Live vs Physical Roulette

What is the same

The wheel, the ballequipmentBallThe small ball launched along the track against the rotor. Modern balls are ivorine or Teflon, 18–21 mm.Read full →, the dealer’s procedure and the house edgemathHouse edgeThe share of each stake the casino keeps on average: 2.70% in European roulette.Read full →. A studio wheel is the same professional equipment a casino floor uses, often from the same two or three manufacturers, maintained to the same standards and inspected on the same schedule. The dealer spins the rotorequipmentRotorThe spinning part of the wheel that carries the pockets.Read full →, launches the ball against it, calls no more betsprocedureNo more betsThe dealer’s call (or the on-screen prompt) that closes betting. Chips may no longer be placed, moved or removed.Read full →, announces the result and places the dollyequipmentDollyThe marker placed on the winning number on the layout while bets are settled.Read full →, exactly as on a floor.

What differs

Bets are placed on a screen within a window that the server opens and closes. Results are read twice: by the dealer and by an optical or sensor system, and the two must agree. The stream you watch is one to three seconds behind the room. ChipsmoneyChipA token representing a fixed amount, placed on the layout to make a bet. Also: check.Read full → are virtual, so hundreds of players can bet the same spot without crowding, and nobody’s elbow knocks your stack. Minimums are lower than a casino floor and higher than an RNG table.

Live Roulette Technology

The betting window

On a floor, bets close when the dealer judges the ball has three or four laps left, and a late chip is a matter of the dealer’s eye. In a studio, the server closes betting at a fixed point in the dealer’s sequence, typically before or just after the launch, and no bet can be entered after that regardless of what the stream shows. This is also why the stream delay does not matter: by the time you see the ball slow, betting has been closed for several seconds.

Reading the result

Studios use image recognition on the wheel camera, sometimes backed by a sensor in the rim, to read the winning pocketequipmentPocketOne of the 37 numbered compartments on the rotor. Also: slot, cup.Read full →. The dealer confirms on a touchscreen. If the two disagree the round is held and a supervisor resolves it from the recording. PayoutsmoneyPayoutWhat a winning bet returns, quoted as “X to 1” on top of the returned stake.Read full → are computed by the game server, not by the dealer, so the step where a floor dealer counts out 35 chips simply does not exist; your balance updates.

Which is better?

For odds: identical. For cost per hour: the studio runs faster, so at the same stake it is dearer per hour and cheaper per spin in minimums. For the social experience: the floor. For convenience and record-keeping: the studio, which logs every spin and every bet, which is also what makes the published spin histories used in the Lab possible.

Reading Published Spin Histories

Questions