About this game
Little Thirteen shrinks the wheel to just 13 pockets. With so few pockets every number comes round often, which makes it a lively way to see probability in action — but the small wheel also carries the largest margin in the room.
💡 Tip: Use this wheel to see a margin clearly: the zero is one pocket in 13, and you will notice it far more often than on a full wheel.
How to play
- Set your credits per round — every chip you place costs that amount.
- Tap a number or an outside area (red/black, odd/even, 1–18/19–36, a dozen) to place a chip; you can place several.
- Check the total in play shown under the layout.
- Press SPIN and watch the ball slow down and settle into a pocket.
- Chips on the winning pocket return their multiple; open the paytable any time to compare picks.
The real numbers
13 pockets (0–12); straight number ×12, thirds ×3, even-chance ×2 — built-in margin 1/13 ≈ 7.69% on every pick.
Each pocket has a 1/13 ≈ 7.69% chance. A straight number returns ×12, so the average return is 12/13 ≈ 92.31%. A third covers 4 numbers (4/13 ≈ 30.77%) at ×3 — also 92.31%. An even-chance pick covers 6 numbers (6/13 ≈ 46.15%) at ×2 — again 92.31%. The built-in margin is 7.69% everywhere, almost three times that of a full single-zero wheel. The upside: your number turns up once every 13 spins on average.
Rules
Place chips, each worth your credits per round, on any single number from 0 to 12, on one of three thirds (four numbers each) or on an even-chance group of six numbers such as red/black or odd/even. Press SPIN. A straight number returns ×12, a third ×3 and an even-chance pick ×2, chip included. If 0 lands, every chip except one placed directly on 0 is lost.
History
Spinning-wheel games are older than their rules. A popular legend credits the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal, whose experiments with a perpetual-motion machine supposedly produced the first wheel, but the game itself took shape in 18th-century France, where it got the name roulette, “little wheel”. By the 1790s it was a fixture of Paris gaming rooms, with both a single and a double zero. In 1843 the twin brothers François and Louis Blanc opened a venue in Bad Homburg using only one zero; the smaller margin drew visitors from all over Europe, and François later took the format to Monte Carlo. When the game crossed to North America it kept the double zero, which is why two main layouts still exist today.
Where it is popular today
Number wheels endure because they are easy to read and honest about their maths. One spin, one result, and every possible outcome is printed on the layout in front of you. You can keep things calm with even-chance picks that land almost half the time, or wait patiently for a single number. The wheel also has a strong rhythm — the spin, the slowing ball, the final click — that feels the same in a 19th-century salon or a browser tab.
Beginner’s guide
Start with even-chance picks at a small credits-per-round amount: results land close to half the time, so you learn the layout without big swings. Then try a dozen, and finally a few straight numbers, and notice how the swings grow while the long-run return stays the same. Prefer single-zero wheels if you want a smaller margin. Ignore “hot” and “cold” numbers — every spin is independent. Above all, treat it as a free practice table: virtual credits have no value.
Did you know?
- The numbers 0 to 36 on a single-zero wheel add up to 666.
- Neighbouring pockets alternate red and black, and the numbers are deliberately not in counting order.
- On a 37-pocket wheel a given number is missing for 100 spins in a row about 6.5% of the time.
- The single-zero wheel introduced at Bad Homburg in 1843 roughly halved the margin of the double-zero layout.