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Roulette Ball - How it Impacts Your Live Casino Gameplay

Here we see a roulette ball in a pocket on the wheel


Metal or Glass Balls used on Professional Casino Wheels

Here we see a roulette ball in a pocket on the wheel

Written by: Kim Birch | The review was last updated: 12 August 2022 | Fact-check by: Jasmin Williams

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Kim Birch has won and lost against the best poker pros worldwide. In addition to being an expert in poker and blackjack, Kim has also published 3 books. About Kim Birch

In this article, we will see some interesting facts about the professional roulette balls and understand how it affects your live casino games. After reading this article, you will know everything about roulette balls and the knowledge gained will help you next time you play online roulette. The type of metal or glass balls used on the roulette wheel has a big impact on how the ball jumps around o nthe numbered slots on the actual game wheel.

Before we dive into our main topic, let us learn a little about the beautiful game of roulette. A French physicist named Blaise Pascal invented the roulette wheel by accident, and the rest is history. Roulette slowly grew as a popular casino game, and Prince Charles of Monaco even built casinos where roulette was played.

Long story short, roulette has been around for centuries, yet people aren’t close to being bored by it. There is something magical about this game of chance with several betting options. Remember that there are various types of roulette, like American and European roulette.

Roulette ball is one of the main components of roulette because it also has a history as old as the game itself. Roulette can’t be played without the roulette ball, so it makes sense to take a closer look at this vital part of the casino game.

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Ball Ror Roulette - Geeky Facts About the effect on the Roulette Wheel

Following are some interesting facts about the roulette ball.

  • Earlier roulette balls were made of wood or ivory, but now they are made of teflon, acetal, nylon, or phenolic. The material used to make the roulette ball is important because it affects how it bounces on the wheel.
     
  • A new player shouldn’t be too worried about the material that has been used to make the roulette ball. There is no reliable way to predict where the ball will stop with 100% accuracy, so you can focus on enjoying the game.
     
  • The only thing you need to remember is that ivorine balls are bouncier when compared to teflon balls. You can easily identify a teflon ball by its colour, which is flat white.
     
  • Visual trackers are players who use techniques or devices to predict where the ball will land with some degree of accuracy. A ball that bounces a lot makes it harder for visual trackers to predict where it will land. So casinos use a bouncy ball to stop this type of players.
     
  • Like all things, a bouncy ball has its disadvantages. There is always some risk of the ball bouncing too much and falling out of the wheel. It can even drop on the ground and waste some of the time of the players. If it happens too often, the players may lose interest and stop playing.
     
  • A bouncy roulette ball can be slowed down significantly by one or more slightly loose frets. Frets are the separators between the various numbers on the roulette wheel. This is not an issue with the bouncy ball, but this issue arises because of loose frets. So the casino needs to make sure that the frets are tight or people can take advantage and make predictions.
Close up picture of actual professional roulette game glass balls.

Close up picture of actual professional roulette game glass balls.

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Roulette Wheel Balls Size and Weight for Roulette Wheels

Casinos have to take all measures to ensure that the casino games are fair, and they maintain the house edge. If they fail to do so, they can destroy their reputation and suffer losses.

Casinos aren’t afraid to switch roulette balls, and they keep extra balls at their disposal at all times. If a player makes a lot of successful bets in quick succession, the roulette ball is switched by the dealer to ensure that nothing unusual is going on. If you think about it, they don’t have a choice in the matter. If they don’t switch the ball, the casino may lose money because of the cheater.

Ball switching was introduced because some players tried to control the ball with an iron or steel slug by using electromagnets. However, this is not an issue in modern times. It is not an issue because now casinos use a magnetic stud finder to counter any cheating attempts.

The size of the Roulette ball depends on the dimensions of the wheel and its number pockets. Some of the best casinos use 18mm and 21mm balls. The casinos often switch between balls of different sizes to ensure fair outcomes for all parties involved.

So how do ball size and weight impact your game? The material used to make the ball and the ball's size and weight determine how it spins and bounces on the wheel. Ivorine balls are bouncier than teflon balls. Professionals prefer teflon balls because they are less bouncy and more predictable.

Note that the smaller balls will spin faster and be more bouncy when compared to larger balls if we assume that they are made of the same material.

