The Big Six wheel

9 November 2019

By John Marchel

The Big Six wheel has been given various names over the years, including Money Wheel, Dice Wheel, Wheel of Fortune, Big Wheel and Lucky Wheel. Regardless of the name, it’s a large, normally six-foot vertical rotating wheel that came from American carnivals and has been adapted by many casinos worldwide.

There are a number of variants of game that divide the wheel itself into a different number of segments, use different symbols in the segments, and have different odds if a symbol is selected. After spinning the wheel by the dealer, a suspended leather strap hits each pocket in turn, until the wheel stops. With the strap resting clearly in one pocket, the dealer awards whoever bet on that symbol. Casino management is trying to get one last bet from you before you leave. The Big Six Wheel is a pretty simple game to comprehend but, it’s nearly impossible game to beat. I tell my students to watch it but never play it.

It is believed that in Roman times after a battle, soldiers would often contest over the spoils of their fallen enemy’s. To avoid more bloodshed and settle disrupts they would upturn chariot wheels and spin the wheel. Soldiers would mark their spot and the winner would take the spoils. Historians tell us that were the original gambling wheel came from.

In the U.S., the wheel has 54 segments that the outcome can rest on. But in Australia, they have only 52 segments, making it a better game for the player. The U.S. uses six symbols. They are designated after U.S. currency: $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 bills, and two special symbols, normally a joker and the casino logo. The $1 bills pay at odds of 1 to 1, the $2 bills at 2 to 1, the $5 bills at 5 to 1, and so on. The joker and the logo pay at odds of 40 to 1. The house advantage for this game ranges from 11% to 24% for the joker and casino logo bets. The $5 bet has the best odds; ONLY 11.11% against the player – wow!

On the dice wheel, the symbols represent some of the 216 possible combinations of three dice. Sometimes the same combination appears in more than one segment. Players wager on the numbers 1 through 6. If the number appears on one of the dice in the winning segment, the dealer pays at 1 to 1; on two of the dice, 2 to 1; on all three of the dice, 3 to 1. Still not a good game for the player.

In Macau the game wheel is the same size, but instead of dollars, it has colors (24-orange, 12-purple, 5-green, 4-blue, 2-yellow, 1-logo1, 1-logo2). The Big Six is not very popular in Macau, but the larger casinos will usually have at least one wheel in a prominent area. Like in the U.S., management likes to get one last bet from you before you leave.


BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

• What are the real money results for playing the Big Six Wheel? The casino owners walk away with an average of 51 cents for every dollar bet.

• The house advantage of this game is one of the highest of all casino games.

• The game is usually staffed near the front door with an attractive, well-endowed female dealer. Just one of those Las Vegas traditions.

• The Star City casino in Sydney, Australia has a similar game, called the "Big Wheel." Instead of money, colors or dice, it uses native Australian animals in the segments.

• The Atlantic City is the same as the Las Vegas one, except they change one $1 position to $5, and the pay 45 instead of 40 on the two logos.

• In some countries with variations of the Big Wheel game, the difference in payout levels and the number of symbols on the wheel compared to the number of slots available can greatly alter the house edge.

• There are 24 symbols on the wheel that will give you a win out of a total of 52. This means you have only a 46.15% chance of hitting the symbol you need to win on.

• Many casinos don’t have a Big Wheel anymore; however, since the wheel was a popular attraction years ago on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, many casinos there have installed them.

• Remember, every spin is an entirely random event. Just because a pattern seems to appear doesn’t mean the next spin will follow that pattern.