. Back in the late '70s, a uni student named Doyne Farmer and his mates had a crack at beating the system using computers. Doyne rocked up to a casino with a custom-built computer strapped to his chest, programmed to tell him where to place his bets. He used solenoid magnets that vibrated to give him the lowdown. But things went pear-shaped when the system malfunctioned, giving him little electric shocks. To save his skin, he bolted to the nearest dunny to try and fix the computer. While it's a ripper of a story, poor Doyne ultimately came up short. His misadventure was later immortalised in the book 'The Newtonian Casino'.
These blokes gave it their all to beat the wheel but couldn't find a reliable method. The wheel was too complex, and the calculations were mind-boggling. Fast forward to today, and we're still scratching our heads about how to get one over on the wheel.
When you break it down, roulette's a pretty straightforward game. The wheel spins both ways, with the croupier spinning it one way and the ball the other. The ball does its thing, eventually landing in one of the pockets. Punters pick a number, a range of numbers, or a colour. If they're on the money, they pocket the winnings. Simple as that.
Dodgy DIY computer hidden to track the roulette ball's path and landing spot.
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Every roulette wheel's got its own quirks.
When the wheel's spinning, heaps of factors besides just the wheel and ball come into play - the casino's atmosphere, the size of the dividers between numbers, the little bumpers that keep the ball in place when it lands, even gravity. It all matters when that ball's whizzing around.
All these elements make roulette a seriously random game. Seems impossible to guess where the ball's gonna end up, right? But here's the thing - if you can just figure out the general area where it might land, you've got a massive leg up on other punters and the casino. We're talking more than a 40% advantage.
In the States, casinos typically have about a 5.26% edge over players - that's pretty hefty. Over here and in Europe, it's a fair bit less. The house only keeps around 2.7%, since the European roulette wheel has just one zero, while the American version's got two.
Aussie physics: Predicting roulette ball speeds and spin rates down under
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Here's a fascinating tale of punters trying to outsmart the roulette wheel with tech.
When Doyne Farmer first stepped into a casino, two blokes posing as regular guests brought something special - computers disguised as shoes. These weren't your average runners; they were kitted out with toe-controlled switches to operate the hidden tech.
The computer was purpose-built to beat the wheel. It did two main jobs: first, it adjusted to the wheel's parameters before play, like how quickly the ball slowed down, the wheel's spin rate, and the ball's velocity. Then, during the actual game, the player tapped the shoe switches when certain spots on the wheel passed under the ball. The computer crunched these numbers to predict where the ball would land.
Using weak radio signals, the computer sent its findings to a second unit strapped to another player. This second computer relayed the results via electromagnets on the player's chest. The team had developed a clever code to interpret the magnet movements, allowing them to bet on the predicted number and neighbouring spots for good measure.
While it all sounds pretty flash, in practice, they never achieved the 40% edge they'd seen in the lab. Sweat, dodgy wires, and weak signals all threw spanners in the works.
Farmer's crew then spent two decades refining their system. The new version was all shoe-based, better protected against short circuits, and harder for the casino to spot.
Confident in their upgraded gear, now set in resin blocks to combat sweat and loose wires, the team gave it a burl at Binion's in Vegas. Their first go was promising - the computer suggested betting on 1, 13, 24, and 36. When the ball landed on 13, they scored a 35-to-1 payout. But the win was short-lived. The casino's electromagnetic noise eventually borked their radio comms, and they had to pull the pin on the whole operation.
Exploiting physics and tech in online roulette? Not a chance, mate.
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Back in the day, Farmer and his crew had a crack at beating the roulette wheel in the casino. But the tech wasn't all that flash then, and they ran into heaps of dramas with their experiment. They had to build the computer system from the ground up, designing and putting together all the bits themselves. It was a real headache to design a computer back then, even for the big players in the industry.
These days, those technical hassles are pretty much sorted. All the processing power you'd need can fit into tiny units you could stash anywhere, and cameras can easily capture the roulette action to measure things like where the ball's headed and how fast it's going. But there are still some tricky bits about predicting roulette that we just can't seem to crack.
Take communication, gathering info, and slow progress, for example. These are still big hurdles when you're trying to outsmart the roulette wheel. It's also a right pain trying to hide computer gear in casinos. They're onto the fact that punters are always trying to get one up on them with fancy tech. Casinos don't just let you waltz in with cameras and computers, and they keep a close eye on anyone who's winning big.
So, in a nutshell, while it might not be completely impossible to beat physical casinos at roulette, there's no surefire way to do it yet. A bit of clever thinking might make it happen, but for now, there's no solid proof of anyone successfully pulling it off.
As for online table games, forget about it. It's flat-out impossible to predict roulette results there. They're all based on Random Number Generators that are totally unpredictable.
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Frequently asked questions about the mechanics of live roulette and their answers
The physics behind roulette wheels is all about Newton's laws. If you're keen to get your head around how the ball moves, it's worth brushing up on these principles. Understanding the science can give you a fresh perspective on this classic pokie game.
The physics of roulette is pretty straightforward. A large wheel spins one way, while the roulette ball whizzes around in the opposite direction. As the ball loses momentum, it bounces between the wheel's pockets before finally settling into one. That's the basic gist of how it all works.
Despite advances in tech, predicting exact roulette outcomes remains impossible. That said, you can estimate a range where the ball might land. But since this requires electronic gear, casinos ban these devices on the gaming floor. So while you can't pinpoint the winning number, you might narrow down your chances a bit - if you could sneak in some gadgets, that is.
Nah, you can't. Most casinos have a strict no-go on any electronic gear inside. If you're caught with one, you could land yourself in hot water.
Reckon there's a field of maths called Chaos theory? It's all about how tiny changes can cause big ripples in complex systems. Think unpredictable stuff like weather patterns or brain signals. Some clever boffins reckon these same principles might apply to games of chance, like roulette at the casino. It's a bit of a head-scratcher, but an interesting take on the pokies, eh?
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