Part II: Table Game Cheating · Roulette Cheating Methods

Scam #18: Loosened Frets (a.k.a. Pocket Spacing Manipulation)

How it works

The frets (also called separators or canoes) are the raised barriers between each numbered pocket on the roulette wheel. By selectively loosening or modifying specific frets, a cheater can alter how the ball behaves when it hits those pockets. A loosened or lowered fret allows the ball to bounce out more easily, making that pocket less likely to retain the ball. Conversely, tightening or raising frets on target numbers makes those pockets more “sticky” — the ball is more likely to settle there. This manipulation creates a subtle but exploitable bias. The modification is typically done by a dishonest maintenance worker or by a cheater with after-hours access to the gaming floor. The changes can be subtle enough to evade casual visual inspection but still produce a measurable statistical effect over thousands of spins.

Where it appears

Physical roulette wheels with removable frets

On the record

Frets are one of the most common sources of natural wheel bias — through normal wear and tear, some frets become looser than others, creating unintentional bias. Casinos that neglect maintenance may inadvertently create exploitable conditions. The Gonzalo Garcia-Pelayo family exploited such natural fret wear as part of their bias detection system.

Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction — the method is described so it can be recognised.