Author: Matt Pelc | Article Posted at: April 23, 09 - 4:37 pm

Getting to Know the Big Six Wheel

One of the most popular casino games inspired the world-renowned hit game show the Wheel of Fortune. Even though the wheel on the iconic show is horizontal, the familiar vertical one seen in casinos was used in the show’s 1973 pilot.

The game is popular not only because of the television show, but because of its simplicity and fun. Whether it is called the Big Six, the Big Wheel, the Big Six Wheel or branded with the same name as the show, the game is easy to spot with its large wheel divided into 52 equal segments and two slightly smaller segments.

Each segment is divided by spokes or spikes so that when the wheel is spun by a dealer, it clicks and clacks due to a rubber or leather pointer at the top, which will later point to the winning section.

Gamers will wager on the dollar bills on the table under glass before them. Once all bets are made, the dealer will spin the wheel.

Most of the wheels consist of several dollar bills behind glass or symbols representing the monetary increments. The wheel will have the most spaces consisting of $1. Then the number of spaces decrease as the amount of money on the wheel increases. So there is less $2 than $1, less $5 than $2 and so on and so forth up until $10 and $20.

Also each number corresponds to the amount of payout each would yield. So hitting on a $20 space would pay 20 to 1, $10 equals 10 to 1, $5 would be 5 to 1 and so on.

Most wheels also have two spaces not of monetary value. The spaces may be jokers, or the casino logo or one of each. Since there is only two spaces for these non-monetary spots, hitting on them is of the highest odds, so payout could be 40 or 45 to 1, depending on the location.

The wheel is set up so that every other spot is a $1, or a 1 to 1 payout. That works out to 24 $1 bills on the wheel, followed by 15 $2, 7 $5, 4 $10, 2 $20 and 2 non-monetary spaces.

Please note that these rules are for the American version of the Big Six. There are other variations for casinos in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The major difference between the American version and the others is there are no non-monetary slots and the portions are equal 52 spaces. Each space is represented by a symbol with odds and payouts on an escalating scale much like the American version.

As always, have fun and bet wisely!

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