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games discussed in the previous page are far and
away the most popular ones offered by the casinos.
They get the most money action and give the house
the biggest profits. However, there are other casino
games, sometimes called side casino games, which
net the casino a steady profit. Not all the games
covered in this section will be found in every casino,
but the reader should know something about them,
if for no other reason than to know that they're
all sucker games and should be avoided.
Big Six or Money Wheel
The game is known by either name and is a relic
of the old carnival spin-the-wheel game, in which
a wheel is turned by the operator, and if the correct
symbol or number comes up, the player wins.
Most clubs don't have the big six wheel and those
that do generally have no more than one in operation.
However, since the wheel was a popular attraction
for many many years on the boardwalk in Atlantic
City, casinos there have installed them.
The wheel itself is usually an ornate and elaborate
affair about six feet in diameter. On its pedestal
it stands about eight feet off the floor. The wheel
is divided into nine parts, in a continuous circle,
each part holding six pockets, so that there are
fifty-four individual pockets, each holding one
of the symbols that can be bet on.
Dividing each pocket are metal nails, and as the
wheel is spun, a suspended leather strap hits each
pocket in turn, till the machine slows down and
finally stops of its own momentum, with the strap
then standing clearly in one pocket. Whoever has
wagered on the symbol of that pocket wins his or
her bet.
The wheels today are marked with American currency
symbols. There are $1, $2, $5, $10, and $20 denominations
represented, and should the strap stand in a pocket
containing any of these symbols, the payoff would
be that amount. For example, if the symbol in the
pocket were $1, players who bet on the $1 symbol
would be paid $ I. If the pocket contained a $20
symbol, then bettors would receive $20 for their
$1 bet. Of course, there are many more $1 than $20
symbols on the wheel.
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