Big Six wheel odds: the house edge of every segment

The classic Big Six money wheel has 54 segments. The best bet, the 1, costs 11.11% of each stake; the joker paying 40 to 1 costs 24.07%. Even the best bet on the wheel costs far more than the worst common bet at a roulette table.

The classic 54-segment wheel. Each segment pays what is printed on it, to 1.
SegmentPaysChanceHouse edge
1 (24 segments)1 to 144.44%11.11%
2 (15 segments)2 to 127.78%16.67%
5 (7 segments)5 to 112.96%22.22%
10 (4 segments)10 to 17.41%18.52%
20 (2 segments)20 to 13.70%22.22%
Joker or logo (1 segment each)40 to 11.85%24.07% · at 45 to 1: 14.81%

Why the wheel costs so much

A fair pay for each segment would be its number of segments against the rest: the 1 appears on 24 of 54 segments, so a fair pay would be 30 to 24, a little more than even money, but it pays exactly even money. Every segment is short-paid this way, and the rarer segments are short-paid more.

For comparison, a single-zero roulette wheel costs 2.70% on every bet, and the house edge table ranks the wheel against every other game.

Questions

What is the best bet on the Big Six wheel?

The 1 segment at 11.11%. Every other segment costs more.

What are the odds of the joker on the money wheel?

1 in 54.0: one segment of 54. Paying 40 to 1 it costs 24.07%, paying 45 to 1 14.81%.

Are online money wheel games the same?

Not always. Live game-show wheels use their own segments, pays and bonus rounds, so their edges differ; the figures here are for the classic 54-segment Big Six wheel.

Every figure is computed by our code and checked a second way; see the methodology. Casino games are entertainment with a price: free help if gambling stops being fun.

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