Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-03-10
SECRETS Of MONTE CARLO
Lucky Numbers and Some
Strange Fatalities
CANDIDATES FOR SUICIDE

Systems Founded on Reasons Which
Even the Casino Company Cannot
Find out-The Various Degrees of
Damnation of the Place,
| did not stop in Monte Carlo long.
but while waiting for train ! went to
the gambling house or casino door,
gave my name and address, according
TO custom, received a card of admis-
sion and entered the room.
| wandered over to one of the tables
which was crowded with players. Just
what game was being played | never
knew and never asked. for | knew
very little about gambling. Probably
those who have been there, or are
familiar with the gentle art, viii
know what the game was when | de-
scribe it, The table was covered with
green and red cloth. II am not mis-
taken which was was marked OF into
spaces, where the players threw their
gold. The dealer threw certain num-
Der of cards. face upward, and upon
them depended the winnings or los
ings. One large space seemed to be
specially unfortunate for the players.
1t lost again and again. the croupier
raking in the big piles. BY and by
threw a twenty-franc gold piece upon
the space, thinking it had lost so many
times ii was now In the law of chance
time for 1t to win. But / was unfamil-
lar with gambling house methods. The
crowd gathered more densely about
the table, and l was pushed back by
those to the manner born" Before
| could again get to the table and hold
up my money, my 20 franc piece had
won six times, doubling, of course,
each time. I poured the 1880 francs
into my pocket and left the place. |
have. however, since talked with re-
tired Monte Carlo officer. and he has
told me the following, speaking of the
roulette wheel:
although it is impossible to direct
the wheel according to ones wishes,
that doesn't exclude system" There
are good and bad systems, but
the majority of those | have seen ad-
vanced have in them kernel of veri-
similitude. It's perfectly true that
seven times out of ten either "27 or
80" follow upon zero" Ten years
of observation taught me that "a" and
"7'' are lucky numbers, and that 81
Is invariably followed by 81, 33,
ga" "35" or go" but the why and
wherefore is as much a puzzle to all
concerned as the real state of things
on Mars. | saw the bank tremble a
hundred times under the continuous
onslaught of the figures named; time
and again | attended deliberations or
the directors and the croupiers trying
to get at the bottom OF the mystery
All theories and combinations, all
changes in arrangements of the tables
failed The only remarkable thing
repeated examinations by experts
yielded was that every wheel has lit
tie idiosyncrasy of It's own, some tri-
fling imperfection or superstition ex-
erting certain tendencies.
"Of course, suicide candidates prof.
tied by this uncomfortable inclination
of the wheel as well as the next per-
son. but in most cases the gain was
temporary only. When myself and
the croupiers of the suicide table saw
a man or woman succumb to the gam
bling fever, we were struck with nor
ror, anticipating danger whether the
party won or lost, for the respite in
volved by good luck was hardly or
much account, seeing that the anna
teur who wins never knows when his
stroke of good luck is exhausted and
jeopardizes his gains as quickly as
they are made.
81 am not superstitious by any
means, but can't bring myself to doubt
that strange fatality attaches to the
so-called suicide table. It's an octopus
that sucks in victims from all parts
of the globe. Our croupiers are hard
ened men to be sure-its their bust
ness to be soulless. to be machines;
but the suicide table has, to my knowl-
edge, given three or four OF them
heart disease.
whether any of the suicide candi-
dates have foreboding of evil when
they come to our table. / don't know;
certain 1t is that few try hard to es-
cape their goal. They come thanked
by hunchbacks, loaded down with
amulets, primed with prayers, or hold
ing pieces of hangman's rope between
their fingers. Others try to insure
their fortune by paying the croupier
100 francs before the days work be-
gins OF course, he accepts the bride.
Why shouldn't he? He isn't tamper-
ing with his employers profits.
Nothing daunts these suicide can
dldateS, though. mere Is trauitlOn
in Monte that combinations and sys-
TENS don't go" between the hours of
80 and 1880 p. m, and / am quite
sure that there are more exceptions
to that rule than to the other mex
painable wheel laws already men
toned. Yet the suicide table is crowd
ed with wheel cranks during these
fatal periods, while all other wheels
run low.
"One day five seasons ago my neigh
Dor at the table was young Partisan.
He sat in one of the one-death chairs,
and won and won. When the doors
closed he carried off 100000 francs.
Imagine my dreadful anticipation
when, next morning, found him sit
ting to the left of the croupier. l felt
like tearing him away or slipping a
card into his hand warning him
against the awful significance of the
chair he had chosen, but my official
character forbade me to interfere,
and. besides, my advice would have
been scorned in all probability, for the
felInw pambIpd like one mad He lost