In 2004 a team of roulette players took the exclusive Ritz Casino in London’s Mayfair for over US$2 million. An ingenious device was used with a concealed computer, digital time recorder and an unobtrusive earpiece. Using an algorithms programme, the system calculates the deceleration of the roulette ball and its fall into a certain sector of the roulette wheel, giving over a 20% advantage to the player. In cases of lack of wheel maintenance and alignment, this advantage can even be as much as 100%.

Up to this point it could be said that the computer has replaced the human brain in the pastime of many roulette players - that of watching wheel spins in order to seize an advantage over the house. The detection of where the ball will fall is part of the fascination and mystique of the game. The gadgets now on sale may remove some of the guesswork but if roulette is dealt with efficiency and professionalism the declared advantages to the player should not be created.

Without saying it in so many words, the UK Gambling Commission seems to concur. Predicting where the ball will fall, mentally or with electronic assistance, is not illegal and cannot be considered cheating. From Sheffield, where Mark Howe apparently sells the gadgets for winning at roulette for £1,000 (US$1800), comes the insistence that they also work on perfectly balanced wheels. The Gambling Commission would be loathe to admit that roulette wheels can have a bias, as the game could be perceived as being unfair to players. Of course it is possible for roulette wheels to have a bias, mostly from lack of maintenance rather than in their manufacture.

However, it is the inconsistencies of the human element that give players using electronic devices the edge. This human factor and professional casino management both leave much to be desired in the British gaming industry. It was poor management practices that allowed the Ritz to lose so much, and if other casinos permit devices such as those produced by Howe to affect their GGR then they should not be in the business.

Players have always used systems and well-run casinos roll out the red carpet for them. With or without gadgets, play is play and the house should maintain its winning margin. The rest is just part of the folklore surrounding this incredible industry and its manner of entertaining. If casinos lose then they should lose the operators who don’t know how to run the business. (E-09.18.06)

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