The Minneapolis journal., 1903-03-25
Crooked Devices in Roulette and
Faro Not Uepommon, Says
Frank Billiter.
Former Well Known Gambler Says
He Is Out Of the Business
for Good.

Considerable newspaper discussion has
been occasiOned in New York since the
recent raids upon poolrooms and gambling
houses by District Attorney Jerome. over
the charges that fixed" roulette wheels
and crooked faro banks were used in
many Of the swell gaming joints Of Goth
am, and that the young "bloods'' lost
their money without having a fair chance
to win. On the other hand men who claim
to have inside information have asserted
that it was impossible to 'f1X" rou-
lette wheel or faro box so that it could be
regulated at the will of the dealer. One
New York professional gambler IN a re-
cent interview stated that 1t was much
easier to cheat a player by holding back a
few chips from his winnings, or by charg-
ing him with more checks than he actual
ly bought, than to run a wheel crooked. ::
1T is nonsense to say that a roulette
wheel or a faro box cannot be fixed so
that the house is bound to win." said
Frank Billiter, who for years has been
connected with gambling in Minneapolis,
while discussing this point yesterday. II
have been connected with gambling tor
more than twenty years. and have never
seen a crooked wheel or faro layout, but
know that they are made and sold right
along. More than that, am satisfied that
one or. two crooked wheels have been
used right here in Minneapolis In the last
few years. d. .s .-t..,....l = ..,f
80 far as the charges that Canfield and
the other New York gambling house pro-
prietors used crooked appliances, am
satisfied that Canfields S house was run on
the square. Roulette was practically the
only game played there, and the patrons
were wealthy men who might lose any
| where from ten thousand to one hundred
thousand dollars night apiece When
they won they would spend large part
T., md
the house. With such a class OF patronage
Garfield could not afford to run crooked
| His percentage was big enough to insure
him good profit.
"When speak of percentage, T do not
mean the small percentage the house gets
| from the Q and double in roulette, OF
! from splits In faro. That really has little
effect upon a mans luck. III reality, al
| though it does cut some figure in theory
| The percentage from the 0's in roulette
| has been figured out as and 5-19; the
percentage from splits in faro is less. But
| it frequently happens that a. man will
| play one dollar on the wheel and win fifty
| or one hundred dollars. Theoretically the
| chances are about a million to one he can
| not do it, yet he does. So you can SEE
| how much figure percentage Of that KIND
| cuts. ..
1.-THE real percentage Of the house III
gambling is the fact that the average man
will stay to lose longer than he will stay
to win. The patrons of Canfelds for in
stance. would win from 81 600 to $1,000
but they would keep on losing until the
had lost ten or twenty times as much. And
even If player takes away a big sum, he
| is pretty sure to come back and play 1t tr
again. That is the real percentage.
'In regard to the other swell gambling
| houses of New York, do not know. 1t is
| possible that some of them were crook ed
| but I have no personal knowledge upon
| the subject You will usually, find, how
! ever. that crooked gambler seldom has
a cent. He invariably has some weakness
| which prevents him from keeping the
| money he makes. I have been In the
gambling business here for score o.
years, and no man can ever say that
have taken five-cent piece of his money
in any crooked way. I am out Of gambling
for good now and in a legitimate business
and I expect to keep out of it. There |.
nothing in it, = 81