"Wheel Tracking" Is Likely More Myth Than Reality

Published on September 2nd, 2018 4:51 pm EST


Las Vegas at night.  Birdseye view of the strip.  The lights are on.One of the taller tales that people love to tell when it comes to the game of roulette is that some roulette wheels are "heavy" on one side, which will lead to the ball falling more often on one side than the other.

This "theory" leads to the idea of "wheel tracking", which would involve observing a roulette wheel to see if the ball is dropping on one side of the wheel more often than the other.

Obviously, this would lead to greatly increased odds of winning for the player who notices it, which could, in turn, lead to great riches.

The question - could "heavy" wheels possibly be a reality, and could wheel tracking actually work?

The simple answer to this question is no, especially if you are playing in a reputable casino. Casinos generally don't like to lose money, and you can be certain that they are examining their equipment frequently to make sure that they are still operating in a normal fashion and haven't been tampered with in any way.

Casinos would notice if a wheel was paying out an abnormally high amount in winnings, so you can safely assume that a "heavy" wheel would be detected in very short order by a casino.

There is always the possibility that an older roulette wheel that is used by an older or less reputable casino is not weighted properly, though the likelihood is very, very low. You have to assume that somebody else would have exploited that fact already.

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In short - improperly weighted roulette wheels are likely as rare as a snowstorm in July, which makes "wheel tracking" a complete waste of time.