Monte Carlo Anecdotes and systems of Play 'Siona.1 cility UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO 3 1822022366082 ByfheAuthorof "Ten Days at Monte Carlo at the Banks Expense" 3/6 NET 3 1822022366082 GENTLEMEN'S Fur=lined Overcoats For Travelling. For Driving. For Motoring. At prices ranging from 10 to 500. The. . International Fur Store, 163 & 165 REGENT STREET, LONDON, W. GV BEAU LI EU^ Between Nice and Monte Carlo "A place of Health, Beauty, and Restfulness. " Gentlewoman Hotel BRISTOL CLOSE TO RAILWAY STATION Nearly every window commands a view of the Mediterranean ELECTRIC LIGHT THROUGHOUT OVER FIFTY BATHROOMS MODERN ENGLISH SANITATION FURNISHED and DECORATED by MAPLE LOVELY GARDENS, WALKS AND DRIVES Dainty Luncheons and Afternoon Tea RESTAURANT AND WINTER GARDEN CHOICE ITALIAN ORCHESTRA By Royal Warrant of Appointment By Royal Warrant of Appointment By Special Warrant of Appointment. To His Majesty the King of the Hellenes. To His Highness the Khedive. To His Majesty the King of Portugal. CONNOISSEURS SMOKE TEOFANI'S CIGARETTES HORS CONCOURS, MEMBRES DU JURY, BRUSSELS, 1908 LIEGE, 1905 ANTWERP, 1904 LONDON, 1907 LYONS, 1904 PARIS, 1903 BRUSSELS, 1906 GENEVA, 1904 L'ORIENT, 1903 VIENNA, 1906 BRUSSELS, 1904 Teofani's are manufactured from the choicest Yenidjeh Tobaccos imported direct from the Turkish Tobacco planta- tions, and are the finest blend experience can produce. To be obtained from all leading Hotels, Restaurants and Dealers throughout the World. Price List (No. 15) and Sample of Standard Brands sent post free on application to the mamifa:turers TEOFANI & CO., LTD., London, E.G. Monte Carlo Anecdotes AND ST. JAMES FIRST-CLASS FAMILY HOTEL Apartments with Private Baths and Toilette HOT WATER HEATING THROUGHOUT BEST SANITATION G. IAJDWIG, Proprietor HOTEL AND RESTAURANT DE L'EUROPE MONTE CARLO Magnificent Terrace with view over the Sea ELECTRIC LIGHT Dejeuners fcs. 3 ; Dinners fcs. 4 ; including Red or White Wine Special Terms for long Stay Monte Carlo Anecdotes By V. B. Author of < Bridge Reflections,' ' Ten Days at Monte Carlo ' London William Heinemann 1910 The Hotel and Restaurant de THERMIT AGE The best situated and most com= fortable Hotel in Monte Carlo. NoW Open for the Season For Particulars apply to V. BBNOIST 36 Piccadilly, LONDON, W. MONTE CARLO HOTEL ET RESTAURANT DU HELDER FIRST CLASS HOUSE, well situated in proximate vicinity of the Casino. 100 Rooms and Saloons. Central Heating in all Rooms. Baths and Douches. ELECTRIC LIGHT. LIFT ALBERT BREMOND, Proprietor PREFACE As long as the world exists gambling is sure to continue. Of late years it seems to have in- creased its hold upon the members of the Upper Classes. Fortunately most of them take to it more as a pastime than a vice. They gamble to amuse themselves, and few of them lose more than they can afford. Some take it up in the same way that many others take to cycling, playing golf, and Bridge, /. e. more or less because they are driven to it. They visit Monte Carlo and Ostend because all their friends go there, and having arrived, they find that they are ' out of it ' unless they join in the universal pastime of Roulette. There are many to whom it matters not whether they win or lose; in fact, the majority come fully prepared to part with a certain sum. But there are many others to whom it does make a difference, and although they may not expect to come away large winners, it will probably quite Preface spoil all the pleasure of their trip if they lose more than a very limited sum. To these the less fortunate of the gambling community I dedicate this little book, in the hope that each one may find herein a system suited to his or her taste. A player without a system is like a ship without a compass, and although there may be few which lead to fortune, there are a considerable number which will give the visitor to Monte Carlo plenty of play for his money, and ensure him against any heavy loss. I am informed by a gentleman who has fre- quented gambling establishments for most of his life, that many of my so-called systems are erroneously described as such. They are not ' systems,' he says, but only ' methods of play.' From my point of view, however, every individual may be said to have a system who takes into the gambling-rooms a certain capital, with a pre-arranged plan how he will play it not only as regards how he will stake his money, but as regards how much it is his intention to win or lose at a sitting. I am not sanguine that the publication of this book will cause the Administration to put up their shutters; but I do believe that if every visitor to Monte Carlo would only adopt some pre-arranged method of play, and religiously Preface stick to *V, the dividends of the shareholders would be considerably reduced. It is the players who vote systems a bore, and can never muster up the strength of mind to come out of the Rooms when they are winners, who contribute most to the profits of the Bank. V. B. CONTENTS PAGE HISTORY OF THE CASINO ... I EXPLANATION OF ROULETTE . . 1 8 NOTES ON ROULETTE . . . ,26 EXPLANATION OF TRENTE-ET-QUARANTE 40 NOTES ON TRENTE-ET-QUARANTE . . 47 SCIENTIFIC TRENTE-ET-QUARANTE . 53 JAGGERS'S SYSTEM ..... 63 THE D'ALEMBERT SYSTEM ... 69 WELLS'S SYSTEM . . . . -72 THE AUTHOR'S SYSTEM ... 78 THE ITALIAN RAID ON THE BANK . . 85 THE 'LABOUCHERE' SYSTEM . . 91 THE 'WRANGLER'S' SYSTEM . . .100 THE NOBLE LORD'S SYSTEM . . 107 ' HOW TO BREAK THE BANK AT FLAT STAKES' I I O THE LADIES' SYSTEM . . . . 119 THE 'BAROMETER' SYSTEM . . .123 THE 'MARTINGALE' SYSTEM . . 131 ix Contents PAGE THE 'PHILIBERTE' SYSTEM . . -135 THE 'DECAVE'S' SYSTEM . . . 136 THE 'FITZROY' SYSTEM . . .141 THE 'TIERS ET TOUT' . . . 147 ANECDOTES OF THE RESTAURANTS, ETC. 151 THE 'BREAD-WINNER' SYSTEM . . 160 THE 'PAROLl' SYSTEM . . . .164 SWINDLERS AND THEIR SYSTEMS. . 169 SYSTEMS ON NUMBERS . . . -177 HOTEL METROPQIE MONTE CARLO OPEN DECEMBER TO MAY Finest position overlooking the Casino Gardens. Luxuri- ously furnished suites of rooms, with private bathrooms adjoining. Steam heating or open fires as desired. Leading Restaurant in Monte Carlo. Renowned for excellence of its cuisine. Attached to the hotel are the beautiful Metropole Villas, eminently suitable for family residences. Under the same Management e HOTEL METROPOLE, CANNES OPEN DECEMBER TO MAY HOTEL ROYAL, DIEPPE . . . OPEN JUNE TO OCTOBER MONTE CARLO ANECDOTES AND SYSTEMS OF PLAY HISTORY OF THE CASINO ONE is accustomed to hear Monte Carlo and all its surroundings so thoroughly well abused, that I expect most people who have not been there, are impressed with false ideas. The leading counsel in a recent 'cause celebre' described it as 'a hot-bed of vice,' whilst elsewhere such expressions as ' a den of thieves,' 'the Pickpockets' Paradise,' and 'the plague spot of Europe,' etc., etc., have been freely applied to it. To discover any redeeming features about so ill-famed a locality would, therefore, be a refreshing change. But if the little Principality is really such an iniquitous and immoral place as we have heard it described, it is only one more example of how the wicked do flourish and prosper exceedingly. I B Monte Carlo Anecdotes The history of Monte Carlo during the last forty years bears evidence to this fact, and if the foundation stone of the Casino had been laid by the Pope himself, and the edifice received the blessing of all the clergy in Europe, it could hardly have been vouchsafed a more prosperous future. This is the conclusion at which I have arrived after reading the history of the ' Cercle des Etrangers,' contained in an amusing little book entitled the Guide du Joueur by Charles Limouzin, price one franc. He states on the cover that " all translation or reproduction is prohibited," but when I say that his book is the best franc's worth in the shops at Nice or Monte Carlo, I trust he will forgive me for quoting his work. "Fifty years ago," he says, "with the exception of the old town of Monaco, nothing which you see now existed." The Condamine was simply a garden full of olive and lemon trees, which produced at the same time a large crop of violets under the cultivation of Mr. Rimmel, the Paris perfumer. The rock on which the Casino now stands was a small promontory covered with pines, caroubas, and cactus trees, where thyme and lavender grew wild, and lizards loved to sun themselves. History of the Casino On what is now known as the Quartier des Moulins stood an old mill, which was in much request for crushing out the olive oil produced in the neighbourhood. Such then was Monaco, when the first Roulette Wheel was imported into the country. But, as is often the case with new enterprises, the first few individuals, who endeavoured to turn the gambling to their advantage, failed ignominiously. It was under the auspices of two gentlemen named Langlois and Aubert that the first gambling room was opened, in the only building which the Condamine then possessed. The house belonged to a M. Arnoux, and is now known as the Villa Bellevue. The two partners were, however, very soon discouraged, and made over the business to a M. Frossard of Lilbonne, who in his turn soon passed it on to a M. Daval. In the meantime better quarters had been found, and the gamblers had deserted the Condamine for a building in the Place du Palais at Monaco, which afterwards became the Hotel de Russie. At the present day it is used as the Barracks for the Prince's Guard of Honour. M. Daval was a man of large ideas, and did his best to interest all the most influential people in the neighbourhood in his new project. 