[HN Gopher] Roulette Computers: Hidden Devices That Predict Spins
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       Roulette Computers: Hidden Devices That Predict Spins
        
       Author : o4c
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2026-03-28 13:39 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.roulette-computers.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.roulette-computers.com)
        
       | dunconian wrote:
       | Fun fact: roulette computers were (arguably) the first wearable
       | computer [0] in 1961 and co-invented by Claude Shannon of
       | information theory fame.
       | 
       | [0] https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/object/2007.030.014
        
         | leoc wrote:
         | Yhe initiator of the scheme, Edward O. Thorp, was also a father
         | of modern blackjack card counting, and wrote the definitive
         | book about it:
         | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_counting#History_of_blackj...
         | . "The Invention of the First Wearable Computer"
         | http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/graphics/courses/mobwear/resourc...
         | is Thorp's paper about the blackjack-computer scheme.
         | 
         | (Another famous '70s card counter, Ken Uston
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Uston ended up writing one of
         | the very earliest video game guides, _Mastering Pac-Man_ (it
         | came out in 1981, the same year as Tom Hirschfeld 's
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Master_the_Video_Games .)
         | Apparently one of its readers
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semyon_Dukach discovered Uston's
         | blackjack books as a result, got into blackjack and so ended up
         | on the later, late-'70s-to-early-2000s MIT Blackjack Team led
         | by J.P. Massar .)
        
           | dunconian wrote:
           | A great reference, thanks! I can imagine both Thorp and
           | Shannon desperately trying to solder loose wires in a toilet
           | booth could make a great awkward scene in a future film
        
           | srean wrote:
           | Yes Thorp had secured a hard to schedule meeting with Shannon
           | regarding his research. Turned out Shannon was more
           | interested in the analysis of a few gambling games that Thorp
           | had thrown in the conversation.
           | 
           | The wide interest in things that Shannon held from weird
           | gadgets to possibly the most famous Masters thesis
           | dissertation, Shannon has me in awe and respect. Had he been
           | a good storyteller, I suspect, people would have been as
           | familiar with his name as Feynman.
        
         | Wingman4l7 wrote:
         | There were also some early shoe-based devices I have read
         | about, which used earpieces (difficult to avoid breaking the
         | thin wires necessary to hide them, and prevent damage from
         | sweat). Some of these stories unfortunately weren't documented
         | super well -- I think I came across them from the original
         | participants chatting on a long-defunct forum or newsgroup --
         | but it is mentioned in passing here:
         | https://jimsudmeierstories.com/adventures-with-a-concealed-b...
         | 
         | > Then around 1976 came "David," using the Z80 microprocessor,
         | oriented towards team play (the Big Player making the big bets)
         | with hand keyboards operated through holes in pockets and
         | transmitters to signal the Big Player. Later came "Thor," a
         | computer to track the shuffling (and possible clumping) of
         | multiple decks. One of his inventions involved networking
         | players together with fine wires about 3 feet long. Then there
         | were "Magic Shoes" in which 12 batteries, computer, and all
         | were hidden in "Frankenstein" shoes. Later still there was
         | "Narnia, the sequencing computer."
         | 
         | The inventor Keith Taft talks about it in more detail in an
         | interview here: https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-
         | an-edge/interv...
        
       | RagnarD wrote:
       | There's a classic book from 1985 about an early, successful
       | attempt to make one.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eudaemonic_Pie
        
       | allknowingfrog wrote:
       | Isn't this easily defeated by closing the betting before the
       | wheel starts spinning? Is that not standard practice anyway?
        
       | nodesocket wrote:
       | I don't have proof to back up my assertion but my gut says a lot
       | of these online/non-us/crypto casinos are cheating. How would you
       | the end user know? The house knows where the big money is placed
       | on the table and then magnetic or some mechanism control where
       | the ball lands. Profit even more than their statistical edge.
        
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       (page generated 2026-03-30 23:00 UTC)