Charting the Wheel Strategy

One of the most popular strategies for roulette is charting the roulette wheel. Charting the wheel means checking the wheel for any bias. (A bias means a mechanical flaw that makes a particular number more likely to come up more often than statistical laws would predict.) To do this, scout out roulette wheels and find one that’s coming up with certain numbers more often than others. In a perfectly balanced roulette wheel, a number should come up on average once in every thirty-eight spins.

Since we don’t live in a perfect world and since roulette wheels are material objects, there can be flaws in them. Of course, casino operators inspect wheels for bias, so the house advantage isn’t affected. Some casinos help chart their roulette wheels by adding an electronic chart board that displays the results of the last twenty spins.

This is very helpful when you first walk up to a roulette table. You can quickly identify any numbers that have been hitting frequently.

Why would a casino help a player chart a roulette wheel? Because it helps them more than it helps the players. The casinos are charting only the last twenty spins, a relatively short period of time. To properly chart a roulette wheel, a player should chart at least five hundred or more spins. The electronic chart board helps players by providing them with the results of the last twenty spins. This saves players time who are using the charting strategy and allows them to get into the game more quickly. Of course, this help increases the action and attracts more bettors, so casinos that use a chart board are getting more roulette players than the casinos without boards.

When you find a roulette wheel that has a bias, start playing the same number that keeps hitting. Sometimes you’ll notice a certain sector of the wheel that’s hot, a sequence of three or four numbers that keep hitting more often than others. In this case bet each number, every spin. Play them for thirty-eight spins. If you are winning money after thirty-eight spins, pocket your initial gambling money plus fifty percent of the winnings, and start over with the other fifty percent of your winnings. This charting strategy is fine for people who have the time and patience (and money) to chart a roulette wheel. For impatient gamblers there is another strategy.