3 Monte Carlo Anecdotes In the year 1858 a grand banquet was held to inaugurate the opening of his Salle-de-Jeux. About one hundred and fifty guests were present, including all the notabilities of the country. Prince Charles III. of Monaco came in for the dessert, and toasts were drunk with enthusiasm. In spite of this brilliant com- mencement, the enterprise never showed any signs of success, and M. Daval soon ruined himself, and died shortly afterwards in a hospital at Marseilles. A small company called Lefevre, Griois et Cie. took over the business, and once more the Roulette Wheels were moved, this time in 1860 to the centre of the old town, into a house called the Maison du General. Close by was the Cafe du So lei I, where gamblers who had not even two francs, which was the minimum stake in those days, used to meet their friends and play cards with them in hopes of winning enough to have another stake on the Roulette Table before going home ! At that time the croupiers had plenty of leisure, and spent half the day lounging on the Terrace of the Casino ; they had a large tele- scope, which commanded the approach to the place for nearly a mile, and through this they used anxiously to watch the approach of any vehicle, in the hope that it might contain a 4 History of the Casino possible gambler, in which case they of course all took their places round the table, and were ready to receive him on his arrival. In those days the gates of the town were shut at midnight, after a drum had been sounded to warn the inhabitants. Late comers were then in an awkward fix ; they either had to clamber over the rocks at the risk of a serious accident in the darkness, or they had to com- pensate the gatekeeper for disturbing his night's rest; the latter was the course most usually adopted. In 1 86 1 the idea was conceived of building a new Casino on the present site. Plans were drawn up and the work commenced, but the Company lacked funds. The receipts from the tables were small, and the contractors refused to build on credit. Things were consequently at a deadlock. It was at this moment that M. Francois Blanc, the Napoleon of the gambling world, was approached, and after due consideration he came to Monaco. M. Blanc was a man of decision, and likewise of few words. He looked over the building in its unfinished state, had a short interview with those interested, and then went to see the Secretary of the Govern- ment. "Tell His Highness," he said, "that I offer 5 Monte Carlo Anecdotes 1,700,000 francs for the privilege of gambling, and for the Casino as it stands unfinished. I must have his answer at once, as I am leaving to-morrow." The answer was not long in coming. It was in the affirmative. From that moment, viz. in 1863, M. Blanc entered into possession of all the rights of the then existing Soriete des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers a Monaco, Under his auspices things at once began to look up, and the venture became a most successful enterprise. Until 1868, when the Railway was opened, the means of access to the Principality were few, and visitors could only come from Nice by the long and steep. Corniche road, in which case their carriage cost them fifty francs, or else they had to come by sea. The latter was the cheaper and more popular way of getting there. A little steamer called the Palmaria made the passage from Nice to Monaco in about an hour and a quarter, and the charge for a return ticket was four francs. She was, however, a bad sea boat, and if the weather looked at all threatening, the voyage was postponed until the following day. The start used to be made from Nice at about 4 p.m. so as to give the passengers an hour or two on shore before dinner. The little harbour of Monaco was reached soon after five, when the 6 History of the Casino gamblers went ashore in small boats, and were transported to the Casino in omnibuses. It was all very amusing, but hardly practical. The Pahnaria was succeeded by the Charles III., a larger and better boat, which accommodated on the average about sixty passengers. The Principality in those days could only boast of two hotels, the Hotel de Paris and the Hotel d'Angleterre. The former was the much more important establishment of the two, and was the property of the Casino Adminis- tration. It was the refuge of the unfortunate gamblers who had lost every centime at the tables, and who would otherwise have gone dinnerless to bed. They were quite accustomed to walk in and partake of the table d'hote meal, and only confess their unfortunate situation at dessert. The claim was never pressed, and the unpaid bill was filed quietly away in a drawer, which contained many others of a similar nature ; the total being added up and written off the Profit and Loss account at the end of the year. Until well into the ' seventies ' the minimum stake allowed was two francs, and counters of this denomination were sold in the Rooms. Winners were expected to cash them at the Guichet, at the end of the day, but often 7 Monte Carlo Anecdotes omitted to do so. . Perhaps they had to rush off to their dinner, and never came back afterwards ; some were late for the boat and had not time ; whilst others intended returning to gamble on the following day, and something prevented them. For various reasons, many of the two-franc counters left the Principality, and eventually, in spite of their intrinsic worthlessness, began to circulate as money in the neighbourhood. They were freely accepted as cash in the cafes and tobacco shops at Nice and even Mentone. After some years, M. Blanc thought it would be advisable to call in all the outstanding counters, and then it was discovered that instead of the original number of 200,000 existing, there were no less than 400,000 in circulation. A gang of false coiners had established them- selves at La Turbie, and were turning out the forgeries as fast as they could dispose of them. From that day the counters were abolished, and the minimum at Roulette became five francs, whilst the smallest stake allowed at Trente-et- Quarante was raised from five francs to one louis. With the opening of the Railway in 1868 Monte Carlo began to go ahead very fast; whilst the progress recorded since 1878 has been little short of marvellous. M. Francois Blanc, to whose administrative History of the Casino qualities most of the success is due, died in 1877, but I doubt whether even he anticipated the extraordinary developments destined to take place shortly after his death. The principal interest in the Casino was inherited by M. Blanc's widow, who died in 1881. It was after her death that the original Statutes of the Company were modified. On i4th December 1882 it was resolved to double the capital of the Societe, raising it from fifteen million francs to thirty million. This was divided up into 60,000 shares of 500 francs each. About 52,000 shares became the property of the heirs of M. Blanc, and the remaining 8000 were held by a few of their intimate friends. The holder of even 1000 shares to-day would be a rich man, drawing an average income of about ^9000 a year ! The original concession granted to M. Blanc was for fifty years, expiring in 1913, but in 1898 it was agreed by a majority of the shareholders that in view of the rapid growth of the under- taking, it would be more satisfactory for all parties to obtain a renewal of the privileges as soon as possible. The Prince of Monaco was consequently approached, and the terms of a fresh agreement discussed. On certain conditions His Highness agreed to give the Company a fresh concession for 9 Monte Carlo Anecdotes fifty years, from ist April 1898 until ist April 1948. The new convention was placed before a General Meeting of the shareholders on nth January 1898, and met with their approval. It was signed by both contracting parties on i6th January 1898. The terms of the new concession were some- what onerous for the Company, but it was felt on all sides, that the successful issue of the negotiations was a fortunate thing for the Principality in general. It at least afforded guarantees that the Cercle des Etrangers would continue as before ; and, as the prosperity of the place depends largely upon the good management of the Cercle, there seems every probability of its continuance. Such, indeed, was the view taken by the Share Market. The ordinary five hundred franc shares, which prior to the renewal of the lease had been quoted at about Fes. 2500, experi- enced an immediate appreciation. They rose rapidly all the spring of 1898, until in August of that year they touched the record price of Fes. 4770. In order to meet the most pressing demands of the new contract, 4 per cent. Debentures to the amount of 24 million francs, in bonds of Fes. 300, were issued at the price of Fes. 240 per bond. These were eagerly taken up by the 10 History of the Casino public, and are now quoted in the market at Fes. 35- The record dividend of the shares was earned in the winter season of 1897-1898, when each shareholder received Fes. 275 per share for the entire year's working ! This represents 55 per cent, on the original price of issue. But if it is impossible to approve of M. Blanc's original undertaking from a highly moral standpoint, it is equally impossible to deny that its extraordinary success has been the means of bringing unbounded prosperity to the surrounding country. In 1868 there were two hotels in the Princi- pality of Monaco, and now there are forty-eight. In 1878 there were eighty persons making a living through letting apartments, whereas now there are over six hundred. In 1878 there were three jewellers against fifteen at the present time; one florist compared with fifteen now; seven- teen wine merchants against eighty-five in 1900, and eighteen proprietors of carriages for hire against ninety at the present moment ! The Principality of Monaco is now the most thickly populated country of the world. It can boast of a population of six hundred to the square kilometer, being nearly double that of the island of Java, which can only return three hundred and ten. ii Monte Carlo Anecdotes The Casino alone provides honest employment for over one thousand people, including as it does the Administration, the Chefs de Partie, the in- spectors, croupiers, musicians, liveried servants, ' gardiens,' firemen, scene-shifters, gardeners, laundry-women, etc., etc. In fact it may be said that the entire population of Monaco is dependent upon the Cercle. The