Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-04-15
GAMBLING SYSTEMS.
WHY THEY WILL NEVER BREAK The
BANK AT MONTE CARLO.

the Player, ana the mhNtmu" h'"is
NulIfhes 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 infal1-
BILE systems 1t is impossible to say,
but probably they are to be numoereu
by millions, and not one OF them mas
returned the victor. 1t is the amDi-
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 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 capital OF loo'-
900 francs. and when that sum Is eX-
hausted the bank at that particular Ia
BILE is broken, and play is suspended
until fresh bank Of 100000 francs is
brought by the attendants-a matter OF
q 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 or
gambling, there are thirty-seyen num-
bers-from l to SO inclusive and D. or
zero. It is plain that the fair odds
AGAINST a player correctly picking one
Of these thirty-seven numbers are 90
to1. But the bank only lays 50 to 1.
Hence the bank has always, roughly
speaking, a 8 per cent advantage over
the player To put 1t another way, II
a player backs the same number thlr-
ty-seven times he ought, according 10
the fair odds, to come out exactly
souare. but at Monte Carlo he cannot
do so. be must lose punt
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. Or the
thirty-seven numbers eighteen are red.
eighteen black, the thirty zero,
having nominally no color.
II is obvious that II player backs
red there are nineteen chances (eight-
cen blacks and zero against his being
correct. The fair odds are nineteen 10
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. Inc
latter are put aside-"en prise Is the
technical term.
II on the next turn of the wheel the
player on these even chances wins his
stake is released, and he may pick II
I'D. but he wins nothing
To win he must stake again, and
thus when zero turns up it Is at least
two to one against a player on al
"even money" chance.
The second reason why the DanR
must always win In the long run Is the
existence Of the maximum"
The maximum 5000 francs, or f24O
IA the highest amount player can VIII
ON any one chance. If a player witt
unlimited resources could go on play
ing double or quits" with the casino
indefinitely he would eventually breaE
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, 8 francs-and doubling
your stakes each time, your eleventh
stake, supposing you to win or LOST
consecutively, would be over 5,OO(
francs, and you could double no longer
In other words, you would have COM
to q point at which you could not Of
one turn Of the wheel either doubl
your winnings or recoup all your losses
All systems are designed to MULTI.
the effects Of zero and the maximum
If one could be certain that zero woul'
turn I'D. as 1t ought to turn up, once Il
every thirty-seven turns, 1t could D
provided against, and the casino, eve
with the help Of the maximum, woul
be in a bad way.
But no such certainty Is possible
and therefore every system splits o.
this rock. And so with the maximum
Perhaps the most fatal systems Of a
are those based upon the theory tina
If red has come up q certain numbe
of times running black will follow. L
illustrate the folly Of this theory, tax
the following example: If you toss
penny in the air 1000 times and
comes heads 900 times it is Of cours
only even money on its being tails tn
next time.
The third reason, If, indeed, anothe
be needed, why the bank must Away
win Is that the human and fallible play
er Is always playing against an II
fallible machine.
The slightest mistake In calculation
the least inattention, and the syster
breaks down. And to err is human.
So Monte Carlo hourishes and Away
will flourish so long as the law allow
1t to exist.-Pearson's Weekly.
nofffeba PRAYER.