Big Six Wheel is a casino game where a dealer spins a large vertical wheel and you bet on which symbol it stops on. It is one of the easiest table games to learn and one of the most expensive to play: on the standard Las Vegas wheel, the house edge runs from 11.11% on the $1 bet to 24.07% on the joker and logo.
The game also goes by Big Wheel, Money Wheel and Wheel of Fortune. Pay tables and wheel layouts vary by casino and by country, so the version in front of you matters more than any betting system.
How Big Six Wheel works
The US wheel stands upright and is divided into 54 equal segments separated by pegs. A leather or rubber flapper at the top rubs against the pegs and slows the wheel until it stops, and the segment under the flapper wins.
The betting layout on the table matches the symbols on the wheel. In most US casinos those symbols are $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 bills, plus two special spots: a joker and a casino logo. You place chips on the symbol you want, the dealer spins, and every bet on the winning symbol is paid at the posted odds. Each bill pays its face value to 1, so a $1 bet on the $5 symbol wins $5.
The game is named for the six kinds of payout on the wheel. Symbols that appear on more segments win more often and pay less.
Big Six bets, payouts and house edge
US casinos use two main layouts. The difference is one segment moved from $1 to $5 and a better payout on the joker and logo, but it changes the house edge on almost every bet.
Las Vegas layout
| Bet | Segments (of 54) | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 24 | 1 to 1 | 11.11% |
| $2 | 15 | 2 to 1 | 16.67% |
| $5 | 7 | 5 to 1 | 22.22% |
| $10 | 4 | 10 to 1 | 18.52% |
| $20 | 2 | 20 to 1 | 22.22% |
| Joker or logo | 1 each | 40 to 1 | 24.07% |
Atlantic City layout
| Bet | Segments (of 54) | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 | 23 | 1 to 1 | 14.81% |
| $2 | 15 | 2 to 1 | 16.67% |
| $5 | 8 | 5 to 1 | 11.11% |
| $10 | 4 | 10 to 1 | 18.52% |
| $20 | 2 | 20 to 1 | 22.22% |
| Joker or logo | 1 each | 45 to 1 | 14.81% |
Both layouts turn up in casinos across the US, so before you bet, count the $1 and $5 segments and read the posted payout on the joker. On a 24-segment $1 wheel, the $1 bet is the best choice. On a 23/8 wheel, the $5 bet is.
For a plain explanation of how these percentages are worked out, see our guide to house edge and casino odds.
Big Six outside the US
Some casinos abroad use fairer wheels. In Australia, the Star City layout has 52 segments and pays 1, 3, 5, 11, 23 and 47 to 1, which gives a 7.69% house edge on every bet. The version licensed in the United Kingdom also uses a 52-segment wheel, marked with the letters A to G instead of bills, with house edges from about 1.9% on the rarest letters to more than 19% on others. Some machine-based and online versions use other layouts with lower edges, so always check the pay table.
Online, DraftKings runs a Big Six game on the Atlantic City layout but pays 50 to 1 on the joker and logo, which cuts the edge on those two bets to 5.56%.
Dice wheel and other variations
A dice wheel replaces the bills with pictures of three dice. You bet on a number from 1 to 6 and are paid 1, 2 or 3 to 1 depending on how many of the dice in the winning segment show your number. It works like the single-number bets in Sic Bo and chuck-a-luck, but with a 22.22% expected loss on a classic 54-segment carnival wheel. It is a carnival and fundraiser game far more than a casino one.
Mississippi Derby was a short-lived horse racing version with win, place and show bets, played at the Grand Casino in Gulfport, Mississippi. That casino was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Is there a Big Six Wheel strategy?
No betting system changes the house edge. Every spin is independent, so tracking past results or trying to predict where the wheel will stop does not help. The only decisions that matter are which wheel you play and which bet you make:
- Pick the bet with the lowest edge on that wheel: usually $1 on the Las Vegas layout and $5 on the Atlantic City layout.
- Avoid the joker and logo on any wheel that pays only 40 to 1.
- Treat it as a short, social game. At these edges, a long session costs more than almost any other table game.
If you want a simple game with a far lower house edge, roulette or baccarat is a much better use of your bankroll.
Big Six Wheel FAQ
What is the best bet on the Big Six Wheel?
It depends on the layout. On the Las Vegas wheel (24 $1 segments), the $1 bet has the lowest edge at 11.11%. On the Atlantic City wheel (23 $1 and 8 $5 segments), the $5 bet does, also at 11.11%.
Why is the Big Six house edge so high?
Each payout is set below the true odds of that symbol coming up. For example, the $1 symbol on a Las Vegas wheel covers 24 of 54 segments, so it loses more often than it wins, yet it pays only even money.
Is the Big Six Wheel the same as the Wheel of Fortune?
Wheel of Fortune is another name casinos use for the Big Six. It is a different game from the TV show and from the Wheel of Fortune slot machines.
Gamble only with money you can afford to lose. If gambling stops being fun, call or text the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-MY-RESET.