The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1905-05-25
GAMBLING SYSTEMS.
Why THEY WILL NEVER BREAK THE
BANK At MONTE CARLO.

The Percentage II Always Against |
the Player, and the Maximum Limit |
Nulliaes the Only Sure Scheme, |
That Of Progressive Betting.
Truly hope springs eternal in the !
human breast.' How many inventors
have gone to Monte Carlo with infalli-
BILE 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 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" ut 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,-
600 francs, and when that sum Is cx-
hausted the bank ut that particular Ia
bic is broken. and play is suspended
until fresh bank Of 100000 francs Is
brought by the attendants-a matter OF
minute or two.
But to break the bank In the true
sense would be to exhaust the entire
capital Of the casino. and that Will
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 SO inclusive and 0, or
zero. It is plain that the fair odds
against player correctly picking one
Of these thirty-seven numbers are ~
| to /. But the bank only lays IS to !.
Hence the bank has always. roughly
speaking. a 3 per cent advantage over
| the player. To put 1t another way. II
a player backs the same number thir-
fy-seven 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 other chances besides the
numbers on which the player may
stake.
Take, for example, the SO called
"even" chance Of red or black. OF the
thirty-seyen numbers eighteen are red.
eighteen black. the thirty-seventh, zero,
having nominally no color.
1t is obvious that IL 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.
II ON the next turn Of the wheel the
player ON these even chances wins his
stake is released, and he may pick II
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 q player on az
''even money" chance.
The second reason why the bani
mnst always win in the long run Is thu
existence Of the maximum"
The maximum 5000 francs, or f240
Is the highest amount a player can vii
on any one chance. II player witt
unlimited resources could go on play
Ing double or quits" with the casin'
indefinitely he would eventually breal
the bank in the full sense Of the term
But you cannot play double or quits
with NJ. Blanc for long.
s Starting with the minimum stake a
:. lowed-viz, francs-and dOublin
your stakes each time, your elevent
d stake, supposing you to win or los
consecutively, would be over 500
francs. and you could double no Longer
In other words, you would have com
to point at which you could not Q
a. one turn Of the wheel either doubl
: your winnings or recoup all your lOsse
Or All systems are designed to MULTI
q the effects of zero and the maximum
ID If one could be certain that zero woul
q, turn up. as 1t ought TO turn up, once
a, every thirty-seven turns, it could |
q provided against, and the casino, eve
Id with the help Of the maximum. wou
~ be in bad way.
u But no such certainty Is possibl
and therefore every system splits {
1t this rock And SO with the maximum
he Perhaps the most fatal systems Of Q
IT, T.. are those based upon the theory tn
he II red has come up certain numb
bv Of times running black will follow.
n, illustrate the folly of this theory, tai
nv the following example: II you toss
penny in the air 1000 times and
=, ne comes heads 900 times 1t is of cour
only even money on its being tails t
next time.
The third reason. II, indeed. anoth
be needed. why the bank must alEva
win is that the human and fallible pla
r. er Is always playing against an
OF fallibie machine.
ed The slightest mistake in calculate
ia the least inattention. and the syste
mt breaks down. And to err is human.
A., So Monte Carlo fiourishes and alwa
n will flourish so long as the law allO'