Interblock Golden Ball Roulette

Hello

I recently found an interesting roulette variant called Golden Ball Roulette.

The rules are traditional but the side bet is based upon a random Golden Ball being generated where each letter of the word GOLDEN will randomly represent a different number in the roulette wheel where each number has and increased payout up to 500:1 based on the side bet.

The layout rules on the kiosk I found were slightly confusing, but I will post a more details shortly unless someone else has seen this variant and can assist.

The interesting part is that the side bet is only active when the Golden Ball is released. This means that the house takes your side bet during the majority of play because the Golden Ball is randomly generated.

Once the Golden Ball is in play the six letters of the word GOLDEN will each represent a random number on the wheel with a different payout.

This specific variant will then have 6 different payouts for 6 random numbers (for example, only payouts shown)
G(12:1)...... O(50:1).....L (75:1) .....D (100:1)......E (250:1)...,,,. N (500:1)

I’m curious if anyone else has seen this variant and have any mathematical insight in the idea that if the payouts of the Golden Ball are so much higher than the typical 35:1 payout.

Does it make mathematical sense to (in theory) bet the entire wheel if you can estimate the occurrence of the Goldenball by betting every number on the wheel because this wouldn’t increase your chances of winning but would increase your potential payout if one of the six numbers does appear when the Goldenball also appears.

Thanks for any guidance!

I have seen it and wasn't too impressed.

The OP did a pretty good job of describing a difficult to explain side bet so here is my understanding of it.

A "golden ball" instead of the regular ball will be randomly spun (note I didn't see any actual golden ball. It was the same white ivory ball. The spin is really chosen to be golden or not. It's not a physical golden ball)

If the side bet is made and the ball is a normal spin, your side wager is lost.

If the spin is golden then four to six numbers (based on my experience playing which was short) are randomly chosen as golden numbers.

For example, on the spin the numbers, 6, 14, 15, 28, 32, 36 might be the winning numbers for the side wager. If the ball lands on any of those in the spin you get the bonus payout in addition to any base game payout you might also be entitled to.

There is no choosing of the golden numbers. That is you put your side wager in the betting circle and if the spin is golden you are shown what numbers to hope for.

I spun four times and 3/4 were golden spins. My guess is wagering on this gives a high percentage of golden spins.

The payout for each of the six golden numbers varies based on assigned letter.

Using the numbers I gave above as example it might look like this

6 = g = 12:1
14 = o = 50:1
15 = l = 75:1
28 = d = 100:1
32 = e = 250:1
36 = n = 500:1

Note that the golden spin assigns 4-6 letters so you may have a golden spin only spelling g-o-l-d which means the e and n have higher odds because they don't appear as often.

It's possible you don't even always get four letters. As I said I observed and played only a few spins and moved on

Sorry for the late arrival.

I just saw this side bet on an Interblock roulette machine at the Suncoast in LV on 10/2/24.

Here are the rules here.

1. Either a white or a Gold ball will be launched onto the wheel to determine the winning number.
2. The probability of the ball being Gold is not stated in the rule screen, but I estimate to be about 10%.
3. Four numbers on the roulette wheel will be randomly and electronically chosen and labeled one each to the letters G, O, L and D.
4. The Suncoast pay table, if the ball is Gold and lands in one of the four winning numbers is:
   G = 150 to 1
   O = 75 to 1
   L = 25 to 1
   D = 15 to 1
5. If the ball is white and lands in one of the four random numbers, the Golden Ball bet is a push.

The following table shows the average return according to whether the ball is white or Gold.

Golden Ball	Probability	Avg Win	Exp Win
Yes	0.1	6.078947	0.607895
No	0.9	-0.894737	-0.805263
Total			-0.197368

The lower right cell shows a house edge of 19.74%.

I wish to emphasize my 10% is based on a small sampling and industry norms.

I'll ask Interblock at G2E about the probability, but highly doubt they will tell me.