[pzhon]

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He said it is pretty easy to hit one section a wheel if you try.

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I have no direct personal knowledge of how easy it might be to manipulate the roulette wheel. However, I have a lot of experience with gamblers, and people who say they can predict random numbers.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Far fewer people believe they can predict random numbers than say that they can. Many people say that they can predict the dice in online backgammon. I frequently offer to make side bets, e.g., if they think 6-6 happens 1/30 of the time, I'll pay 32:1. That almost always shuts people up. People don't believe the crap they say enough to bet on it.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Far fewer people have a real ability to predict random numbers, or to manipulate dice or the wheel, than believe that they do. It's very easy to find patterns in past data, and to exaggerate what you have seen.

I'm not going to say it's impossible to manipulate the roulette wheel. For all I know, it may be no more difficult than a perfect riffle shuffle, which many magicians can do reliably. However, given that someone tells you that they can manipulate the wheel, the probability that they actually can is very low. Even those who don't believe it themselves will have stories to try to get you to believe that they can.

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However there are several things that prevent anyone from getting rich.

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The obstacles you mention are not plausible. The advantage this ability would confer would be huge in comparison with other advantage gambles. It doesn't have to be close to a lock to be exploitable, and it doesn't have to be used in a way that would be obvious. If this ability really were common, it would be exploited often.