Big Six Wheel is a game of chance that is also known under the name The Big Six or Wheel of Fortune. The game became popular and generally known when it appeared on television as a game show in the US. After the original US show, many countries started to have their own tv versions and today it would be hard to find a person who has never seen a Big Six Wheel or Wheel of Fortune show. However, you can not only watch Big Six Wheel on tv, but you can play it yourself in land-based casinos and even online. This game doesn’t come with great odds or a low house edge, but it will be a refreshing and fun game to play if you are getting tired of card games or slot machines.
Where to Play Big Six Wheel
The Big Six Wheel is ultimately a casino game so you should be looking for it on the casino floor. That being said, not all casinos, and especially not small ones, will have this game on offer. If you are from North America, you can play Big Six Wheel at Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Charles Town, Mississippi and Oklahoma casinos. The game is also available elsewhere, in the world such as in Macau, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Generally, large casinos will have one or two wheels where you can place your bets.
The game is also available in some online casinos, although, it is not nearly as common or popular as blackjack, poker, roulette or slots. Internet casinos usually have the Big Six Wheel game that was developed by Gamesys. This version uses a wheel with 51 slices with prizes of $1, $3, $7, $15, $23, and the bonus wins of $47. The advantage of this game when compared to brick-and-mortar casino Big Six Wheel games is that it comes with a much lower house edge. This means that players can play for a long time with small wagers.
The game can also be available in online casinos in a live dealer version. Live dealer Big Six Wheel games normally go under different names. Dream Catcher, Money Wheel and Wheel of Fortune all use the same basic concept. Evolution Gaming is the biggest live dealer game software provider and their Dream Catcher is the most notable variant of the game.
How to Play Big Six Wheel
As you may guess from its name, Big Six Wheel uses a giant wheel (around 1.5 meters in diameter). The wheel has a certain number of segments on it that are marked by a set of numbers or symbols. The wheel’s segments are equal and are divided by spokes. The wheel is vertical and on its top, there is a flexible flipper made of rubber or leather. This flipper provides friction on the spokes of the wheel. The wheel is spun by a dealer and the flipper eventually slows the wheel to a stop. The wheel stops on a segment and the number or symbol of the segment determines the winner.
Common Game Characteristics
- Most games have 52 or 54 segments
- There are six different payoffs available – hence the name “Big Six”
- The segments can be marked by numbers, colours or symbols
- Usually, two segments of the wheel have a joker or the casino’s logo
- Players take bets on where the wheel is going to stop
- Some numbers or symbols have more segments than others giving a higher or lower probability for them to win
- The lowest prizes have the most segments
- In the virtual version of the game, there is no dealer. A random number generator determines the outcome of the game
Step-by-step Big Six Wheel Guide
Playing Big Six Wheel is very easy both online and in land-based casinos. These are the steps you need to follow:
- Buy your chips from the dealer or fund your player account in the online casino
- Place your bet on the dollar or logo spaces you would like to play. In an online casino, you will first have to click on the wager amount and then click on the betting space. Keep it in mind, that in Big Six you are allowed to make multiple bets per game
- Wait for the wheel to be spun
- If you won, your bet will be paid out
Available Bets
In Big Six Wheel games, players can place bets on the numbers/symbols/colours marked on the segments. It depends on the game variant how many segments each number/symbol has, what the payouts are and what house edge each bet comes with.
Perhaps it is easiest to understand the “Money Wheel” variant, predominant in casinos in the United States. The symbols are $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 bills and this is exactly what you are going to win with a $1 wager. Apart from these bets, there are two other available options – the joker and the casino’s logo that pay 1:40 or 1:45 depending on the casino. In other variants of the game, you can bet on numbers, symbols or colours and you will have to examine the payout table to find out how much you can win with each bet.
Game Variants
The basic idea of betting on a certain segment is the same in all versions of the game – be it in land-based casinos, virtual games or live dealer games. However, there can be different numbers of segments on different wheels and some wheels use numbers while others use colours or different symbols that players can bet on.
Money Wheel
This version is predominant in American casinos and you will find them with slight variations in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Charles Town casinos. The house edge is high on these games when compared to other casino games. In Las Vegas casinos, it starts at 11.11%.
Dice Wheel
The symbols on the dice wheel are representations of some of the 216 possible combinations of three dice. The same combination can appear in more than one segment. Players can bet on numbers 1 through 6. If the number they bet on appears on one of the dice in the winning segment, the game pays out at 1 to 1. If the number appears on two of the dice it pays 2 to 1 and when it is on all three of the dice, it pays 3 to 1.
