Speed Roulette

Speed live

A dealer, a wheel, a 12–15 second betting windowliveBetting windowThe period in a live round during which bets are accepted, timed by the game server and shown as a countdown.Read full → and a ballequipmentBallThe small ball launched along the track against the rotor. Modern balls are ivorine or Teflon, 18–21 mm.Read full → launched the instant the previous round settles. No chat, no pause. Round length 30 to 40 seconds; 90 to 110 spins an hour. The odds are European; the bets are the same; the only change is the clock.

Auto roulette

A compressed-air wheel with no dealer, running continuously. The ball is launched by a mechanism; a sensor reads the result. Spins per hour can exceed 100, sometimes 130. Some auto wheels are physical and filmed; some are RNG with a wheel animation. The help panel says which.

Live Roulette Technology

Expected loss per hour

stake × spins per hour / 37. At $10: about $11 an hour on a slow floor table, $16 on a standard live table, $24 on a speed table, $54 on an RNG table played at 200 spins an hour. The stake and the odds are identical in every case; only the clock differs.

Live vs RNG Roulette

Cost per hour

Expected lossmathExpected lossExpected value times total amount wagered; the average amount lost over a session or a period.Read full → = stake × spins / 37. At $10 and 100 spins an hour that is $27 per hour, against about $14 on a 50-spin table. The player who moves from a classic table to a speed table at the same stake has doubled the price of the evening with no change in the odds. Halve the stake and the cost is back where it was.

Who it suits

Players who want many results quickly and are sizing the stake accordingly. Not players running a negative progressionstrategyProgressionAny rule that changes the stake based on previous results. Negative progressions raise it after losses, positive after wins.Read full →, who are now hitting the losing run that breaks it twice as often per hour. Not anyone who thinks of the stake as the price; on a speed table the price is the stake times two.

Pace as a budget tool

Because expected loss is linear in spins, the easiest way to halve the cost of an evening is to play half as many spins: a slower table, a longer break between bets, or sitting out spins. None of this changes the odds and all of it changes the bill. A player who sits out every other spin on a speed table has turned it into a standard table at no cost.

Pace and systems

Progressions are often sold with the advice to play fast “to get through the losing runs”. Playing fast gets you through everything faster, including your bankrollmoneyBankrollThe total amount set aside for play. Bankroll management is deciding how much of it to risk per bet and per session.Read full →, and increases the number of attempts per hour at the losing run that breaks the system. Speed is the enemy of every negative progression, in exact proportion to the stake.

Measuring it

Count rounds for ten minutes and multiply by six. Live tables publish round times in their help panels. The Demo Game on this site runs at any speed you like, including instant batches, which is a useful way to feel how fast 2.70% adds up at 1,000 spins.

Questions