hours of many of the employe's at the gambling tables being light, several of them are interested in business undertakings of various kinds in the town, whilst their wives and daughters are enabled to add to the family income by the letting of apartments, taking in of boarders, and finding other employment such as dressmaking, millinery, etc. The enormous building operations, which have been going on for the last twelve years, have afforded honest labour for thousands of workmen. There are no rates and taxes in the Principality, everything, including the public works, road-making, police, schools, churches, and even charities, being provided for by the Casino. Art and science are encouraged ; the Establishment of the Beaux-arts, the Opera, and museums, being all in receipt of subsidies. But it is not only in the Principality itself that the effect of all this has been felt. It has had perceptible results for over a hundred 12 History of the Casino miles along the coast. The whole country from St. Raphael to San Remo has been vastly enriched, to an extent which would have been hardly possible, were there not some central attraction like Monte Carlo. In Monaco itself, land, which thirty years ago could have been purchased for fifty centimes a square metre, is now worth over a hundred francs, whilst at a distance of nearly fifty miles from the Casino, sandy soil which in 1870 was not worth ^5 an acre is now selling for ^2000. Such is the effect of the importation of gamb- ling into the neighbourhood ; it has been the means of enriching and providing employment for thousands of people, who have never played at all ! The Management are exceedingly wise in one respect, and no inhabitant of the Principality of Monaco, or any one engaged in business in the department of the Alpes Maritimes is allowed admission to the rooms. The only exception to this rule is in favour of members of certain recognized social clubs in the neighbourhood. The principle seems to be this : " we will allow gambling to go on in our midst under certain properly regulated conditions, one of them being that we will not give our own people the chance of ruining themselves. If foreigners like to come and spend money in the country, so much the 13 Monte Carlo Anecdotes better for us. If it amuses them to throw their money away on the Tables, by all means let them do so; we hope that no one will be such a fool as to lose more than he can afford, but that is no business of ours. None but adults will be allowed in the Rooms, and they are presumably able to take care of themselves. Any money that we may win we shall lay out to the best of our ability in the interests of the shareholders, and with a view to generally improving the con- ditions of life in the surrounding country." As soon as you admit that gambling will always exist, there are many other arguments which could be brought to bear in favour of Monte Carlo. Where else, may I ask, can you be quite sure of being fairly treated ? On the Race-course you have many things to contend with. The trainer may be a swindler, the jockey may be bribed, other riders may combine to shut your horse in on the rails at a critical moment of the race, or the starter may not give him a fair chance. If you surmount all these obstacles successfully, the bookmaker always lays you a point under the odds, and if you win you are not certain of being paid. It is the same on the Stock Exchange, you are induced to invest in some mining shares, through the wonderful returns made by the History of the Casino Manager, or from the glowing statements of the Chairman at the General Meeting, and as soon as you have ' got in/ probably right at the top, down go your shares to nothing at all, and you find that the returns were ' cooked,' and the Chairman's statements all lies, in order to run up the price of the shares in the market. If, by good fortune, you should happen to get into something which turns out fairly well, a con- siderable percentage of your profits will always disappear in such things as 'jobbers' differences,' 1 brokers' commissions,' or ' contangoes.' If you gamble high at clubs or private houses there is always the danger of playing with sharpers, and if you win you are never sure of your money. At Monte Carlo there are none of these objections. Everything goes on with regularity and mathematical precision. The small per- centage in favour of the Bank is well known and recognized by all; the fairness of the play is above suspicion, and all stakes are paid after every ' coup ' rio matter whether the amount is five francs or a hundred thousand ! Should there be any dispute between two players, I have seen the Bank pay twice over rather than have any unpleasantness ! What more can one ask for ? It should also be remembered that whereas Monte Carlo Anecdotes on the Race-course, Stock Exchange, or Club, a gambler of any standing can obtain almost any amount of credit, he cannot play at Monte Carlo unless he has the actual cash in his hand. If he loses all that he takes into the Rooms with him on the first occasion, he has time for reflection before he can lose any more. As for the suicides one hears so much about, I believe that nine-tenths of them exist only in the imagination of blackmailing journalists, who conjure them up with a view to getting money out of the Casino. During the last ten years I have only absolute proof of two violent deaths attributed to suicide. The first was that of a lady who was supposed to have thrown herself under the train at Monte Carlo station ; but this was subsequently proved without doubt to be a case of pure accident. She was rushing across the line endeavouring to catch her train to Beaulieu, when she stumbled and fell, too late to be rescued. In conse- quence of this accident the Railway Company at once constructed an underground tunnel, to enable the passengers to cross in safety. The other case was that of a young woman who was found one night in the train between Nice and Monte Carlo with a bullet through her brain. She died in the Hospital at Monaco without being identified, and in her case it was 16 History of the Casino just as likely that she had been murdered, as that she had taken her own life. During the last fifteen years it is known that over eight million persons have visited the Principality, and a friend of mine, who was fond of statistics, once arrived at the fact, that con- sidering the number of visitors, the average of suicides in Monaco was less than in most other countries of Europe ! EXPLANATION OF ROULETTE THE game of Roulette is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating in the world. There seems to be considerable difference of opinion as to when and by whom it was invented. The general belief is that it was devised by Pascal during a six months' retirement in a monastery, and was probably in existence long before it was brought to Paris during the reign of Louis XVI. As a pure game of Chance it is most cun- ningly and ingeniously contrived, and although millions of people have racked their brains to discover a weak spot, no one has ever yet suc- ceeded in obtaining any decided advantage over the Bank. For the information of people visiting Monte Carlo for the first time, I reproduce here a fac- simile of the Wheel, and also a Diagram of the 'Tableau' where the Stakes are placed. The following are the different ways of stak- ing, together with their French designations 18 Explanation of Roulette which it is as well to have at your fingers' ends, so as to be able to explain to the croupiers where you wish your money placed. FACSIMILE OF ROULETTE WHEEL. To back a single number right out, place the coin in the centre of it. This is called ' en plein.' If you are lucky enough to win, the Bank pays you 35 times your Stake. The Maximum allowed on this chance is 9 louis. If you wish to back two numbers, you can 19 Monte Carlo Anecdotes play what is called 'a cheval,' by placing the money between two numbers next to one FACSIMILE OF ROULETTE TABLEAU. , ""**"! i 2 3* 4 .5 6 $ w 7 8'- o 2 r > CO 3 6 > 37. 3 8 , 39 and 40. It is con- 47 Monte Carlo Anecdotes sequently 9 to i against 31 appearing in the top row." I smiled grimly and let him continue. "If it is 9 to i against 31 appearing in the top row, it must surely be the same odds about the bottom row ? Consequently the odds against 31 appearing in both rows must be 9 x 9 = 81 to i." "It would be all right, and delightfully simple," I said, " if your presumption was correct, but it isn't ; it is utterly and entirely wrong, and based on a complete fallacy." My friend then got quite angry about it, and wanted to make all sorts of wild bets that he was right and I was wrong, etc., etc., so I under- took to prove it to him in five minutes. This was how I made him see it. " You start by saying that it is 9 to i against 31 appearing in the top row of cards, because there are nine other points which can appear ; but you entirely fail to grasp the fact that the odds against each of these points appearing are different." " How so ? " he asked. " That is easily demonstrated," I said, " for according to your argument, it is the same odds, viz. 9 to i, against any one of the points appearing." " That is so," he replied. 