Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1905-07-20
GAMBLING Sl7STEMS.
WHY THEY WILL NEVER BREAK THE
BANK AT MONTE CARLO.

The Percentage Is Always Against
the Player, and the Maximum Limit
NulIiGes the OnIy Sure scheme,
Thnt Of PrOgresHiNc BETTING.
d Truly hope springs eternal in the
human breast" 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 1t is the ambi-
ton doubtless Of every visitor 10 the
fascinating tables of Monte Carlo to
break the bank" Any player with an
extraordinary run of good luck and the
nerve to press 1t is liable to break the
bank" as the expression is commonly
understood, but no one Will 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 Il capital OF l00,-
600 francs, and when that sum IS eS.
hausted the bank at that particular ta,
BILE is broken, and play is suspended
until Il fresh bank Of 100000 francs is
brought by the attendants-a matter Of
n 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 l will illus
trate as simply as possible.
At roulette, the most popular form of
gambling, there are thirty-seven num-
bers- from ! to 3G inclusive and o, or
zero. 1t IS plain that the fair odds
against q player correctly picking one
Of these thirty-seven numbers are SO
~ l. But the bank only lays 35 to /.
Hence the bank has always, roughly
speaking, a per cent advantage over
the player. To put 1t another way, If
u player backs the same number thir-
ty-sevcn times he ought, according to
the fair odds, to 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 ether chances besides the
numbers on which the player may
stake.
Take, for example, the SO called
"evcn" chance of red or black. OF the
thirty numbers eighteen are red.
eighteen black, the thirty seventh, zero,
having nominally no color.
1t is obvious that If a 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 1t
up, but he wins nothing.
To win he must stake again, and
thus when zero turns up 1t is at least
two to one against a 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 5000 francs, or f24O)
Is the highest amount player can win
T,laUnr 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
:Onsecutiyely, would be over 5000
francs, and you could double no longer.
In other words, you would have come
10 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
the effects Of zero and the maximum.
/ II one could be certain that zero would
| turn up, as 1t ought to turn up once In
| provided against, and the casino. even
with tne nelp OF the maximum, would
| be in n bad way.
But no such certainty is possible
! and therefore every system splits or
| this rock And so with the maximum.
Perhaps the most fatal systems Of al
are those based upon the theory that
| II red has come up a certain number
| of times running black will follow. To
| illustrate the folly Of this theory, take
| the following example: If you toss q
| penny IN the air 1000 times and II
| comes heads 800 times II is OF course
only even money on its being tails the
next time.
The third reason, II, indeed, another
| be needed, why the bank must always
! win IS that the human and fallible play
or is always playing against an IN
! fallible machine
The slightest mistake IN calculation
| the least inattention, and the system
l breaks down. And to err is human
So Monte Carlo fourishes and always
Will flourish so long as the law allows
II TO exist -Pearsons Weekly.
| Ine Presidents salute.
! The presidents salute consists OF
twenty-one guns, and why this particu
| L. -