Dealers are human. They have friends and family, and lives outside of the kasino. Not every dealer pays attention to his or her job 100 per cent of the time. Because dealers may be thinking about other things while spinning the ball around the roulette wheel, the observant player may be able to determine whether that dealer is unconsciously (or consciously) giving the players an advantage.
Some experienced roulette players swear that some dealers spin the ball at exactly the same speed each time. By noting where the wheel is at the exact moment the ball takes off, these players believe they can predict, within a few numbers where the ball is going to land. Since you can continue to bet after the spin begins, they say they are able to cover those numbers and, more often than not, they claim to win. Sceptics discount these theories. Even if that were possible, they say, there are “ball stops” scattered around the wheel, little pieces of ornamentation that deflect the ball, making it difficult. if not impossible, to predict the ball’s path.
Whether it works or not is debatable, but it’s worth a look. Notice the speed of the ball as it leaves the dealer’s hand. Count the number of times the ball circumnavigates the wheel. And, of course, note where it lands in comparison to where it was launched.
If you find a “dealer signature”, it may only last for a short time. It could be at the end of the shift, when the dealer is thinking only about going home, or it could be at the beginning of the shift, when the dealer is thinking about the events of the previous evening. Like a human being, a dealer signature is a very fragile thing.