48 Notes on Trente = et = Quarante "That is just where you are mistaken," said I, " for whereas the odds are nothing like 9 to i against 31 appearing, they are vastly more than 9 to i against a point of 38, 39, or 40 appearing. "In other words, a point of 31 is the one against which the odds are the least, and the odds against every point above 31 become greater as the size of the point increases. It is consequently easier for the dealer to produce a line amounting to 31 than it is for him to deal 32, and he is more likely to arrive at a total of 33 than 34, and so on up to 40, which is the hardest possible point to arrive at. "If you think it out for two minutes, or experiment with a pack of cards, the fact becomes apparent at once. For in order to arrive at a point of 40 you first have to hit upon cards which will make a point of exactly 30, and having arrived at 30 exactly, you then require a ten or a court card to arrive at a point of 40. " On the other hand, look how much easier it is to arrive at 31 : you may first get to 21 and then hit upon a ten or court card, or any two or three cards making up ten. Or you may first get to 22 and then come upon a nine or any two or three cards making up nine ; or first get to 23 and then come upon an eight or any two or three small cards making up 8, etc., etc. There are innumerable combinations of cards 49 E Monte Carlo Anecdotes which will make 31, but, as I said before, in order to arrive at a point of 40, it is necessary first to get 30 exactly, and after that, it is still 9 to 4 against your coming upon the requisite ten or court card to make the point of 40." The ' coup ' of ' 40 apres ' is so rare, that at the gambling clubs of Namur, during two hours of the day, they pay the stakes on both sides of the table whenever it occurs ! My friend was bound to admit that my reasoning was sound, and that as the odds against each point appearing were different, and gradually increased from 31 upwards, the calcu- lation of the percentage was a most difficult one. My own idea of the best way to arrive at it, would be to take six packs of cards, shuffle and cut them in the same way as at the Trente- et-Quarante tables at Monte Carlo, and then deal 100,000 'coups,' keeping a record of the number of times ' 31 apres ' appeared. The experiment might keep one person at work for ten hours a day for three months, but the result would be a reliable test. It would probably be found that ' 3 1 apres ' would turn up about 2500 times, or about once in every forty ' coups.' If this is the correct reckoning, and I am con- vinced that it cannot be far wrong, it follows So Notes on Trente=et=Quarante that players of stakes of 500 francs and upwards should always insure against the Refait. A gentleman of Jewish extraction, who had been trying to pay his expenses at Trente-et- Quarante, once informed me that he considered the premium of insurance " the cheapest thing in Monte Carlo " ; and I have no doubt that he knew how to make a calculation of this sort a great deal better than most people. It is easy to see that if the Refait occurs once in forty 'coups,' it will occur five times in 200. Now suppose we play 200 'coups' of 1000 francs each without insuring ; every time the Refait occurs we lose half our stake, which would amount to 2500 francs. On the other hand the insurance would have cost us 200 times 10 francs = only 2000 francs, showing a net saving of 500 francs to the insurer. In other words, it appears that the Bank allows you to insure at a premium of i per cent, when the charge ought probably to be about i| per cent. N.B. This insurance premium charged by the Bank, and usually considered by players to be i per cent., is in reality 2 per cent. For, in the event of the Refait appearing, the uninsured player has always the right to take off half his stake : the insurer is consequently paying i per cent, on the whole amount staked to insure his being able to take half of it off the table if the Monte Carlo Anecdotes Refait appears, which really means that his premium of insurance is 2 per cent. Seeing, however, that it probably ought to be z\ per cent, it is certainly advantageous for him to insure. It is not, however, good policy to pay 5 francs to insure 15 louis, or 10 francs to insure 35 louis, which is often done by players who have not calculated the correct odds. SCIENTIFIC TRENTE-ET-QUARANTE THE general opinion seems to be that Trente- et-Quarante is not a game of skill. I believe that quite half the people who play it have not the vaguest idea of what they are doing, and merely throw their money down on to Black or Red, and wait to see whether it is raked in or paid, as the case may be. One gentleman, who always played it in perference to Roulette because " he found the rooms quieter, and there was less chance of having your money grabbed,'' told me quite seriously that he thought it seemed to be a good game, but he wished " they would get rid of the man who fiddled about with the cards ! " He thought the game would go on just as well without him. Another iran once asked me where he had to place his money in order to back the " Odd and Even ! " But if half the people who play know nothing whatever about it, I believe that quite two-thirds of the remainder know very little more. Their one idea seems to be to get on to a ' run ' and S3 Monte Carlo Anecdotes leave their money to accumulate. The result of this is that unless the Bank gives them a deal with several good ' runs ' on it, most of them lose. It seems to me, however, that with a little knowledge of the rules of the game, coupled with a little faith in the law of average, Trente- et-Quarante can be converted into an interesting game of skill, where the player who has the necessary patience and power of observation can bring them to bear on his side with advantage. I suppose no one will deny that the Law of Average exists. We see it at work every day of our lives. Without it Banks, Insurance Offices and Railway Companies could not make their business pay. The manager of a London Joint Stock Bank bases all his calculations upon it. He has, say, 5000 current accounts open in his books, of which some of the balances are large and some are small ; but after a little experience he soon knows the sum he can count upon as available. If, after a year or two, he finds that the average daily balance of each current account is 200, he can pretty well count upon having ;i, 000,000 of his clients' money in his hands on any one day of the year. In normal times, if he keeps, say, ^300,000 in his strong-room to meet contingencies, he will be quite safe in making use of the ^700,000 by 54 Scientific Trente-et-Quarante investing it in liquid securities, loans or dis- counts. If the law of average did not exist, he could not do this, but would be obliged to keep the whole of his clients' money locked up in his safes, for fear they might all want to draw out on the same day. But he can be quite sure that this will not happen, and that if A, B, and C draw out ^"100,000, X, Y, and Z will pay in about the same amount. It is identically the same case with the Insur- ance Companies. They know that out of so many lives insured every year, they can count on a very large percentage remaining alive to counterbalance the number of deaths ; or on so many buildings insured against fire, only a very small percentage will be burnt. In the same way, the manager of Lloyd's knows that out of so many ships underwritten annually, about the same percentage will always come safely to port, and counterbalance the number of wrecks. The average is worked out by an actuary, and the premiums are fixed accordingly. Have you ever considered how many hundreds of thousands of people cross from Dover to Calais every year, and yet the South- Eastern Railway Company only requires to keep about three boats running, because they know that the traffic will be governed by the same law 55 Monte Carlo Anecdotes of average, and that the same number of people will make up their minds to travel per day on an average. If they all wanted to cross in any one month or in any one week of the year, they would require to keep a fleet as big as the British Navy. But they don't, because of the law of average. It is precisely the same with the cards at Trente-et-Quarante. There are six packs of cards used, each containing 52 cards. In each of these packs there are 24 cards counting over 7 and 24 cards counting under 7. Now by the law of average I maintain that if the six packs are mixed up and properly shuffled as they are at Monte Carlo, in every thirteen cards that are dealt out there ought to appear six cards of over 7 and six cards under 7. If this is not the case, it will probably right itself when the next thirteen are dealt out, or at any rate after thirteen more have appeared. In other words, by the law of average you will never find all the cards counting over 7 in one half of the pack and all the cards counting under 7 in the other ; they will be pretty equally distributed throughout the whole of the six packs. It follows that whenever you see too many big cards or too many little ones appearing con- secutively, that the preponderance or deficiency has got to be made up sooner or later, and by 56 Scientific Trente-et-Quarante the law of average the deficiency on one side or the other is not likely to be long outstanding. Now it seems to me that this knowledge can be turned to some account, for it should help us to determine the probable result of the top line of cards which is about to be dealt. It is easier to arrive at a point of 31 with small cards than it is with big ones, and in the same way it is easier to arrive at a point of anything from 36 to 40 with big cards than it is with small ones. If this is so, when small cards are due, it ought to be good to back the Black ; but on the other hand, if too many small cards have already appeared, and big ones are due, it ought to be good to back the Red, because a high point may be expected in the top line* The player should therefore carefully watch the cards as they fall, from the commencement of a deal, and only play when something abnormal occurs, in the hope that the next few cards which appear will rectify it. He must keep a mental record of either all the cards over 7, or all under 7, and draw his conclusions therefrom. For example, the cards are cut, and the deal commences Black Line. Kg. 10, Qn. 9 = 39 Red Line. Kn. Kg. 8, 7 =35 Rouge gagne. 