This is something we have commented very little about on this forum and it was recently raised on Laurance’s Forum with no response. I will copy the post in full to here for your responses…Mike.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "rules", but these are my general observations regarding spins:Each dealer has a “natural” way of spinning the ball. If you take data, or study a dealer it is important to know how the wheel reacts when they are dealing their natural way.
When they devaiate from their natural method, the wheel will act differently. The ball may bounce differently, or the ball could drop from the track differently.
There are two predominant types of spins: 1) A “push” spin where the dealer pushes the ball as they spin it, and 2) a “snap” spin where the dealer snaps the ball as if they were snapping their fingers. More experienced dealers tend to use the snap spin.
Sometimes a very experienced dealer will know how to put a great deal of backspin on the ball. You can generally spot this, as they will either shift from a push to a snap spin, or the ball will decelerate quicly just after they snap it.
Very short spins (“wimpy” spins) can be a problem as well. The ball just doesn’t behave the same way.
Very long spins can be a problem also. The theory is that the ball heats up with friction on a very long spin and this affects the behavour just before the drop.
There are no hard and fast “rules” that you can apply to any type of spin except these:
- Always try to play a dealer’s ‘natural’ spin
- Stay away from wimpy and/or very long spins (unless the very long spin is the dealer’s natural spin)
- Stay away from a dealer that will occasionally put a lot of backspin on the ball.