The roulette wheel and table

To many newcomers, online roulette looks fairly simple — but in reality there are three main variants and a countless number of additional ones, each with different rules and therefore different gameplay concepts. In this article we look at how the roulette wheel and table are built, so the reader understands how to choose a variant and what it affects.

What a roulette wheel is made of: the main components and their functions

A physical roulette wheel, even in an online casino, must be perfectly balanced — otherwise the equal probability of every number landing breaks down. For that reason a quality wheel costs no less than $10,000, and every part of it matters. Let’s split the parts into groups for an easier look.

The spinning top: turret, rotor and pockets

Let’s start with the top of the wheel — the rotor, i.e. the part that actually spins:

• turret (spinning cap) — the “handle” that gets the wheel spinning;
• turret base — holds the turret in place;
• turret height adjuster — for smoother spinning;
• wheel head — where the turret joins the wheel itself;
• ball pockets — the numbered cells where the ball can come to rest after a spin.

Perfect balance of the wheel’s top makes the game fair; the slightest deviation gives the wheel “hot” numbers. Modern technology lets the top be balanced perfectly — a laser level is used for that.

Ball Pocket: why the shape matters

A ball launched onto a freshly spun wheel can hop from one pocket to another due to the wheel’s rotation, but at a certain point the spinning force runs out and the ball settles on the number that will win. The ball’s ability to “jump out” depends directly on pocket depth, and the deeper they are, the earlier a professional player can tell which number will win — which lets them draw conclusions sooner and gain more time to think over their next moves.

The ball’s guides: track, deflectors and lower track

Although the ball settles in a pocket, most of its movement involves other parts of the wheel:

• track — the ring-shaped surface the ball rolls along after launch;
• deflectors — special bumps that encourage the ball to deviate randomly;
• lower track — the ball’s “path” before it drops into a pocket.

The guides make the ball’s trajectory even less predictable, which is what makes gameplay so interesting. With experience, players gain the ability to predict where on a particular wheel the ball tends to deflect more often, which is why the design allows the deflector positions to be changed.

The structural base: spindle, bowl and bearings

Although only the wheel spins, the stationary base is also critically important:

• spindle — the axle the spinning rotor rests on;
• bowl — in other words, the “frame” of the wheel;
• upper and lower bearings — designed for smooth rotation of the rotor without jolts.

The base’s job is overall stabilisation, so that while the rotor spins it stays steady and doesn’t vibrate. Bearings wear out roughly every 3–5 years — when they fail, the whole wheel must be replaced, because its balance is irreversibly compromised.

How casinos protect themselves against defective wheels

Experienced players have a keen eye: if a real-money wheel develops even the slightest tilt, producing “hot” numbers, the venue risks going deep into the red. Casinos try to avoid this by every means:

• horizontal balance is checked daily with a laser level;
• the results of the last 10,000 spins are regularly analysed to spot patterns invisible even with technology;
• wheels are periodically swapped around so it’s harder for players to spot patterns and identify the quirks of each individual rotor;
• deflectors are regularly rearranged so the ball’s deflection stays unpredictable;
• representatives of specialist bodies such as GLI and BMM are invited for independent audits.

Such measures all but eliminate the detection of “hot” numbers by players.

Numbers on the roulette wheel: why they’re laid out exactly so

At first glance it may seem there’s no logic at all to the number arrangement, but in fact it’s quite the opposite: the “chaotic” placement of numbers is an additional balancing factor for the odds.

The three principles of number placement on the European wheel

The number layout on the identical European and French wheels took shape back when wheels often weren’t perfectly balanced, and the apparent lack of order is actually meant to further minimise the chance of statistical anomalies favouring “hot” numbers. Broadly, the placement logic is this:

• red and black — strictly alternating, except for zero, which breaks the pattern;
• even and odd — two in a row from the same group are possible, but no more than two;
• low and high — almost always alternating, except for the 10-5 pair (on the European wheel).

Even if a wheel has tilted badly and wins keep landing in a particular sector, players still have to guess.

Why the American wheel is laid out differently

The cardinal difference of the American wheel is the addition of another zero — 00. The extra number somewhat upsets the balance worked out for European roulette, so the creators of the American wheel fundamentally changed the order of numbers, though all the principles described above are preserved, and the two zeros were placed opposite each other. When placing sector bets (Voisins, Tiers, Orphelins) on American roulette by hand, the player must understand that the set of straight-ups, splits, trios and corners will differ from what they’re used to on European roulette.

