Gonzalo García-Pelayo: Di Roulette System
One record producer, one family of note-takers, and one Supreme Court wey tell di casino make e mind im wheels.

Gonzalo García-Pelayo (dem born am 1947), Spanish record producer and film director, lead one family team wey, from late 1991, record about 5,000 spins for each wheel for Casino Gran Madrid and bet di pockets wey dey lead. E put di winnings for 200 to 250 million pesetas across many casinos. Di casino ban di family, di government cancel di ban, and for 2004 di Supreme Court support di players.
Before di casino
Dem born Gonzalo García-Pelayo for Madrid on 25 June 1947 and e grow for Andalusia, for Jerez and Seville. E direct films, like Manuela (1976) and Vivir en Sevilla (1978), and for 1974 e start di record label Gong, where e produce Triana, Lole y Manuel and María Jiménez. By im own count, e produce about 150 records. E no be mathematician, whatever some newspapers write: e tell di business newspaper Cinco Días for 2004 sey na only school mathematics e get, plus one or two books on probabilitymathsProbabilityDi chance of one outcome, from 0 to 1 or from 0% to 100%. One number: 1/37 = 2.70%.Read di whole tin →. Di idea to study roulette come to am, as e tok, afta e lose for blackjack.
Di team
Di Pelayo family roulette system need plenty pipo, and di players na im relatives. Im own site name im son Iván, im daughter Vanessa and im nephews Christian and Marcos; oda accounts add di nephews Guillermo and Jaime. Di ban of di casino cover six pipo, and as e tok am later, di group grow reach twelve, wit more relatives and few close friends. Dem call demselves di flotilla.
Dem share di work. Some dey sit for one wheel and write down di numbers; when dem finish, dem go leave and new faces go come in to bet, so di casino no go connect di two. E no dey bet by imself often. Oda pipo dey play and phone am di result. Later dem use friends wey di casinos no sabi, wey dem call submarines.

Di method, for im own words
Di starting point of di Gonzalo García-Pelayo roulette system na sey no machine dey perfect: if Swiss watches and NASA rockets no perfect, roulette wheel no perfect too, and some pocketsequipmentPocketOne of di 37 small boxes wey get number for di rotor. Dem also dey call am: slot, cup.Read di whole tin → must win small more often pass di rest. First, e suspect di way di croupierpipoCroupierDi dealer for roulette table.Read di whole tin → dey throw; di numbers show sey di cause na di wheel.
Dem record each wheel for about 5,000 spins before anybody bet on am (Iván don tok 6,000), and dat one take about fifteen days, six to eight hours every day. Di recorders also learn di marks of di wheel, reach di smallest scratch, so dem fit find am again if dem move am.
E dey count wit “positives”. Number wey dey show once in 36 spins dey break even for 35 to 1, so e no score anytin; every hit wey pass dat one na one positive. Den e compare di positives of one wheel wit wetin fair wheels dey produce for computer simulation, wit program wey e write by imself. As one person wey review di family book report am, two limits dey: one wey 95% of di fair wheels for di simulation dey stay under, and one hard limit wey 99.95% dey stay under. Wheel wey pass di hard limit, for am, na biased wheel for sure.
By im figures, one biased wheellabBiased wheelWheel wey get physical defect wey make some pockets come out pass 1/37. E rare, and you fit only find am with thousands of spins wey you record.Read di whole tin → get between nine and twelve numbers wey dey lead. Di best pocket wey e ever find win once in 28 spins, anytin wey better pass once in 35 worth bet, and di mix give advantage of about 6%. All dis numbers na im own; no casino or regulator don publish any.
Why 5,000 spins, and why di whole wheel
For 5,000 spins, fair pocket dey show about 135 times, plus or minus 11. Pocket wey really dey win once in 28 dey show about 179 times, almost four of dose “plus or minus” ahead; luck no dey do dat, and di pocket get fault clear clear.
Pocket wey dey win once in 33 na different matter. E go bring 9% for person wey bet am, and for 5,000 spins e dey show about 152 times, only one and half “plus or minus” ahead. For wheel wey fair well well, two or three of di 37 pockets go dey dat far ahead by luck alone. So to pick di number wey dey lead afta 5,000 spins no reach. Dem must test di whole wheel against wetin fair wheels dey do; na for dat di simulated limits dey, and na wetin di chi-square testlabChi-square testStatistical test wey dey compare di hits wey you see for each pocket with di n/37 wey you expect. Dem dey use am to judge whether wheel get bias.Read di whole tin → dey do for paper.
Di moni
Di family na di only source for di winnings, and di figures dey change. Di overall total na di one wey steady pass: between 200 and 250 million pesetas from all di casinos, wey be 1.2 to 1.5 million euros. For Casino Gran Madrid alone, different accounts give anytin from 70 million pesetas reach more pass one million euros. Di casino tell one report for 2000 sey e no get record of di sum. E tok sey dem start wit about 1,800 euros and one time dem lose 60,000 euros inside one day.
Di family play for oda places too, as e tok am: Barcelona, Vienna, Amsterdam, Copenhagen. Las Vegas na di last try and e no pay well, becos of di second zerowheelZeroDi one green pocket wey no even-money, dozen or column bet dey cover; na im be di source of di house edge. Dem also dey call am: single zero, 0.Read di whole tin →. Wit 38 pockets, one pocket must get more fault before 35 to 1 payoutmoniPayoutWetin bet wey win dey return, wey dem dey quote as “X to 1” on top di stake wey dem return.Read di whole tin → go show profit.
Wetin di casino do
Casino Gran Madrid dey for Torrelodones, outside di city, and Spanish newspapers dey often call am simply di Casino de Madrid. As di family tok am, e first move di wheels and change some of dia parts, so dem must study each one again. Den e ban di players, under di article of di Spanish casino regulations wey allow casino to refuse pipo wey e expect go do irregularities for di games. One report of 2000 tok sey di casino case na sey di group spend long time to calculate how often each result dey show, use computer program to predict results, and so play wit advantage. E also complain sey oda players dey copy dia bets.
Dem warn oda casinos. Di family describe how dem ask dem to leave for Vienna afta one night wey dem win, and for 2012 e tok sey dem still ban dem for France and Denmark.
Ten years for court
Di casino no sue di family. Di family complain about di ban to di government office for Madrid, wey rule sey di ban no proper, and na di casino go court, against di decision of di government.
Di family begin record wheels for Casino Gran Madrid.
Dem dey win steady. During di Barcelona Olympics, one team dey play for Madrid and anoda for Barcelona.
Di casino ban six of dem.
Di government office for Madrid declare sey di ban no proper. Di casino go court.
Di High Court of Justice of Madrid throw away di challenge of di casino.
Di Supreme Court reject di appeal of di casino.
Di feature film The Pelayos come out for Spain.
Wetin di Supreme Court tok
Di court hold sey wetin di players do no be irregularity as di regulations mean am, so di casino no get reason to keep dem out. For im words, di players no do anytin more pass to use dia sense and apply computer techniques, and dia play stand on simple observation of results wey dey repeat, no be on breaking di rules. E put di cause for di wheels: very small faults of construction or placement, wey naked eye no fit see.
E also tok wetin casino fit do instead. Di legal defence no be to drive or ban di players, but to change where di wheels stand, change dia parts or improve dia design.
Di judgment narrow pass as pipo dey often make am sound. E apply one article of di casino regulations of Spain to one ban. E no tok sey every casino everywhere must allow player wey don find biased wheel.