Our advice is not to worry too much about the ball size and weight because they will not have that much impact. As long as you are sure that you play fair casino games , you can enjoy it without any worries. So try to look for any suspicious patterns and play at only the best casinos.

Most roulette fans prefer glass balls from Italy and instead of plastic material.

Most roulette fans prefer glass balls from Italy and instead of plastic material.

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Roulette Ball Spins - Understand The Roulette Wheel

Dealers in most of the land-based casinos do long spins, which are usually 20-25 spins. They do this so that people can place their bets while the casino-roulette ball is spinning. However, there is some risk of the visual trackers and other types of cheaters taking advantage of this situation. So dealers do different types of spins to prevent this issue.

Experienced dealers can easily control how fast they want to spin the roulette ball and keep the spins within their intended range. The dealers can randomly do short spins with 4-5 revolutions and mid spins with 10-15 revolutions and combine them with long spins. Remember that heavier balls spin slower than lighter balls, so the dealer may find it a bit difficult to do long spins with heavy balls.

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Can a Dealer Control the Roulette Ball?

Ingenious device to forecast where the roulette ball lands on the wheel

Ingenious device to forecast where the roulette ball lands on the wheel

It can’t be denied that some dealers have tried to spin the ball in a manner that it ends up closer to or far away from a particular number. This could be dangerous if the dealer is doing this to ensure that a specific player wins. It has been proved that it is not possible to do so with reasonable accuracy. However, some experts still believe that it can be done, so the experts are divided on this one.

You can do something about the dealer aiming the ball by being vigilant. If you suspect something, you can look for the following clues to find out if the dealer is aiming the ball or not.

  1. The dealer won’t use much force to spin the ball and keep the revolutions as low as 5 to 10.
  2. The dealer will spin the wheel head at a lower speed.
  3. The dealer will try to aim the ball by launching it at a particular time. You will see the dealer focusing on the wheel head and waiting for the right time to release the ball. Usually, the single zero and double zero numbers are used by the dealer as a reference. In most cases, once the number of their choice passes under their hand, the dealer will release the ball.

When you see one or two clues from the clues mentioned above, you can assume that the dealer is trying to aim the ball.  You don’t have to worry too much about the dealer trying to aim the roulette ball because it is almost next to impossible to make the roulette ball end up in a particular pocket.

You should take action if the dealer is aiming the ball. The short spins and the dealer's focus on releasing the ball at a particular time will give you signs that he is trying to aim the ball. If you are sure the dealer is aiming the ball, you can inform the manager or file a complaint.

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Does the ball Speed Have an Impact on Your Roulette Bets?

At certain casinos worldwide, people make their bets while the roulette ball is still spinning on the wheel. It feels natural to some players to place bets before the ball settles into a pocket. Therefore, dealers also do long spins with 20-25 revolutions to give the gamblers ample time to place their bets.

When there are fewer players, the dealers do short spins with 4-5 revolutions so that the game is exciting and fast. The other advantage of short spins is that the computer projection programs don’t work efficiently for the short spins.

You can quickly get used to the pace of the dealer and place your bets accordingly. The dealer can close betting after the ball starts spinning. Therefore, it is always better to place your bet before the spin starts to avoid missing out on the opportunity to bet.

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How The Roulette Wheel Balls Material Can Change Your Games

Each material has its advantages and disadvantages, so the casinos keep these in mind while choosing the material. Ivorine balls are bouncier, as we mentioned earlier, but they are manufactured with more precision than teflon balls. Still, there are minor differences between different balls that you can’t see with the naked eye.

Two balls will spin differently and have different speeds of spinning. You will notice some similarities between the ivorine balls and their speed of spinning. On the other hand, teflon balls are manufactured with less precision than ivorine balls. So the spins of the teflon balls are even more unpredictable and different from each other.

It is nice to know about the ball's material, but you shouldn’t worry about it. Roulette has always been a game of chance, so a material change won’t let someone predict where the roulette ball will land.

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Magnetic Roulette Balls and Casino Cheaters

A collection of illegal roulette cheating devices from Las Vegas.

A collection of illegal roulette cheating devices from Las Vegas.

It is not wise to make roulette balls with magnetic materials because the cheaters can exploit them. The cheaters are clever, so they try to switch the roulette balls with magnetic balls. This is obviously illegal, but sometimes, the cheaters manage to do it without the casino noticing.