Triple-zero roulette: a third sequence variant

A relatively rare variety is the three-zero wheel, which appeared in 2016. Its popularity is pushed in Las Vegas, aimed at inexperienced land-based casino visitors; on the other hand, the RTP is only 92.3%, against which even ordinary American roulette looks tempting. The number sequence here is broadly identical to European, while the three zeros are grouped together as 0-000-00.

A comparison table of sequences and parameters for the four variants

To visualise the differences between the wheels, here’s a table with the main parameters.

In terms of wheel construction, French roulette is completely identical to European.

Roulette wheel sectors: Voisins du Zéro, Tiers du Cylindre and Orphelins

The roulette wheel is often divided into three sectors of different size, so an entire sector can be covered by a single sector bet. When a racetrack is present (typical of French rules, and European roulette often features one too), a sector bet can be made in one click if you’re playing online, or simply by calling out the sector name to the croupier at a land-based venue. But sector bets can also be made without a racetrack — they’re all sets of “ordinary” bets you can memorise. Let’s look at the sectors using European roulette as the example, keeping in mind that the number order on the American wheel is different.

Voisins du Zéro: “neighbours of zero” — 17 numbers, 9 chips

The largest sector, covering 17 numbers from 22 to 25 clockwise — 22, 18, 29, 7, 28, 12, 35, 3, 26, 0, 32, 15, 19, 4, 21, 2, 25. The Voisins sector bet “costs” 9 chips:

• trio 0-2-3 — 2 chips;
• splits 4-7, 12-15, 18-21, 19-22, 32-35 — 1 chip each;
• corner 25-26-28-29 — 2 chips.

Even the minimum payout (on the corner) is 8 to 1, putting the player in profit; the chance of any win is almost 46%.

A map of Voisins du Zéro: numbers on the wheel and on the table grid

The neighbours of zero as a sector bet assume the player bets specifically on the numbers next to zero on the wheel itself. If you bet on the “neighbours” of zero based on their position on the table grid, on the wheel they’ll actually be scattered, with no sector coverage.

Tiers du Cylindre: “a third of the cylinder” — 12 numbers, 6 chips

This sector covers exactly a third of the wheel (ignoring zero), positioned almost perfectly opposite zero — from 33 to 27. The bet consists of six splits of 1 chip each — on 5-8, 10-11, 13-16, 23-24, 27-30 and 33-36. With a 32.4% win chance, any success means a 17:1 payout, more than covering the cost. Many players cover both Voisins and Tiers at once: the win chance rises to 78%, and with a 15-chip bet even the minimum win (a corner in Voisins) still leaves the player in a small profit.

Orphelins: “the orphans” — 8 numbers between sectors

Orphelins are the remaining numbers not included in the sectors above, grouped into two clusters between them. Closing this sector too takes 5 chips: a straight-up on 1 and four splits (6-9, 14-17, 17-20, 31-34), with the number 17 being covered twice (if it lands, you collect the win on both splits — 34:2). Closing all three sectors is unprofitable: although Voisins, Tiers and Orphelins together mean a 97.3% win chance (always, except zero), their combined cost of 20 chips won’t be covered by most wins.

Jeu Zéro: “zero game” — a simplified Voisins

A simplified version of Voisins, covering only 7 numbers in the range from 12 to 15: this mini-sector is covered for 4 chips thanks to a straight-up on 26 and three splits on the remaining numbers.

The Racetrack: a digital map of the wheel for announced bets

So players don’t have to keep the components of sector bets in their heads, roulette’s creators invented the racetrack — a round betting field that mimics the wheel. When a racetrack is present — typical of French roulette and often found in European too — a sector bet can be made in one click, and bets on the neighbours of any number are accepted too. Leading providers including Evolution, Playtech and Pragmatic Play offer a racetrack in their RNG games, and live roulette supports it too.

The roulette table: layout, betting zones and French names

The roulette table is a betting section (the layout), where the numbers run in the correct order, not the way they sit on the wheel. Once a player understands the table’s logic, they can make more considered bets without wasting time.