57 Monte Carlo Anecdotes The player now says to himself, " As seven cards all over 7 have appeared and none under 7, a lot of small cards are due, it is therefore good to back the Black for the next ' coup.' " The small cards will probably appear, and he may expect to see something like this Black Line. 6, 4, 5, i, 10, 3, 2 = 31 Red Line. 8, 7, Qn. i, 9, = 35 Rouge perd. After that, the balance being re-established, he would look on for one or two ' coups,' watch- ing for another opportunity to play. After three or four ' coups ' with the cards coming out pretty evenly, suppose he saw Black Line. Kg. i, 10, 3, 5, 7 = 36 Red Line. 4, 2, i, 5, 3, 6, 2, 4, 6 = 33 Rouge gagne. As things were pretty even at the start, and now twelve cards under 7 have appeared against only two over 7, some big cards are surely due, so it must be good to back Red for the next 'coup.' If he finds Black Line. Qn. 10, Kn. 8 = 38 Red Line. Kg. 9, Qn. 7 =36 Rouge gagne. He wins his bet, and the balance of the cards is once more nearly re-established. 58 Scientific Trente=et=Quarante If the player has a good Whist or Be'zique memory he can probably do all this mentally. If not, he must keep the score on paper, mark- ing down the cards as they fall, keeping those over 7 in one column, and those under 7 in another ; he will then be able to see at once when anything abnormal occurs. Experience has shown me that although you cannot expect to beat the Bank every time at this game, still if you play steadily, and only stake when your chances seem favourable, you will very seldom lose three times in succession. For if small cards are due and you back the Black, and big cards continue to appear, it ought to be more likely than ever that Black will win next time ; and if that ' coup ' also loses, it will probably look better still for the Black the time after. I should consequently advise a Progression being employed which will wipe out previous losses and land you a winner if the 'coup' comes off once in three tries. A good way of staking would be to commence with i unit, increasing to 3 on the first loss and to 6 on the second consecutive loss. This would mean that every time you won the first bet you would win i unit. If you lost the first bet and won the second, you would get back your previous loss and win 2 units. 59 Monte Carlo Anecdotes And if you lost the first two bets and won the third, you would get back all previous losses, and still be the winner of 2 units. If you lost all three bets consecutively, it would cost you 10 units. The best way, then, to play the System would be to divide your whole capital up into five or six capitals of 10 units each, which you would keep in your right- hand pocket, stowing away all winnings in your left-hand pocket as you take them off the table. At the end of about four deals you will generally find that you have had the best of the tussle. If this should not be the case, it will mean that you have hit upon an unlucky day, and this must be expected about once in every four or five visits to the tables. When you are in bad luck, and the cards which have fallen point to the Black side winning, you will often see the looked-for small cards appearing, but your calculations will be upset by a ten coming at the end of the to line. For example Black Line. 3, 5,1, 4, 7, 2, 6, 10 = 38 In this case your small cards have duly appeared, but you have arrived at a very bad point 38 because you were unlucky enough 60 Scientific Trente = et=Quarante to get a 10 at the end of the line. Had the big card turned up in the middle of the line, say after the Ace, your point would have been 32, which would probably have won you the 'coup,' and the 6 would then have become the first card of the Red Line. Vice versa, when you are in bad luck, and it looks as if Red should win, you will be beaten in the same way by an Ace or a 2 appearing at the end of the top line, as for example Black Line. Kg. Qn. 10, 2 = 32. Red Line. Kn. 9, 8, 7 = 34. Rouge perd. Had the 2 appeared one card later, you would have arrived at a point of 40 in the top line, and Red could not then have lost. No reasonable being will expect a System, such as I have just described, to be successful every time they play. If it goes well three times out of five, and they are careful to limit their losses on their unlucky days, they should be able to pay their expenses, even with a unit of i louis. I have seen a capital of 10 louis turned into 75 in less than two hours at this game, only the man who did this used to add the first louis which he won to his third stake, before he commenced stowing away his winnings. His 61 Monte Carlo Anecdotes third stake would consequently have been 7 louis instead of 6. On the occasion to which I refer he never lost his first capital at all during two hours' play, and won on the average u louis every deal. 62 JAGGERS'S SYSTEM JAGGERS is the only man I ever heard of who completely defeated the Bank at Monte Carlo by fair means, and won and kept a large sum of money. He was a Yorkshireman, and a mechanic by trade, and therefore knew how impossible it is to construct and maintain a delicate machine in an absolutely perfect condition. He conse- quently realized that every Roulette Wheel in the rooms at Monte Carlo was sure to be untrue, in a greater or less degree, and he did not see why he should not turn this knowledge to some account. He engaged a staff of six clerks, and set them at different tables to mark down the numbers all day long. Meanwhile he himself was busily engaged on an elaborate analysis of the result of each table. At the end of a month he had discovered a weak spot in every one of the cylinders. Certain numbers appeared at certain 63 Monte Carlo Anecdotes tables considerably oftener than they should have done by the law of average. At each of these tables there was a group of numbers which always kept behind their average. The numbers that were ahead steadily increased their lead, whilst the other group fell more and more in arrear. Armed with this knowledge Jaggers and his staff set to work to play on the good numbers, and in course of time they won ^"120,000. Then the Administration of the Bank discovered his system, and changed the cylinders about from table to table every night. From that day Jaggers of course began to lose, and he had soon lost ^40,000 of his winnings. Then he perceived what they had done, and set to work to beat them again. By dint of patience and keen observation he soon discovered a dis- tinctive mark on most of the wheels, so that no matter where they placed them he would know them again. In most cases the mark was so minute as to be quite unnoticed by an ordinary observer, but Jaggers was gifted with a very quick eye, and the slightest scratch or speck on the paint was sufficient for him. Being then able to follow each of his cylinders day after day from table to table, he soon recognized his old friends, and knew that certain numbers were good to play on at certain tables. He soon 64 Jaggers's System regained the ^40,000 which the Bank had won back from him. The Administration were then in despair. They had known players win before, it is true, but they had never known a man win steadily, regularly, and consistently like Jaggers. It was a constant drain on their resources, and as others were beginning to follow him wherever he staked his money, it meant ultimate ruin unless they could put a stop to it. So they sent a representative to Paris to consult the head of the firm who had manufactured the wheels. Fortunately for Monte Carlo he was a man of resource, and saw in a moment how he could baffle Mr. Jaggers. He knew, like Jaggers, that it was impossible to make a Roulette Wheel absolutely true, but he saw at once how he could effectually prevent a player from profiting by this knowledge, and what he did was this. The irregular results, he argued, arose from the partitions dividing the numbers being slightly irregular : as long as these partitions WQIQ fixed, it was possible for a minute observer to profit from the irregularity ; but if you could make them so easily movable as to be able to change them without diffi- culty every evening, although the wheel would still remain untrue, it would be quite impossible for any player to profit from it, as the irregu- 65 F Monte Carlo Anecdotes larity would never be the same two days following. He accordingly constructed a new set of wheels with movable partitions, so that the little receptacle for the ball, which was opposite Zero one day, might be placed opposite No. 5 the next, and opposite No. 22 the day after. Against this, of course, Jaggers could do nothing, and having discovered that the game was up, he finally left Monte Carlo the winner of about ^80,000. All this happened over twenty years ago, and although it would probably be waste of time to try the Jaggers system at Monte Carlo, where they are ever on the look-out, I still think it would be possible to bring off the 'coup' at one of the less frequented gambling resorts where the Administration are not so wide- awake. At one of the Belgian establishments the writer found that the wheels were never moved from table to table, and from an analysis of the results, acquired by marking the numbers at the same table two hours every day for a month, it was apparent that certain numbers invariably turned up oftener than others. As some numbers were continually increasing their lead, and others daily falling more and more behind, it was evident that the cylinders were never adjusted. 66 Jaggers's System The result of about two hours' play every day for twelve days was a win of seventy-five louis ; then his victorious career was brought to an end by the table being closed at the end of the summer season. The difficulty, however, is to frame a system of staking which will survive a run of adverse luck. The advantage the player obtains from his observation of the vagaries of the table is so small, that a win is only assured by having a large capital and playing a large number of ' coups.' Although there may be half-a-dozen ' good ' numbers and six ' bad ' ones, there will always be a group of about twenty-four numbers whose score remains at about the normal figure. Although the ' bad ' numbers may not come out oftener than usual, there may at any time be such a long succession of the normal ones, that the backer of the ' good ' ones may at a given moment be largely out of pocket. The only way to avoid this is to take half the normal numbers on your side and back about eighteen numbers every spin of the wheel, i, e. six ' good ' ones and twelve normal. This insures the player against any very long run of bad luck, and armed with four hundred units he ought to be able to beat the Bank every sitting. The player must be able to select a wheel with a distinguishable mark on it before 67 Monte Carlo Anecdotes attempting this system, and he must, moreover, keep a careful analysis of the table every day in order to perceive at once if the Administration have tampered with the cylinder during the night. 