Roulette came into being in France in the 18th century and it has gone on to become one of the most popular table games at casinos, whether it is an online casino or a land-based one. However, the techniques used to make roulette wheels is something that goes back even more to Blaise Pascal and his attempt to make a perpetual motion machine. You might think that a roulette wheel is easy to make, but as you are about to see, it isn’t.

The Materials Used

Like back in the day, the majority of roulette wheel frames are made from wood. This is because wood is the most reliable material and is the best when it comes to making classy looking roulette wheels. Mahogany is often the wood that is used as when it is polished it gives a lovely smooth and shiny look.

The bit of the wheel where all the action takes place (the bit that you are most interested in) is made using metal. However, there are some companies that use plastic. In our opinion though, metal is the best material to use as it just looks that bit better. The numbers are divided using metal and the handle is usually made from metal as well.

What Are the Size Regulations?

Due to casino regulations, roulette wheels must be 32 inches in diameter. The average roulette wheel will weigh somewhere in the region of 100 pounds. If you are making your own roulette wheel to use at home, then you can obviously make it any size that you like. If you want to make your own roulette wheel, there are plenty of DIY sites on the Internet that you can use to help you out.

How a Roulette Wheel is Produced

The first step is to make the wooden frame. Once this has been done, it needs to be sandblasted and polished. Then, the next step is to paint it – it is usually painted in a way that it keeps the wooden texture, but sometimes you will find that the side of the wheel has been painted black. The metal wheel is then added, with all the numbers in the correct position. You might think the numbers are completely random, but they are actually added in a way that ensures balance. The following step is to install the divider pockets to make sure that the ball will only stop on one number. The final step in the roulette wheel making process is to install the handle in the middle of the wheel.

Every Wheel Must be Tested

Every wheel that is made for a casino must go through rigorous testing. This is to make sure that the wheel spins smoothly and that no irregularities exist. The pockets must then be measured to make sure that there is the same space between each number. If a wheel is made properly, they can last for a few decades before they need to be replaced.

Be Careful of Rigged Wheels

We now live in a world where money rules, meaning that there will always be some casinos that want to make sure that they always have a much better chance of winning than the player. To do this they use magnets that control where the ball will land or a small pin the appears when the croupier pushes a button under the table. However, if you are playing at a licensed and well-respected casino, you probably do not need to worry about this happening to you. If you are playing in a back-alley casino, then you cannot be too surprised if you come across some rigged games.

Online Casino Roulette Wheels

Although the majority of online roulette games played at online casinos use animated virtual wheels, if you decided to play at a live casino with a real live croupier, they use the proper real roulette wheel. So, you will find that all the same anti-rigging rules apply. For the virtual roulette games, a Random Number Generator is used to keep the game from being hacked. It is the job of regulators from fairness agencies such as eCOGRA to administer random inspections of online casinos to ensure that their games of online roulette have not been tampered with and are indeed playing fair. Here is list of checked, regulated and the best roulette casinos online.