The number grid: rows, columns and zero cells

The numbers on the table from 1 to 36 are split into 12 rows of 3 numbers (1-2-3, 4-5-6 and so on) and 3 columns of 12 numbers (1, 4, 7 and so on). Zero (two zeros on American roulette) belongs to neither rows nor columns. You can bet on individual numbers or on the edges between them, covering several numbers with a single chip (split, street, corner, six-line).

The outside fields: red/black, dozens, columns and even chances

Bets on large groups of numbers are called outside bets — they’re placed in dedicated fields outside the number grid. The outside bets are:

• dozens — twelves in order (1-12, 13-24, 25-36);
• columns — relative to the number grid (e.g. the left one — 1, 4, 7, 10…);
• red/black;
• even/odd;
• low (1-18)/high (19-36).

The last three are also called even-money bets: were it not for the zero factor, their win chance would be 50/50.

French bet names on the French table

Roulette terminology is usually translated into your interface language or given in English, but on French roulette, an example of tradition, the bet names are never translated. These are the same bets as on European roulette, you just need to know the equivalents:

• low and high — Manque and Passe respectively;
• even and odd — Pair and Impair;
• red and black — Rouge and Noir;
• dozens — Premiere Douzaine (P12 — first), Moyenne Douzaine (M12 — second), Dernière Douzaine (D12 — third).

The racetrack in the table interface: where to find it and how to use it

On physical tables there’s often no racetrack at all, and sector bets are called announced bets precisely because they’re called out aloud. Online it’s all different: some tables have no racetrack at all, and making a sector bet in one click is impossible; others display it permanently, like NetEnt and Playtech. Evolution Play takes a third route: the racetrack is there, but hidden by default — it appears after pressing a button which, in different games, may be called Racetrack, simply Track, or Special Bets.

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European, American and French wheels: how they differ structurally

We’ve already explained the obvious: the wheel can differ between roulette versions; now let’s look in detail at what the difference consists of.

The European wheel: the standard and the starting point

The European wheel is the most widespread, although it could just as well be called French, since the two roulette variants use identical wheels. With 37 numbers (18 red and 18 black) and one green zero, the sequence is: 0-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26. This standard is perfectly balanced and proven over several generations, and many roulettes with specific rules are built on top of it.

Why European and French roulette use the same wheel

The two roulette versions have numerous differences — it just so happens that the wheel isn’t one of them. The other differences are easy to spot:

• French roulette offers the same bets, but with French names;
• the La Partage and En Prison rules are typically French; classic European roulette doesn’t have them;
• outside bets can be placed in different positions relative to the number grid, though today that’s more a matter of individual table design.

Identical wheels mean sector bets work the same way on European and French roulette.

The American wheel: a different sequence due to the double zero

Because of the two zeros (one opposite the other) the American wheel has 38 numbers, and the sequence was changed — here it looks like 0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-36-13-1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2. An experienced player needs time to switch from sector bets on the European/French wheel to the equivalent bets on American roulette, because the “American” usually has no racetrack, and the combinations for manually covering Voisins or Tiers will be entirely different.

Triple-zero roulette: Las Vegas casinos and why it’s the worst variant

In essence, this is the European/French wheel, but with three zero pockets (0, 000, 00) as a single group. The new entertainment format appeared in 2016 in Las Vegas casinos, which automatically boosts its popularity. Players who are good at maths have already worked out that this format is unprofitable, since the house edge is around 7.7%, almost triple that of the European standard. Land-based venues lure customers to these tables with lower bet limits and the atmosphere of a “real” casino, but online this variety is barely present — it simply wouldn’t be chosen.

Roulette wheel manufacturers: who makes the equipment for casinos

A casino can’t afford low-quality wheels — that would lead to the venue regularly losing or to complaints of unfair play. There are up to ten wheel manufacturers in the world, guaranteeing impressive durability and proper certification of their products.

Cammegh: the British market leader since 1989

A British company named after its founder Bill Cammegh, in business since 1989 and the main supplier for European and Australian land-based venues. Cammegh products are made from wood and carbon fibre in three main classes: full-size manual, mini manual, and automatic wheels. Cammegh’s signature wheels have repeatedly won industry awards as the best of their kind.

TCS John Huxley: the oldest brand, the Saturn line

This Australian brand markets its wheels under the Saturn name — over the last fifty years they’ve been in demand in their native Australia and in Macau. Some models are fitted with illumination, which makes gameplay in low light especially mysterious.

