The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-10-18
GAMBLING SYSTEMS.
Why THEY WILL NEVER BREAK THE
BANK AT MONTE CARLO.

The Percentage Is Always Against
the Player, and the Maximum Limit
NuIIines the only Sure scheme,
That of Progressive Betting.
Truly "hope springs eternal in the
human breastw How many inventors
have gone to Monte Carlo with infalli-
bic systems it is impossible to say.
but probably they are to be numbered
by millions, and not one Of them has
returned the victor. It is the ambi
ton doubtless OF every visitor to the
fascinating tables Of Monte Carlo to
break the bank" Any player with an
extraordinary. run of good luck and the
nerve to press it is liable to break the
bank" as the expression is commonly
understood, but no one viii ever 'break
the bank at Monte Carlo in the true
sense Of the phrase.
AT the famous gaming rooms there
Is not one, but many tables at which
players may stake Each table starts
play for the day with a capital of 100,-
900 francs, and when that sum is ex-
hausted the bank at that particular Ia
BILE Is broken, and play is suspended
until a fresh bank Of 100000 francs is
brought by the attendants-a matter Of
a minute or two.
But to break the bank in the true
sense would be to exhaust the entire
capital Of the casino, and that viii
never happen, for three simple reasons.
The first is that the bank lays unfair
odds to the player. This ! will Illus
trate as simply as possible.
At roulette, the most popular form OF
gambling, there are thirty-seven num-
bers-from / to 36 inclusive and 0, or
zero. 1t is plain that the fair odds
against a player correctly picking one
Of these thirty-seyen numbers are 80
to 1. But the bank only lays IS to 1.
Hence the bank has always, roughly
speaking, a 8 per cent advantage over
the player. To put it another way, If
a player backs the same number thir
ty-seven times he ought according to
the fair odds, 10 come out exactly
square, but at Monte Carlo he cannot
do so. He must lose point.
This advantage of the bank applies
to all the other chances besides the
numbers on which the player may
stake.
Take, for example, the so called
seven" chance of red or black. OF the
thirty-seven numbers eighteen are red,
eighteen black, the thirty seventh, zero
having nominally no color.
1t is obvious that if player backs
red there are. nineteen chances eight
cen blacks and zero against his being
correct. The fair odds are nineteen to
eighteen against him, but the bank
only lays even money.
The advantage to the bank does not
end here, for when zero turns up the
bank takes all stakes except those on
zero and the even money chances. The
latter are put aside-"en prise" Is the
technical term.
If on the next turn of the wheel the
player on these even chances wins his
stake is released, and he may pick it
up, but he wins nothing.
To win be must stake again, and
thus when zero turns up it is at least
two to one against player on an
'even money! chance.
The second reason why the bank
must always win in the long run is the
existence of the maximum"
The maximum (6,0OO francs, or f240) /
Is the highest amount a player can win
on any one chance. If a player with
unlimited resources could go on play
ing double or quits" with the casino
indefinitely he would eventually break
the bank in the full sense Of the term.
But you cannot play double or quits"
with NJ. Blanc for long.
Starting with the minimum stake al
lowed-viz, 5 francs-and doubling
your stakes each time, your eleventh |
stake, supposing you to win or lose /
eonsecutively, would be over 5000 |
francs, and you could double no longer. |
In other words, you would have come
to a point at which you could not on /
one turn Of the wheel either double |
your winnings or recoup all your losses. /
All systems are designed to nullify I
the effects Of zero and the maximum. I
II one could be certain that zero would /
turn up, as it ought to turn up, once In +
every thirty-seven turns, it could be [
provided against, and the casino, even I
with the help of the maximum, would
be in bad way.
But no such certainty Is possible,
and therefore every system splits on
this rock And so with the maximum.
Perhaps the most fatal systems Of all
are those based upon the theory that
II red has come up a certain number
THE TDAMCMIS