The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-12

Il fear YOU desire TO sanble,s said SIR
Hiram after Q short pause. II you must
Ply , system try the best Of oil, the good
oid doubling system.
,h SSt they say IT . 20 y tSiSS 0s,scts 20
win 81. bet and lose. Then / bet ~
and lose. Suppose hit run OF nine against
my color3 I shall have bet tl-ts2+A+
s. sic + $50 se4 SIPS 12se-in all SSH
and my capital Is only Ssoor a..
evident that you itch to embark on q long
arithmetical progression. I, ., 8, 4, 8, Q, 7, s,
and 80 on, because In your heart your
desire Is rather TO continue playing than to
win"
.Sir Hiram!'
But cannot YOU see that the chances
OF humping against a run OF nine are ire
mendously remote2 You have almost an
even chance to win the first time, and again
the second and 30 ons
The moment you have accomplished
the one win, you will have recovered all
your losses plus one unit; whereas with the
arithmetical progression, you must go work.
Ing down to unity step by step. Each step
exposes your capital to zero.
Keep this great principle in mind-.-the
best system Is that which exposes the least
The next day the young lady came back
to Sir Hiram Maxim with a lot Of figures.
Il have been calculating how long Il
would take me to double my $500 by the
doubling SYSTEM she said. Il begin
betting 81 and 90 on doubling TIL ! win.
a little adventure, In which I shall be Ger
tain to succeed-unless meet an adverse
run Of nine.'
-You can multiply the chances for your
self; in something like 900 turns, you need
expect but one run Of nine"
But to double my $500. I shall neverthe-
less have to win that 81 five hundred times
Can do it in less than 900 turns' II I
were to win every time, l could do II In 500
turns. II / win every alternate time, /
shall have to lose 500 bets and win 500 to
is going to take more than 1000 turns,
shall be next to certain to encounter that
run Of nine you tell me viii be duet
do not know what Sir Hiram Ma kim re-
piled; but II Is on record that he still con-
tends ta) that any system is better than no
exposes least capital to zero; and (o) the
doubling system Is such q system.
Whatever you may think OF the CON-
clusion. there IL no doubt Of the soundness
Of the two principles, a and b, the latter
being nothing less than nth that - Of Mr. Pa a.
presence Of . faro-layout, that . hundred
dollars In my hands IL worth almost 500,
while in the hands Of a tenderfoot II Is not
Doubtless Mr.. sheedy meant that he
would play . lot OF case-cards.
In this particular. the game Of faro Ia
unique: case-cards carry absolutely no
commission for the bank; and while the
split from full box may be compared
TO the Monte Carlo zero. the moment that
one OF the four cards comes out, the rate
Of commission on the three others lowers
Il il diificuit for the harden ed player
not TO become an enthusiast, and when
such q one happens to be the inventor Of a
system. he IL liable TO fanciee. Tho Hon.
Fitzroy Erskine, Rosslyn's brother. inter-
p's IS A 4 s maintains. in his book on
the law Of chance, that tho privilege OF
the punter Of being able to vary his stakes
and stop play when he likes will always
counterbalance the small percentage OF
which Sir Hiram Maxim makes so much.
Now, what D'Alembert mainta fned wa
something rather different, and the bes
proof that the Hon. Ftzroy. Erskine lack 9
absolute faith In Alembert Is that he ha .
attempted to impro We the Alembert Pre- gres-
sion by making room for the zeros and
THE principle Of the IFitroyl system.
he says, lis that by winning forty turns
and losing hfty-eight. one is still 100 pieces
ahead
Here we are already some little distance
on the safe side Of mere equilibrium, which
would be had with nifty wins and fifty losses
To come out ahead at the end OF forty win
and ffty-eight leases Is highly satisfactory
and doubtless the Fitxroy and Roeslyr
systems are capable OF accomplishing
h-when the balls roll right,
But befo re the brc theirs can Quit anything
ahead, they must finish their sum. Now
IL would not take long to count the Hon fitz
roy Erskne's winnings when the eighteen
extra losses (5s minus 40) happen TO mas
themselves at the end Of the 100 turns'