Abbiati: the Italian manufacturer since 1976

Another company with half a century of history and a head office in Milan, producing wheels in both European and American standards. Abbiati products are CQY-certified, and the company also stands out for its wide choice of available materials: tables are covered in felt, microfibre, and even woollen fabrics.

A comparison table of manufacturers

It’s easier to get your bearings among the leading roulette wheel manufacturers with a table.

If a land-based casino has chosen products from any of these three manufacturers, the visitor is sure to be satisfied.

Physical wheel vs digital: how online roulette works

This article is mostly about the physical design of roulette at land-based venues, while online live roulette uses the same mechanics — only the player is on the other side of the screen rather than at the table. RNG roulette has no wheel as such at all — there everything is decided by an algorithm.

RNG roulette: an algorithm instead of a wheel

Many online roulettes run on a random number generator (RNG) — that is, there’s no physical wheel; in front of you is an ordinary computer simulation program. Although a spinning wheel is shown in the interface, the result is actually determined by the algorithm instantly, and the visual element is only there “for show”. RNG algorithms undergo special certification — representatives of specialist bodies including eCOGRA, iTech Labs and GLI run them millions of times to make sure the consecutive results aren’t predictable. This is the only roulette available free and without registration — its production cost is low enough to let visitors play even without money, using demo mode.

Live roulette: a physical wheel via video stream

Live roulette involves everything real: the wheel, the ball and the croupier, only the player takes part remotely — via video stream. Although the ball determines the winner, an automatic OCR system handles the distribution of winnings — a camera recognises the winning cell without human involvement, which is why it’s subject to special certification. The wheels for such roulette are supplied by the renowned manufacturers mentioned in this article — Cammegh and TCS John Huxley.

Auto Roulette: a physical wheel without a croupier

Launching a physical wheel with a stream for players is possible without a croupier too — wheel manufacturers learned to automate this process long ago. The benchmark of an automatic wheel is the Cammegh Slingshot model, beautiful and reliable. An automatic roulette has no chatter during the pauses, so the pace of play is faster (roughly up to 35 seconds per round), but both the physics and the house edge are equivalent to classic live roulette.

The history of the roulette wheel: from Pascal to Evolution Gaming

For players truly in love with roulette, its history is interesting too.

Blaise Pascal and the first wheel: the 17th century

By one account, roulette (or rather its prototype) was invented by none other than the great French mathematician Blaise Pascal — long before casinos and gambling houses existed, while he was staying in… a monastery. The scientist supposedly demonstrated a spinning wheel with a ball in 1655, either as a prototype of a perpetual-motion machine or as a mathematical model describing the probability of one of 36 numbers landing. However, this assumption has no solid evidence: other researchers claim, for example, that a game resembling modern roulette actually came from Ancient China. It’s known that by the mid-18th century gambling was in wide demand, and in the territory later called Quebec it was already being banned — including something described in the document as roulette (though it’s not certain it was a game with rules resembling the modern ones). On the other hand, roulette resembling the modern game definitely existed in Paris by 1796 — albeit with 38 sectors, including two zeros: a red one and a black one.

A single zero: the Blanc brothers’ innovation

Half a century later the zeros on roulette wheels had become green, but there were still two of them. The situation was changed by the brothers Louis and François Blanc — Frenchmen who left for German lands after roulette was banned in France in 1836. In 1842 they set about creating a whole network of gambling venues, and to win the competition they reduced the number of zeros to one, thereby improving the player’s chances of success. In 1860 these same brothers opened a casino in Monaco, where gambling had just been legalised while in France it remained outlawed — this finally cemented the 37-number wheel as the standard for European (and French) roulette. Roulette crossed the ocean via New Orleans, before the Blanc brothers’ innovation had truly caught on, which is why American roulette kept its two zeros.

Modern standards: the digital revolution of the 1990s–2020s

Digital technology radically overturned the idea of gambling: as early as 1996 the first online casinos appeared, offering RNG roulette. Internet access was far from universal back then, and the graphics looked very modest, but seven years later, in 2003, the first live roulette with a real dealer appeared. A new trend was set in 2018 — Evolution Gaming launched Lightning Roulette, a version of the game with multipliers, which quickly became popular and spawned a wave of imitations. Since 2022 leading developers have been experimenting with VR roulette, but so far this format hasn’t achieved a stable interface or wide adoption.