68 THE D'ALEMBERT SYSTEM THIS system, which is also commonly known as the ' Montant et descendant,' is one of the oldest and best known. It is also one of the most seductive, and, in my opinion, one of the most dangerous which the player can select. It is especially alluring to the novice, who is ensnared by its apparent theoretical soundness, without realizing the serious risks he is running in adopting it. The theory of the system is absolutely sound, but unfortunately, although this is undeniable, it is of no practical value to the ordinary player, and is sure to bring him to grief. D'Alembert was a believer in the Law of Equilibrium, and held that if you played at any game of purely even chance, such, as tossing a coin into the air, you could start from any given moment, and although Heads might turn up 5, 10, or 20 times more than Tails, you had only 69 Monte Carlo Anecdotes got to go on long enough for the chances to equalize themselves. This was just as certain to occur, he argued, as if ycu took a pack of cards containing 26 Reds and 26 Blacks and dealt them out. In the case of the cards the Reds and Blacks were sure to be equal, at the end of each pack. In the case of the tossing of a coin, the moment of equilibrium was undefinable, but was equally certain to occur. "This being so," said he, "we can easily devise a method of staking which will give the player an advantage. Let him add one to his stake after every loss, and deduct one from his previous stake after every win. When the equilibrium occurs, he is sure to be a winner ; " e. g. suppose he starts by losing five times con- secutively, he has lost 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15 ; he then wins five times consecutively, and establishes the equilibrium ; he has won 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 = 20, showing a net gain of 5 units. But unfortunately there are two other sides to the picture, which d'Alembert being only a theorist did not realize. Suppose, for example, you start by winning five times consecutively : as you are not to increase until you have sustained a loss, you will have won 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1=5. You 70 The D'Alembert System then lose five times running and establish the equilibrium ; you will have lost i + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15, showing a net loss of 10 units ! But there is another and much more serious thing to be considered. D'Alembert says the chances are bound to equalize, but admits that the moment of the equilibrium occurring is undefinabk. There is no reason, therefore, why it should not occur for two or three days, or even for two or three weeks, and what is his disciple to do in the meanwhile? Sit there steadily decreasing and increasing, decreasing and increasing, whilst one chance goes slowly but surely ahead of the other, and his stakes mount higher and higher? If he had two or three friends to relieve him at his task, and his stakes did not mount to the Maximum, he would require the capital of the Bank of England to stand it ! And think of the Zeros or Refaits that would be occurring all the time, adding to his already embarrassed situation. Therefore I am of the opinion that the ordinary d'Alembert, if actempted without re- strictions or modifications, is impracticable, not- withstanding the fact that its fundamental basis is sound, WELLS'S SYSTEM NOTWITHSTANDING the many shortcomings which led to Mr. Wells's temporary retirement into private life, his worst enemies could not accuse him of being a fool ! He discovered what he thought to be an extremely sound system, and having done so, proceeded to play it with other people's money ! What could have been more intelligent ? His only mistake was being found out ! His idea was this. To work on the D'Alem- bert theory, which he recognized as sound, only with modifications and restrictions. Wells con- sidered the play on an Even Chance to be like the swing of a pendulum. Starting from any given point (which would be represented on the Plan by o), to play on Red or Black, he saw that what usually hap- pened was that the pendulum did not, as a rule, swing much outside certain limits say 10 points in favour of either colour. 72 Wells's System Of course there were times when Red would go steadily ahead and get 10, 20, 30, and even 40 points in front of Black, but in the majority of cases the pendulum would keep vibrating for sometime between the points 10 R and 10 B before it ever exceeded this limit. Wells's idea, then, was to adopt the D'Alem- bert method of staking, but with this difference, that he would start with a stake of 10 units instead of i, and that if either his stake decreased to o or increased to 20, he would consider the game as finished, and retire with his loss or win as the case might be. In this way when he started by winning, instead of winning i + i + i + 1, etc., he used to win 10 + 9 + 8 + 7 + 6, etc., and if he won ten times in succession he used to come 73 Monte Carlo Anecdotes away a winner of 10 + 9 + 8 + 7+6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 55 units. And if he won the first few ' coups ' and then kept on winning and losing alternately for a short time before eventually descending to Zero, he won considerably more than 55 units, for every time there was a loss followed by a win, it meant a gain of an extra unit. Suppose the game to have gone on as shown in the following Table Results. Amounts Staked. Results. Amounts Staked. Win ... ... IO + Win . ... 3 + Win ... ... 9 + Lose 2 Lose .,, 8 Lose . ... 3 Win ... 9 + Lose . ... 4 Win ... ... 8 + Lose . ... 5 Lose ... 7 Win . ... 6 + Win ... 8 + Win . ... 5 + Lose ... 7 Lose . ... 4 Win ... 8 + Win . ... 5 + Win ... ... 7 + Win . ... 4 + Win ... 6 + Lose . ... 3 Lose 5 Win . ... 4 + Win ... 6 + Win . ... 3 + Win ... 5 + Win . ... 2 + Lose ... 4 Lose . ... I - Win ... 5 + Win . ... 2 + Win ... 4 + Win I + Win ... 3 + Lose ... 2 If you add up the plus quantities they come to 123, and the minus quantities to 55. The 74 Wells's System net result is therefore a Win of 68 units. The reason being, that whilst the pendulum was swinging out to 10 degrees in favour of the player, it vibrated 13 times, and each vibration meant the win of an extra unit. People who know the weak spot of the D'Alembert, will very likely tell you that the Wells System is just as bad, because if you win ten 'coups' running, you will only win 10 + 9 + 8 + 7 +6+5 +4 + 3+2+ i =55; whereas if you lose ten ' coups ' running, you will lose 10+11 + 12 + 13 + 14+15+16 + 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 = 165. This is undoubtedly the weak spot, but Wells pretends that both of these results are rare, and that if you play the system continually, this apparent disadvantage is compensated for by the vibrations of the pendulum. However this may be, there is no doubt that the Wells method is an improvement on the ordinary D'Alembert. But it seems to me very easy to improve upon Welis, and to do this I would propose that you should play it on both sides of the table at the same time. To accomplish this a beginner would require a friend to help him, and would proceed thus We will call our friends B and R. The former is going to play on Black and the latter on Red. Supposing they were independent 75 Monte Carlo Anecdotes people going to play the Wells System as de- scribed above, each would have to take in 165 units ; but as they are a joint-stock concern, they will only require a capital of no units between them. N.B. Advantage No. i. The possible loss is reduced from 165 to no units. B starts to back the Black with a stake of 10, and R starts to put the same amount on Red, but as there is no earthly object in their opposing one another, and having two stakes on the table to run the risk of Zero, they compare notes as to what they have got to play, and only stake the difference. Consequently on the first 'coup' they do not stake at all. Supposing Red wins. R then says to B, " My stake is 9 on Red." B says to R, " Mine is 1 1 on Black." The stake placed on the table would therefore be 2 on Black. Supposing Red wins again. R has to play 8 on Red and B 12 on Black; the amount staked would consequently be 4 on Black. The second great advantage of being in partnership now becomes apparent : by only staking the difference between the two amounts which each ought to play, much less money is exposed to the risk of Zero, and on a favourable ' tableau ' the profits are doubled. For supposing at the second 'coup' Zero appears ; if the players were independent, R 76 Wells's System would have 8 units put in prison, and B 12, whereas by being partners they have the satisfaction of seeing only 4 units going into captivity ! The best way to proceed when Zero appears is to divide the amount on the table with the Bank and ignore the 'coup' altogether. This is the simplest mode of procedure in playing any system on an Even Chance, and I advise the reader to adopt it should he decide to try one of the systems given in this book. In the above case then R and B would accept a loss of 2 units and stake 4 on Black for the next 'coup.' If the pendulum swings gently to and fro, vibrating continually between 10 R and 10 B without ever exceeding those limits, as soon as you find it pointing