Afta roulette
E learn poker for di United States and open Texas hold’em club for Madrid for 1996; El Mundo report for 2001 sey Carlos Mortensen, world champion dat year, learn di game there. By 2004 e dey live from online poker, and later e turn to sports betting. Wit Iván e write La fabulosa historia de los Pelayos (2003). Di History Channel tell di story for im series Breaking Vegas, and Eduard Cortés make am film as The Pelayos (2012). E go back to film directing di same year.
Wetin nobody don prove
Three tins wey pipo dey often tok about di Pelayos no get source apart from di family, or no get any at all. E tok sey one English maker build special wheel against dem, “anti-Pelayo roulette”; no maker or casino don confirm am. Notin show sey casinos across Europe change dia maintenance becos of dis one family. And dis page no fit check di tables of limits for di book, so we describe dem here only as one reviewer describe dem.
Questions wey pipo dey ask
No. Di casino ban dem, di government cancel di ban, and di casino carry di government go court. E lose for 2000 and again for di Supreme Court for 2004.
E rule sey to observe one wheel and bet on wetin e show no be irregularity under di casino regulations of Spain, so dis ban no proper. E no decide anytin for oda countries.
E tok for 2004 sey dat time e dey return 2.7% where e don once reach 6%, and sey di pipo wey e sabi wey try am for Madrid do am badly and lose.
Small laugh

Di advice of di court to di casino: repair di wheel, no be di guest list.
Sources
- Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo.
- Hernández, J. A. “El clan de los Pelayo gana la apuesta.”
- Sampedro, J. “Los ‘tecnotahúres’ vuelven al casino.”
- Cadena SER. “Los Pelayo ya pueden entrar en el Casino de Madrid.”
- Mazo, V. “Pelayos contra el Ibex 35.”
- Semana. “El terror de la ruleta.”
- Solomita, M. “La increíble historia de Gonzalo García-Pelayo, el hombre que venció a la ruleta.”
- Wille, G. “Hicimos saltar la banca.”
- Ibáñez, Á. “La Fabulosa Historia de Los Pelayos.”
- Mazarrasa, L. Feature on poker for Spain.
- García-Pelayo, G. “Análisis de una ruleta.”