Roulette Cheating
Roulette cheating might be the only way to beat the house edge in
roulette. Of course, if you want to cross the line into cheating on your
bets, you'll be entering a whole new lifestyle. You'll have to become a
gambling outlaw.
Before we get to that, though, I wanted to familiarize you with some of the classic cheats. By discussing these cheating systems for roulette, this site does not endorse cheating at the casino in any way. It should go without saying, but most of these techniques are roulette myths anymore.
Past Posting - Roulette Cheats
One common suggestion is for players to "past post" their bets, essentially switching their wagers when the ball is reaching a latter stage of its spin and the dealer isn't looking. The roulette cheating experts suggest you should do this on tables with only one dealer, and that you be "Calculating, sharp, and quick".
I suggest you be really quick, quick enough to fool the cameras that film players and tables at the major casinos. To get away with past-posting on the final landing of the ball, you're going to have to be quick enough to fool a camera, while lucky enough to find a game with one again (again not likely in bigger gambling establishments). Also, you need a croupier who is easily distracted and doesn't pay close attention to the game.
No More Bets
Remember that, after three revolutions around a roulette wheel, a dealer is supposed to announce "no more bets" to the table. So there is supposed to be a natural cut-off line when gamers no longer can make their wagers, at a time before you can predict the final resting place of the ball.
So you need a roulette dealer who is so negligent that he or she stops paying attention between the time that no-more-bets is called and the ball lands. That doesn't leave a big window of opportunity. Perhaps greater study of the game will help.
Croupiers Control Spins
It's a common roulette myth that the croupier can control the spin of the ball, through years of muscle motor memory, to put the ball where they want it to go. As one website claiming to have the inside scoop on roulette cheats says, it's "believed dealers are able to influence the result of a game". Notice the use of the weasel-word "believed". They aren't saying it's fact, but certain players claim it happens.
As Michael Shackelford at the Wizard of Odds site has written, there's never been a scandal involving the dealers at a casino doing this. You don't see charges made. Not even one ex-croupier has come forward to claim this fact or expose the practice. I suppose you could say the absence of evidence proves a conspiracy, but that's not how people work.
I wouldn't worry about your dealer controlling the spin. The website quoted above goes on to say that male dealers are particularly territorial about people winning at their table, so they try to hurt the chances of people who win consistently. It's advised that you make friends with the croupier, to avoid this situation and perhaps influence his spins in your favor. That's amazing.
Dealers in Your Pocket
You can see where this is all leading. No doubt the "My Friend Is the Croupier" method has been used before. Having the dealer work with you might make sense, but remember, a casino manager gets paid to monitor odd betting behavior and dealers with a suspicious pattern of losing. So getting inside help is really dangerous for the dealer, and is going to be noticed.
Concealed Computer Devices - Cheating at Roulette
Another method mentioned, but not usually suggested (too dangerous legally), is to use concealed computers to assist roulette bidding (which is punishable 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine in Las Vegas). People have been arrested in the past 5 or 10 years in Australia and Serbia for trying similar techniques, which shows that people do use technology to try to beat the casinos at roulette.
The problem is, it's illegal in most countries and jurisdictions to use electronic devices that can predict or otherwise influence your betting on roulette. To make this work, gamblers would have to have a device that is fast and reliable at making predictions, has a small enough power supply to be easily hidden and carried, and still allow someone to make fine calculations or, at least, view the device. That's a tall order, especially for a criminal act where you'll get in a lot of trouble, if caught.
Cheating at Casino Roulette
If you want to get into cheating at roulette, you're going to have to live a whole other lifestyle than the one you are used to. You need to make friends with guys with names like Ivan, Smooth Eddie, and Santos. You also need to build handmade devices at (at least) an MIT-level of skill. You'll probably need to dress the part and keep either a toothpick or (even better) a matchstick dangling from the corner of your mouth all night. Certainly, you need to befriend the local croupier community, but make sure the narcs from the casinos don't see this going down.
Roulette cheaters who can do all this might become rich as a high roller. Heck, you might even have Ben Mezrich write a screenplay about your exploits, and you could end up being associated with an Oscar nomination. Or you could put all that energy you spend trying to beat one of the biggest house edges in the casino to studying games with higher payouts, like video poker or blackjack.
