Shotwell Roulette System

The Shotwell System surfaced at the end of the seventies, and remains well used today. You’ll often see this being played at casinos around the world if you look carefully- it’s not immediately obvious what players are doing, but once you know the methodology, it’s pretty easy to spot. Here are some roulette tips on how to play it.

Many players distribute their chips evenly on the betting table in the (mistaken) belief that they there are distributing them evenly on the wheel and thus spreading their chances, hoping that they have covered a good area of the wheel for the ball to land in.

But of course, one problem with this approach, is that the distribution of the numbers on the wheel bears no resemblance to the distribution of the numbers on the table, which are ordered sequentially so that you can place you chips easily.

In fact, the distribution of the numbers in an American Roulette game on the wheel is different to that on a European roulette wheel. This kind of sector covering is popular with many players (there are even theories on how you can increased your edge using roulette chaos theory, but that’s another conversation).

Play the Shotwell at Virgin

So if your plan is to evenly space out your bets across the wheel, and not the table, you need to have more of a think about what you are doing.

And this is essentially what the Shotwell System is trying to do with a combination of 6 number bets and single number bets. Shotwell bets will differ, depending on whether you are on a European or an American table, as we mentioned above. The strategy was first used on an American table, but we would recommend you play this (and any other system here on OnlineRoulette.org.uk) on a European Roulette table. The odds are better.

The idea, is to have no more than 3 numbers in between each number you have bet on. Once you have chosen your 6-line bet, then go ahead and work out your single number bets by placing them in the gaps (maximum 3 numbers between each bet- on the wheel that is).

So on an American wheel, this would be:

Six Number Bet Straight Up Bets
1 through 6 20, 26, 8,10

So on an European wheel, this would be:

Six Number Bet Straight Up Bets
1 through 6 15, 27, 30, 9, 7, 36
(See Image Above)

It’s more difficult to make the evenly spaced bets in European Roulette, as the numbers in the 6 line bets are more bunched up, but we’d still recommend you play this variant over American.

You can count off the gaps clockwise or anti-clockwise- it’s up to you. The best place to test this? We’d say a Microgaming roulette variant like Premier Roulette or European Roulette.