In some versions of the dice wheel, triples and certain doubles appear four times. In this version, there are 7 possible outcomes for each number to be present once in the segment and four possible outcomes for two dice to match and four possible outcomes for all three dice to match.
This version is not often seen in casinos but can be spotted at traveling carnivals and is sometimes played as a party game. The symbolism on the wheel may remind you of other dice games, Sic Bo or Chuck-a-luck.
Macau Wheel
In Macau, the wheel of the Big Six game has colour markings instead of displaying numbers or symbols. There are 24 orange segments, 12 purple, 8 green, 4 blue and 2 yellow ones. The most valuable segments are two different logos and you will find one of each on the wheel. They pay 45 to 1.
Dream Cather Live
This game was developed by Evolution Gaming and it is available in very many online casinos that cater to international punters. It is essentially a version of the original Big Six game, however, it comes with two multipliers instead of jokers.
The wheel has 54 segments and the possible outcomes on the wheel are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 40, 2x, and 7x. There are 23 segments of 1, fifteen segments of 2, seven of 5, four of 10, two of 20 and one of 40. There is one 2x multiplier and one 7x multiplier. When you bet on a number and win, you keep your bet plus your bet multiplied by the number. For example, if you bet $10 on 5 and the wheel stops on 5, you win $10×5 = $50 plus your original bet.
When the wheel stops on one of the multipliers, all bets remain standing, and wins on the next spin shall be multiplied by the multiplier the wheel stopped on in the original spin. If the wheel stops on a multiplier more than once in a row, the next win will be multiplied by all the previously spun multipliers. For example, You bet $5 on 5. The first spin is 7x, the next is 2x, and the one after that is 5. Your win will be $5 × 7 × 2 × 5 = $350. The maximum win is $500,000 or currency equivalent.
Other Variants
Licensed casinos in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand use another wheel that has 52 segments. Instead of numbers, this wheel has letters (A, B, C, D, E, F and G) written on the segments. In these games, the house edge is considerably better than in the American version. All the bets share the same house edge which is 7.7%.
There is another interesting Big Six game in Australia, that uses the names of native Australian animals instead of numbers or letters. The Kangaroo and the Emu are the most valuable segments – segments equivalent to the joker or casino logo segments in the Money Wheel versions. These pay 47 to 1. The least valuable symbol is the Koala, and there are 24 segments of this symbol on the wheel. The Koala pays 1 to 1. The house edge is again 7.7% on all bets.
Odds and House Edge
In general, the house edge is not great on Big Six Wheel types of games. It is certainly worse than that of video poker, baccarat, craps, blackjack or roulette and most of the time even worse than slot machines. However, where you play and what bets you place do make a difference.
The standard North American wheel offers these house edges:
- $1 – 11.11%
- $2 – 16.67%
- $5 – 22.22%
- $10 – 18.52%
- $20 – 22.22%
- Logo #1 – 24.07%
- Logo #2 – 24.07%
The house edge in the Macau version is somewhat better at:
- Orange – 7.69% house edge
- Purple – 7.69%
- Green – 7.69%
- Blue – 15.38%
- Yellow – 19.23%
- Logo #1 – 11.54%
- Logo #2 – 11.54%
The Dream Catcher games offer the best house edge at:
- $1 – 4.66% house edge
- $2 – 4.49%
- $5 – 8.76%
- $10 – 3.42%
- $20 – 7.26%
- $40 – 9.19%
- 2x and 7x multiplier – complicated to calculate but small
As you can see from the above numbers, it is best to play Big Six Wheel online as this version offers the lowest house edge. The least risky bet is betting on $1, 1 or the orange field however, these bets only pay even money. The probability of these bets is between 44% and 48% which is only slightly worse than betting on odd/even, red/black or low number/high number in roulette.
Big Six Wheel Strategy
Big Six Wheel is a game of chance and the players’ skills don’t have any significance. In brick-and-mortar casinos, some players try to observe the dealer closely to see how many rotations the wheel completes before coming to a stop. For this reason, dealers are often changing and different dealers spin the wheel with different forces. Dealers can also try to alternate the speed of the wheel by using more or less force on each spin. Bet on the $1 bet as this one has the best odds. But remember, your chances of winning are still under 50% so if you manage to win a few times in a row, perhaps it’s time to finish your session.