The Roulette Wheel

The roulette wheel is a marvel of engineering and logic and has been of great interest to gamblers for a number of years now. Behind its simple design lies a complex arrangement of numbers and characteristics, placed in just the right way to ensure the random element of the game. The entire wheel weighs more then one hundred pounds at three feet in diameter. The numbers 1 through 36 are divided evenly among red and black pockets on the wheel. There are also 1 or 2 green pockets containing the numbers 0 or double zero (00) on the wheel. The numbers on the roulette wheel are not placed at random instead they are balanced between red and black, high and low, and odd and even. For every number on the wheel, directly across from it is the next highest even number. Black and red alternate, pairs of even numbers alternate with pairs of odd numbers (with 0 and 00 exceptions). This roulette wheel design is standard within the industry. The roulette dealer spins the wheel counter clockwise and releases a small plastic white ball along a track on top of the wheel. The ball then falls of the track and lands into a pocket on the wheel.