Six (6)

The number 6 is a number that features pretty heavily on the roulette wheel (and table). There are six squared numbers on the wheel of course (36). It’s a divisor of 12 and the number 24 which you see s lot on the betting table, and then there’s the Six Line Bet that you can make that covers 6 numbers (or just under a sixth of the table- remember you have a 0 pocket in European Roulette and a 00 pocket in American Roulette. And of course, that infamous fact- if you add up all of the numbers on a roulette wheel, you get 666, not a good number if you happen to be a Christian!

On whatever type of wheel this works, of course.

6 might be seen as a bit of an evil number in the West (see below), but it is considered quite lucky in China. Not as lucky as the number eight, but quite lucky in any case. You see quite a bit of 6 in roulette (like the number 12). So you have the six line bet, and the wheel divides nicely into 6 equal segments. Just like the number 28, the number 6 is known as a Perfect Number. if you add up it´s divisors (1+2+3), you get back to 6.

This “unlucky” reputation means, along with red 34, the number 6 is one of the most unpopular numbers on the roulette wheel. We are not sure why 34 suffers the same fate- it’s probably one of those “lost” numbers that no-one notices.

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How to Play the Number Six in Roulette

Just place a single bet on the number, which is a black number that sits between red 34 and red 27 on a European Wheel and red 18 and red 21 on the American version. Of course, that’s a pretty risky bet, unless you intend to bet low and repeat the bet lots of times (to give yourself more time for the ball to drop in- it should drop in eventually- hopefully before your 35th spin, as the bet pays out at 35:1.

Other inside bets such as the corner bet, the six line bet, the split bet and the street bet can also be used to cover black 6 with varying amounts of table coverage.

You can also make an outside even money bet on black, even or the low numbers. This will cover 6 and just under half of the table (remember you have the zero pocket(s) to contend with.

Riskier bets include the last (top) column or the first dozen (payout 2:1). You could also play the 007 bet, a Finales 6 en Plein or a Finales a Cheval on 3 and 6 (8 numbers covered on this one- quite an interesting bet.

The number 6 is an Orphan Number. It is part of a group of numbers that are neither in the Voisins (Neighbours) du Zero or in the Tiers which lie opposite on the wheel. A bet on the Orphans will cover six as well.

What’s the Deal With Number Six?

6 is the smallest positive natural number that is neither a square number nor a prime number. Those qualities belong to 1,2,3,4 and 5. You could say 6 is where the numbers start getting complicated. It’s also unique in that you can arrive at six by multiplying and adding 3 consecutive numbers: 1,2 and 3. No other number has that quality. I am not sure that is going to help you on the roulette wheel, but it demonstrates that six is a pretty interesting number. It´s a triangular number like number 3, number fifteen and number 21 (read all about those on the number 15 page).

It features pretty highly in religion of course, and it’s not all bad. There are six points on the star of David, God created the world in 6 days (the 7th was a day off) and so on. But it gets it’s bad rap for the number 666- the so called Number of the Beast in the Book of Revelation. 666 is a triangular number (the sum of the first 36 numbers as we mentioned above). It’s fair to say that the number’s bad reputation has been amplified by Hollywood, with films such as the Omen series for example.

In any case, we are talking about 6, not 666, but that doesn’t stop people being superstitious about it in the West.

More Facts About 6

It’s a pretty civilised number given that a “six” is a shot in cricket where the ball sails over the boundary without bouncing. The batsman scores six runs, and there are six balls to an over.

Staying on the sports theme, there are six players in volleyball, and the blindside flanker normally wears a six in a rugby union game (unless they are playing left and right flankers- unusual these days).

6 is the atomic number for Carbon- a pretty important element for us carbon based life-forms! You see 6 a lot in nature- insects walk around on six legs and bees build a six sided beehive.

Next time it snows, have a look at the flakes closely. You might notice that they are symmetrical 6 ways.

Six is seen as a pretty powerful number (just ask the Six Million Dollar Man). If you spend a lot of time in the gym, you might end up with a six-pack

The Number Six in China

Many Chinese people Chinese people consider Six (六) to be a lucky number as it sounds similar to smooth or well-off. Chinese people generally prefer even numbers to odd numbers (except the number 4 that is). The number 6 is associated with success. The Mandarin word for “six” sounds very like the word for “flow”.

When a person gets to his or her 66th birthday, it calls for a big party in China, as believe that if you live to 66, you will live a long life.

There is a famous expression in China: “六六大顺” (liù liù dà shùn), which means “good going on the double sixes”. It does depend on where in China you are though. Further south, where everyone speaks Cantonese, 6 is a lucky number because the number 6 and the word for luck sound similar.

Careful though, because in Hong Kong the words for “luck” and “down” sound the same, hence 6 sounds similar to “down” as well. We have heard of some Chinese players who avoid it for that reason (if you happen to be a superstitious person of course).

So Is the Number Six Unlucky in Roulette?

The weight of evidence would seem to suggest that more people avoid six than have it as their lucky number. On the roulette table, it is as lucky or as unlucky as any other number of course, unless you happen to be playing on a biased roulette wheel that keep the number six pocket out in the cold.