Dealer signature in casino rouletteRoulette is a popular casino table game originating from France. Players place bets on either a single number, various groupings of numbers, the colors red... More refers to the notion that over time roulette dealers may—intentionally or unintentionally—come to spin the wheel and release the ball so consistently that it leads to a predictable pattern with regard to which section of the wheel the ball will land on.
Some gamblers believe that identifying a dealer’s signature can give them an edge by narrowing down the possible outcomes. Many casinos allow players to bet on sections of the wheel rather than just groups of numbers to facilitate the use of such strategies by players, though even without such betting options players can simply bet on groups of numbers that correspond to sections of the wheel.
Skeptics argue that the multitude of variables in each spin, such as ball bounce and wheel conditions, make any potential signature practically indiscernible and thus not a reliable strategy for gaining an advantageIn gambling, one's advantage (or disadvantage) refers to the percent of each bet a gambler (or the house) can expect to win (or lose) on.... To counteract any potential for dealer signatures, casinos ensure that dealers rotate between tables, frequently change roulette wheels and ball types, and train dealers to vary their spin speeds and starting numbers, thereby maintaining the game’s randomness.
Many long-term dealers believe they can intentionally hit sections of the wheel with sufficient reliability to change the odds to a player’s favor and that they can use that skill to aid a friend or other confederate, but whether the best croupiersA "croupier" is primarily a European term, referring to the casino game attendant responsible for managing the betting and game actions of table games, especially... can successfully do that or they are biasedIn decision science, bias refers to systematic and predictable deviations from accepted models of rationality. In scientific language, "systematic" and "predictable" are not meant to... on their self-assessments, how that skill might depends on regional differences in roulette wheel design, and how much the success of such acts of collusion might depend on casino countermeasures is largely a matter of speculation, with many anecdotes alongside convinced and convincing book authors and casino employees arguing unambiguously on one side or the other of the debate.
For an example of a real-world case where mathematicians using a wearable computer were able to estimate where the roulette ballThe roulette ball is the small, marble-sized ball that is spun around a roulette wheel (by the croupier) until it comes to rest on one... would land well enough to gain an advantage, see the wonderful book, Fortune’s Formula by William Poundstone, although such methods are likely impossible in today’s casino environment, at least in major casino destinations such as Las Vegas.