Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-09-21
GAMBLERS PROFITS,
PERCENTAGE OF CHANCES IN ms
FAVOR IN snoNEsT, caa,E.
WHY SYSTEMS. ALL FAIL
Cold Facts sbont Roulette That Arc
Calculated TO Discourage votarie.
of The ethecl-aonse Caro- system
Ta:.t Wins IN the Long Run.

T.sas Wins IN the long Run. !.
incidental to- the gambling eases tha,
were recently disposeai of In Jpstice
Cfutchaeldss coars in this city. there has
been any amount Of small talk as to the
character Of The games that have been
operated nsre,r-ac cordins to Ar Harry
hi. Smith. for the past twenty-five years.
DO YOU think that these games have
been conducted fairly?" lie 9 question that
has been asked nor. th.n once by the
uTiaiuated. There seems to be no reason
TO think that they i,ave been other thar
perfectly fair Thsre is said TO be suiii-
Gent profit in the honest game to satisfy
the experienced gambler without resort
InG TO any mechanical device 10 add 10
his percentage
The man who sits behind the table IN
game Of chance has three factors con-
rlb0ti1G 10 his profit i9irE. there Is
the natural percentage, OF the game This
was worked out som evhere back in the
centuries that ar. gone, 1na upon its
mathematical certainty the game was
constructed, Secondly. here IL the weak
ness OF human nature that is more pro-
noUnced in gambling than in any other
form Of gildcd sin to which the flesh is
prone. No aStute gambler of experience
Is unm!nsful OF this factor. and he caters
TO il in many ways. as the votaries OF
the tickle goddess can testify Thirdly,
there is what may be- termed the per-
centage OF capital Ia the gamblers favor
When he sits behind his table with a
pleasant smile and 4, nonchslant air, he
knows that his roll contains wealth a
hundredfold larger than that Of any
player on the other side. When the ave-
rabe player has lost his $50. $50 or 500,
h6 &c r,,.,{
IN Il o. u The gambler can stand
repeated losses with the thought. My
Money Never Gives Out" Many play
Frs lose before the tide of luck comes in.
With the gambler, it is the ceaseless
motion of the ebb and food that guaran-
tees ultimate profit.
ROULETTE A FAST GAME.
Roulette is a popular game with the
players who patron.ze gambling houses
occasionally. 1t is fast and exciting
Enough to please the rapid American
blood. and its tempting odds catch the
fellow who feels that his luck is with
him that night. Here some cold facts
about roulette that are sufficient to dis
courage the votaries of the wheel II it
were not for the presence in every mans
heart and mind OF the belief that he
can float upon the surface Of an occasion
and trust to the sublimity Of luck
In roulette there are thirty eight char
acters or numbers upon which you can
put your money. If you hit the right
number the dealer pays you $50 for ST.
whatever be the size of your investment
The chief difficulty tlat confronts you
is the fact that there are thirty-seven
chances against your hitting that right
number.
In thirty-eight plays. the player should
win once if the game could run with
perfect evenness. and he will be paid
/,
on the particular number. But he has
lost in the tn..tv- eight plays thirty
seven times, and it IS plain as day that
the gambler has come out ahead. That
little difference between the times the
player has lost and the times he has
Won, even with the attractive Odds
means that the gambler has earned just
q trifie less than C per cent. on the
money that has crossed the table.
JUST THE THEORY.
The supposition made above is entirely
theoretical. and the instance cited might
never occur or trial, but if the play is
carried on Indefinitely it will be found
10 be true, and upon the mathematical
ratio existing between the chances to win
and the chances to sose IS based the
amount Of odds that the gambler car,
afford to offer. Now, it is possible for
the house TO pay thirty-seven for one in
roulette in which case the per cent.
profit from the point OF view of figures
will disappear, but the gambler can still
get the best of the game with the aver
age run OF players on account of the
superior capital that he has in hand. He
can stand reverses, while the player must
retire when broke and that, too, possibly
Just at a time when in the undulations
o. fortune he is mounting to the crest Of
his luck.
OF course, when figures. are applied to
game of chance, the devotees of luck are
inclined to ridicule. A man who in cold
blood calculates on winning once in
thirtS-four plays at roulette so that he
can come out little ahead will spend
his leisure time hunting for perpetual
motion. He may hit the number the very
first time, and If ne has PLENTY of will
power or If his feet get Suddenly cold, he
can walk out and shake. hards with his
luck. The chances. arc, how ever, that he
viii SIT right down AMI Try to win more
Of the gamblers money, clated with his
good luck In the be3.rnns. If he makes
fifty plays on different numbers and fails
TO hit one winner. then he is going to
stick as long as he hasa cent, in order
to gen even, and the longer he sticks, the
more certain is the gambler to win, for it
is in what they cal! the long rum that
the gamblers know the percentage counts
with the certainty OF death. And it is in
that long rum that the theoretical
mathematical side of the game gets in it's
fine work. which the unthinliing yotaries
often deride in the flush of good fortune
or In the dependency of losses
ct never heard a man speak Of his
own winnings or tell of the good luck
Of others who did not in my judgment
-.