Basics -- The Wheel

The roulette wheel is one of the most easily recognizable symbols of gambling in the world. In the physical casino setting, it is an elegant, elaborate, rather large piece of equipment. Of course, it is in its virtual form in the internet casino world and with the evolution of graphics, 3-D and otherwise, it resembles the wheel as it operates in the "brick and mortar" atmosphere, and in a sense may be even more attractive.

There are 38 "pockets" (compartments where the ball can land) on the wheel in the American version of roulette, and 37 pockets in the European version. There are pockets for numbers 1 through 36, plus zero (0) and double zero (00).

The numbers, as they are laid out, are not consecutive but are instead scattered about the wheel. Half of the numbers are red, and half are black; generally, they alternate according to color on the wheel. But the numbers themselves do not necessarily alternate by color; in other words, the numbers do not go "red-black, red-black" consistently in order. For example, if you look at the wheel, 18 and 19 are both red, while 28 and 29 are both black. Generally, the zero and double zero are in green pockets.

If you look closely enough, you'll see that there is a certain design to the wheel. It would seem as though a balance is sought between low and high numbers, so as not to prejudice one side or another as the wheel is spun. If you look directly across the wheel from each odd number, you're going to see the next highest even number. Pairs of even numbers alternate with pairs of numbers that are odd. And you'll also see pairs of numbers around the wheel that offer a certain kind of symmetry. For example, there are a lot of side-by-side combinations that add up to 49. So you'll see 31 next to 18, 17 next to 32, 15 next to 34, 33 next to 16, 35 next to 14, and 36 next to 13.