Dealer's batteries
plugged in backwards
29 September 2006
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I met a dealer who claimed that he could not
only drop the ball within a certain section of
the wheel, but on specific numbers. He even
called out "get you bets down on the double zero
because here it comes," and it actually hit,
which leads to my question, do you believe that
a roulette dealer can put the ball in a specific
number, and should I follow his advice when he
tells us where to put our chips? Russell M.
Now, Russell, do you really, really believe this
particular dealer possesses such preternatural
powers? Yes? Bad instincts!
With over a dozen years dealing roulette, I've
got some miles on my odometer when it comes to
spinning that ball, and yet, I developed neither
the knack or know-how when it comes to putting
the ball in a specific section let alone a
straight out-number. Nor, Russell, do I believe
it can be done with any marked degree of success
by anyone, anywhere, and here's why.
For starters, the dealer spins the wheel
counterclockwise but spins the ball into the
track in a clockwise direction. But then as ball
leaves its track it will more often than not hit
one of the small metal buffers, strategically
spaced in the lip of the wheel to ensure that
the ball falls in a random way. As it zips off a
buffer, it usually then hits one of the metal
frets between the numbers and bounces up again
before it finally lands in one of the 38
numbered pockets (Canoes) that make up the
roulette wheel.
I won't mention the casino by name as you did in
your e-mail, but I know for a fact (I once
worked there) that it's a break-in joint for
dealers, and if a dealer really, really had such
a skill, he would simply find a confederate to
make a bet wherever he planned the ball to land,
and they would be rich. Of course he's not, and
neither will you by following his advice.
Dear Mark,
At what win level must a player fill out a tax
form for a video poker machine? Dusty R.
On any electronic gaming device win, or as in
your case a one-hand video poker win, the
threshold would be $1,200; from there up, the
casino would require that you sign a tax form
before it pays you.
Dear Mark,
My system for roulette is to monitor the wheel
without betting, and when I see a trend of let's
say red appearing five times in a row, I'll bet
black on the next spin. Doesn't it make sense to
begin playing the wheel by betting on black
since it is now due to appear? Allen D.
On a fair double zero wheel, Allen, if the ball
just so happened to land in red 99 times in a
row, the odds that black would appear on that
100th spin would be exactly the same as on that
sixth spin, 47.37%. Check the third word in this
paragraph.
Dear Mark,
Always one card away from my first, I finally
hit the first royal flush of my life this past
weekend. What were the odds of me finally
hitting one? Nancy H.
Typically the odds of hitting a royal flush are
about 40,000-1, but that varies from game to
game, Nancy, along with how you play the initial
cards dealt to you. If you were playing Jacks or
Better or Bonus Poker it would have been as
mentioned above. If your royal were on a Joker
Poker machine, it would have been 42,000 to one,
Deuces Wild, 45,000 to one, and 48,000 to one on
a Double Bonus Poker machine. Anyhow, happy
congrats!
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "In cards, you
psyche 'em out, you shark 'em, you put the fear
of God in 'em." --Puggy Pearson, 1973 WSOP
winner (1975)
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