Following are the standard methods cheaters use to switch the roulette balls.

  1. There is a detailed account of cheaters that would swap the roulette ball after distracting the dealer. One of them tried to buy in at the right moment, and the other person changed the ball when the dealer was distracted.
  2. Sometimes, the casino staff is involved, and the ball switching is easy for the cheaters.
  3. Cheaters try to identify dealers that spin the ball too fast, which often causes the ball to jump out of the wheel. With the right timing, they can fetch the fallen ball and replace it with the magnetic one.
  4. The cheaters also pretend to find a lost ball and hand it to the dealer or staff. They try to track where the ball is used and use it to scam the casino.

After the magnetic ball has replaced the original ball, the cheating players use electromagnets to influence it. They can hide these electromagnets in their purse or put the magnet on their leg. When the cheater is sure they can make the ball land near a particular number, they signal their partner to bet huge.

This method works well for the cheaters because they can increase their chances of winning. Even if a cheater is caught with the magnet, they claim that they are working alone and don’t name their partner. So the partner gets away with the winnings, and they move on to the next casino.

Automated roulette wheels use magnetic balls and a metal core to make the ball spin automatically. Cheaters can try to influence such automatic roulette wheels as well. This is not legal, and you should never make any attempts to do so.

Ivory delrin material is not used in most european casinos anymore due to laws.

Ivory delrin material is not used in most european casinos anymore due to laws.

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What to Look for When Buying Professional Roulette Balls

There are many places where you can buy roulette balls, but you need to pick roulette balls with the lowest margin of error. Ideally, the roulette ball should have 0.0001 inches of error or lower.

If you can somehow spin the ball and test it before buying it, it would give you a much better idea about the quality of the roulette ball. Some suppliers don’t make honest claims about their roulette balls, so you need to verify before buying.

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Learn More About Casino Roulette

First of all, we would like to thank you for reading this article. We hope you learned a thing or two about roulette balls. You can enjoy several other articles on roulette and gambling on our website.

BETO has got reviews, guides, tips and tricks, and articles on many other topics that will make you a gambling expert in no time. Our website is updated frequently, so you should keep following us to get the latest updates.

Roulette is a classic game that is not going to go anywhere. Many fun variants of roulette have been introduced by providers such as Evolution Gaming live games. We don’t think you need to play any variants simply because the regular roulette is so much fun. You will enjoy trying different betting strategies. It feels fantastic when the ball lands on the number that you bet on.

Now let us take a look a look at some fun and interesting facts about roulette.

  • French roulette games has the best odds, followed by European and American roulette.
  • Roulette is one of the most rewarding casino games, with a maximum payout of 35x if you bet on the correct number.
  • Roulette is one of the most flexible casino games ever. You can bet according to how much risk you want to take. If you are feeling lucky, you can bet on a few numbers. If you want to play safe, you can bet on the colour.
  • Some people have bet thousands of dollars on a single number and managed to win 35x their bet. It takes courage and a little bit of madness to try something like this, and we advise against it.
  • The roulette-odds of the ball landing on the same number twice is high but still believable. Unbelievably, the roulette ball landed on the same number six times in a row at the El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico in July 1959.
  • Some players online claim that roulette is rigged, but this is not the case with legitimate casinos with proper licenses. All of the significant providers take every measure to ensure that each game is fair. So you should take any claims of cheating with a grain of salt.

Video: Roulette Ball - How it Impacts Your Live Casino Gameplay

Video from a live european roulette game.

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Frequently Asked Questions About the Roulette ball

In this section, we will cover some common questions about the roulette ball.

Is it possible to touch the roulette ball as a player?

No, you aren’t allowed to touch the roulette ball or bring a roulette ball of your own. If you are caught, it will be considered an attempt to cheat.

Are there any nicknames for roulette balls?

Yes, many live casino players call the roulette ball the “pill”. A small seize pill will jump around on the table alot more than the larger balls.

What are the materials used to make roulette balls?

In the beginning, roulette balls were made of wood or ivory. They are made of different materials like teflon, acetal, nylon, and phenolic in modern times. The material is essential because it determines how bouncy the ball is.

Do the casino dealers keep extra roulette balls with them?

Yes, the dealers try to keep at least 2-3 extra roulette balls. It is common for the dealers to switch the roulette balls from time to time.