to Zero after an hour or so of play it is time to stop your game. You will find that your profits have amounted to about i unit for every ' coup ' played, less the percentage paid out on the Zeros. THE AUTHOR'S SYSTEM PRAY let it be distinctly understood that I do not recommend any one to gamble. On the contrary, I would strongly advise those who have not yet taken to it to refrain. The proportion of winners to losers in the long run is astonishingly small. Think of how few people you know who could truthfully say that if all the gambling transactions of their life were summed up the result would be a profit ! I don't believe that on an average five per cent, of the players come out to the good. Certainly not more. Large wins are made from time to time by lucky coups, but the money nearly always returns to the coffers of the Bank. As a lady once wittily remarked to me when I asked her if she had been winning, "No," she said; " I find that I never win, I only borrow from the Bank, and a precious high rate of interest they make 78 The Author's System me pay as a rule ! J; Gambling is therefore nearly sure to be unprofitable ; and in addition to that, it has a tendency to make some people irritable, nervous, and generally miserable. It is, in fact, very like opium-smoking ; there is a period of great exhilaration after a good win, only to be followed by a reaction of the deepest depression after a loss. Unfortunately, however, a large proportion of the community have already taken to games of chance, and it is amongst these that I hope my little book will circulate. It can do them no harm, and may perhaps save a few the loss of considerable sums of money by prevailing upon them to introduce a little method into their play. The people who go into the Rooms and throw their money down haphazard on the table, without any pre-conceived plan of attack or defence, are sure to lose in the end. They may be large winners occasionally, but the Bank is sure to beat them in the long run. By having a system you can at least defend your money ; and if at any time you should have a run of luck and accumulate a fair amount of winnings, you will make it a more lengthy and difficult task for the Bank to get their money back. The author knows of no system by which with a moderate capital you can make winning 79 Monte Carlo Anecdotes a certainty, but there are many which render a heavy loss very improbable, and allow the player scope for a fair win if he escapes bad luck. The following system, if strictly adhered to, should give the player plenty of fun for his money, and will often land him with a balance on the right side, even after several weeks' play. The best progression to employ is i, 2, 3, 6, which means to say that you continue staking one piece as long as you are winning, and increase to two on the first loss. If you lose again, you increase to three, and after three consecutive losses you stake six. The result of this method of staking is, that if you win either the first or second bet, you have won one piece or unit of play which you then put away into a separate pocket, as a definite gain, quite apart from your original capital. If you lose the first two bets, and win either the third or fourth, you have got your losses back, and done no harm ; you are then in a position to re-commence staking one again. It is evident, therefore, that in order to get any of your money at all, the Bank has to win four bets consecutively. Our object, then, is to try and make this as difficult as possible for them. The system must of course be played on an even chance, So The Author's System but instead of simply playing it on the Red and Black, Pair or Impair, or Couleur and Inverse at Trente-et-Quarante, where an adverse run of four may often be encountered, the author recommends the following plan to be adopted. You wait until one colour appears, and then commence playing first for a sequence of colour, and then for a change of colour; in other words, you play first for the run and then for the intermittence. The result of this ingenious way of staking is that it makes it difficult for them to beat you. For if there is a run on the colour, you win every alternate bet, and consequently win one unit every two coups. For example, if when you go to the table Red appears, you first play on the Red for the run, and then on the Black for the intermittence. If it runs six times, the stakes are as follows : Red (no stake) Red (play i for the Run and Win) Red (play i for the Intermittence and Lose) Red (play 2 for the Run and Win) Red (play I for the Intermittence and Lose) Red (play 2 for the Run and Win) Total result of three wins and two losses : A win of three units. If, however, the table is intermittent it suits you just as well, and the stakes are as follows : 81 G Monte Carlo Anecdotes Red (no stake) Black (play i for the Run and Lose) Red (play 2 for the Intermittence and Win) Black (play i for the Run and Lose) Red (play 2 for the Intermittence and Win) Black (play i for the Run and Lose) Red (play 2 for the Intermittence and Win) You also win every alternate coup and can show as total result three wins and three losses : A win of three units. If the table gives you what is known as 'coup de deux' : Red (no stake) Red (play i for the Run and Win) Black (play i for the Intermittence and Win) Black (play i for the Run and Win) Red (play i for the Intermittence and Win) Red (play i for the Run and Win) You win every bet, and can show a result of one unit per coup. If the table gives you runs of three ('coup de trois ') : Red (no stake) Red (play J f r the Run and Win) Red (play r f r tne Intermittence and Lose) Black (play 2 for the Run and Lose) Black (play 3 for the Intermittence and Lose) Black (play 6 for the Run and Win) Red (play i for the Intermittence and Win) Red (play x f r the Run and Win) The net result is that you win three units for seven coups played. If the table gives you first four Red and then four Black ('coup de quatre') the result 82 is much better ; for you win five units for seven coups played. The only combination that you have to be afraid of is that you may land on to a ' coup de deux ' at the wrong moment. You would then lose every bet in succession, for example : Red (no stake) Red (play I for the Run and Win) Red (play I for the Intermittence and Lose) Black (play 2 for the Run and Lose) Black (play 3 for the Intermittence and Lose) Red (play 6 for the Run and Lose) Or worse still if it commences with one Red : Red (no stake) Black (play i for the Run and Lose) Black (play 2 for the Intermittence and Lose) Red (play 3 for the Run and Lose) Red (play 6 for the Intermittence and Lose) In any case, however, the chances that the player will happen to hit upon this combination at the wrong moment seem fairly remote. The author recommends the player to have thirty-six pieces, which he will divide up into three separate capitals of twelve pieces each. If he lands on to an adverse ' coup de deux ' and loses one capital, he must re-commence with another capital of twelve ; only instead of con- tinuing to stake in the ordinary course, he should commence staking on the same chance, on which he has just lost his stake of six pieces. 83 Monte Carlo Anecdotes The result of this will be that if the runs of two continue, he will be on them in the right place, and will commence winning every coup. For example : Red (no stake) Black (play I for the Run and Lose) Black (play 2 for the Intermittence and Lose) Red (play 3 for the Run and Lose) Red (play 6 for the Intermittence and Lose) Black (play I for Intermittence (not Run) and Win) Black (play i for the Run and Win) Red (play I for the Intermittence and Win) Red (play I for the Run and Win) The three capitals should be kept in one pocket, and all winnings stowed away either in another pocket, or in a small bag kept for the purpose. The player should leave the table if at any time he is a net winner of ten units. If not, he should continue until all his three capitals are exhausted, when as a rule it will be found that he has at any rate a small balance to the good. The three capitals will usually afford him at least an hour's play. 84 THE ITALIAN RAID ON THE BANK As I said before, Jaggers is the only man to my knowledge who won a large sum from the Bank by fair means and kept it ; but there have been several instances of the Bank being worsted by swindlers, though not to any large extent. The following was the cleverest and most re- markable swindle of recent years. It was worked by a party of four Italians, and took place about twelve years ago. They came to Monte Carlo and made the acquaintance of one of the dealers at Trente-et- Quarante. Having ascertained from him that he was allowed to have six packs of the Casino cards at his house to enable him to practise dealing, they took him into their confidence, and offered him 60,000 francs to assist them in the swindle. He yielded to the temptation, although it meant almost certain discovery for himself in any event. He furnished them with sufficient cards to 85 Monte Carlo Anecdotes make up seven ' coups,' which they arranged and returned to him. The next day, when it came to his turn to deal, he was to slip the prepared cards out of his pocket on to the top of the ordinary packs. If he succeeded he was to give them a pre-arranged signal, and the Italians were then to commence staking. Their plans to assist the dealer in his delicate and dangerous task succeeded admirably. *Qne of the gang stood behind the ' Chef de Partie ' on one side of the table and asked for change for a 5oo-franc note in gold. He dropped a handful of the louis on to the floor as they were being passed to him. This caused a commo- tion on his side of the table. Meanwhile, one of the gang sitting on the opposite side called for some drinking-water, and as the waiter was bringing the tray with two or three glasses on it, another of the gang, as if by accident, upset the whole contents of the tray over a lady playing at the table ; she, of course, commenced to make a tremendous fuss, and to abuse the waiter for his clumsiness. In this way the atten- tion of both the chefs was diverted, and the dealer was enabled to slip out the prepared cards quite unobserved, and arrange them at the top of the six packs. Having received the signal from the dealer that everything was all right, one of the The Italian Raid swindlers put a. Maximum on the Red on one side of the table and another of the gang put a Maximum on to Couleur on the other side. The other two each put 3000 francs on the same chances, and the net result was conse- quently a win of 30,000 francs. They continued staking the same amount until all the seven pre-arranged 'coups' had been dealt, when they calmly walked out of the Casino, and over the frontier of the Principality, with about 200,000 francs in their pockets. As the average number of ' coups ' in a deal at Trente-et-Quarante is about 26, by the time the 28th and 29th 'coups ' were dealt, the Chefs knew that there must be something wrong, and at the end of the ' taille ' the dealer was put under arrest and the cards counted, when of course the fraud was discovered. The dealer's house was then searched, when it was found that more than a pack of cards was missing. He was consequently convicted of swindling, and sentenced to two years' im- prisonment, but the four Italians got clean away with their booty. In those days the cards used by the Casino were ordinary cards with white backs, but since the swindle, cards of a different pattern are used every deal, so that it would now be almost impossible to repeat the fraud. 87 Monte Carlo Anecdotes Another attempt at cheating is reported to have taken place many years ago, before such elaborate precautions were taken by the Admin- istration to guard against fraud. A man is supposed to have succeeded in hiding himself under one of the tables, when the Rooms were closed for the night, and with a pair of pincers tightened all the Black com- partments on one of the Roulette Wheels. Having done this he was clever enough to get out of the window unobserved by the night- watchmen. Next day he went in and won a good sum by playing on the Red. But, by being too greedy he over-reached himself; for, not being satisfied with his first day's haul, he determined to return the following day and double his winnings. But, unfortunately for him, the ' Chef de Partie ' had noticed the irregularity of the wheel, and had it tested at the close of play, and the trick was soon discovered. Feeling sure that the swindler would continue the campaign on the following day, they resolved to catch him in his own trap by pinching the Red compartments and opening the Black ones. Their plan succeeded admirably, and as our friend, who had been playing low stakes on the The Italian Raid first day for want of capital, was now playing in looo-franc notes, they very soon cleaned him out, and won all their money back. Up till about twenty years ago, the Admin- istration used often to pay stakes of 500 francs and 1000 francs, in what were called 'rouleaux d'or.' They consisted of packets of 25 and 50 louis neatly rolled up in paper and sealed by the Casino. When a punter placed a ' rouleau ' on the table the croupiers used to call out ' tout va au rouleau,' in the same way that they now call ' tout va au billet.' A clever Frenchman saw his way to take advantage of this custom. He went to the Trente-et-Quarante table one day and put one 'rouleau ' on to Red and another on to Couleur. Red won, but Couleur lost. Just as they were going to rake his ' rouleau ' off Couleur, he sub- stituted a looo-franc note for it, pretending that it was a lucky one, which he wished to keep. The croupiers of course made no objec- tion. The same thing happened the next day, when he played the same stakes : Couleur won, but Red lost, and again he gave them a note and took his ' rouleau ' back. On the third day both Red and Couleur won, and then he politely asked them to open the ' rouleaux ' and pay him two Maximums ! Monte Carlo Anecdotes " Mais, Monsieur " they began. " Par- don !" he interrupted, " when the ' rouleaux ' were placed on the table you said, ' tout va aux rouleaux,' which means that the contents of the ' rouleaux' were accepted as a stake, provided the Maximum was not exceeded. I hold you to your declaration. Open them ; you will find just 12,000 francs in each !" So the ' rouleaux ' were duly opened, and there sure enough, neatly rolled round, inside a brass tube, were found twelve looo-franc notes in each ! The Bank tried to argue the point, saying that they only accepted gold in ' rouleaux,' and not notes, but our friend soon disposed of this by saying, " In that case you should have said, 'tout va a Por aux rouleaux,' but you didn't : you accepted the contents of the 'rouleaux' as a bet, and I insist upon being paid." Well, of course it was a clear case of swind- ling, but the Bank was obliged to pay ; but after that they took our friend's advice to heart and always said, 'tout va a for au rouleau.' But it was so very easy to forge the seals of the Casino, that many ' rouleaux ' were found to contain false louis made of lead, so after a few such unpleasant discoveries the ' rouleaux ' were eventually abolished altogether. 90 THE 'LABOUCHERE' SYSTEM No book on Systems would be complete with- out the ' Labby.' Why it is so called I have been unable to discover for certain, but have reason to believe that it was described in the columns of Truth a good many years ago, and hence it derived its name. Like in the case of the D'Alembert, the theory is sound, but in order to be of any practical value at the Tables, it should be utilized with extreme caution. Of this I am aware, from seeing a friend lose four separate capitals of ^1000 each, within the space of three months. He played a strict ' Labby ' without taking any unnecessary risks, and only tried to win 20 per day ; but his mistake was probably the very common one of playing a game too high for his capital, and had he risked the whole ^"4000 in one lump sum, and played the same stakes, he would very probably have survived. Monte Carlo Anecdotes What makes me think this, is the extraordin- ary success with which a certain Scotch gentle- man played the ' Labby ' in the summer of 1900 at Ostend. This gentleman was generally believed to have won about ^200 per day for over six weeks, and on one occasion I saw him, after starting from a stake of only 2 louis, encounter such an adverse table that after a tussle of four or five hours he was staking 250 to 270 louis at a 'coup,' and was more than 2500 louis out of pocket. Notwithstanding this, he stuck most gamely to his work, and finished up by fairly beating the Bank, and bringing himself out a winner after about seven hours' play. This gentleman used invariably to take in a capital of 5000 louis, and when run into difficulties by a continuance of bad luck, he was the coolest hand at System playing that ever I saw. His nerve and presence of mind, at a critical moment, were extraordinary, and the rapidity with which he made his calculations and prepared his stakes was quite wonderful. When a man of this calibre takes a ' Labby ' in hand, and is content with a small percentage per day on a very large capital, he becomes a dangerous opponent for the Bank, and may easily win about 50 louis a day, and continue to do so for some weeks. But if any one thinks of playing it seriously, I 92 The 'Labouchere' System would recommend them to be content with a very small win, and to play on the improved method which I am about to describe. The idea of the ordinary ' Labby ' is to set yourself the task of winning a certain sum, and to so arrange your stakes, that whenever you score a win it will wipe out two previous losses. The usual method is to write down, say, i 2 3 on your score-sheet, and always stake the sum- total of the top and bottom figures added together, writing down the losses that occur at the bottom of the column, and striking out all wins. For example, in the above case yo.u stake i + 3=4, and suppose you lose, you then write down the 4 at the bottom of the column, and your next stake will be i + 4 = 5. Suppose you win, you strike out the i and the 4 and your score-sheet appears thus Your next stake would then be 2 + 3 = 5. If you lose, you write it underneath the cancelled 93 Monte Carlo Anecdotes 4, and your next stake would be 2 + 5 = 7. Suppose you lose this, your next stake would be 2 + 7 = 9. If you win, after erasing the 2 and the 7 your score-sheet appears thus X X 3 H 5 * Your next stake would be 8, and in the event of a win, your first task would be finished. You are a winner of 6 units, and you have to start afresh with I 2 3 to win another six. This is the way that most people play the ' Labby,' often starting with the idea that they are quite safe with a capital 'of 1000 or even 500 units. But such is not the case. If you happen to come across an unfavourable ' tab- leau,' your stakes mount up very quickly, and you will soon find yourself in serious difficulties. The gentleman at Ostend to whom I have referred used to commence with 94 The 'Labouchere' System 2 on his score-sheet, so that he only played to win 4 louis at a time, but even then he some- times had a tremendous struggle with the Bank although he had a capital of 5000 louis to fall back upon ! My idea of an improvement on the ordinary way of playing this system would be to attack the Bank with ten little ' Labbies ' instead of one big one, which may later on develop into a veritable giant, and become unwieldy. For example, suppose, on arriving at the table, you had the bad luck to commence as follows : i Win, 2 Losses, i Win, 3 Losses, i Win, 5 Losses, 2 Wins, 3 Losses. Under the ordinary method of writing down i 2 3 your score-sheet would appear as follows (We will score the game horizontally instead of vertically to economize space.) *X:sXHXH68 10 xX XX 16 22 28 It will be seen that the stakes are already becoming dangerously large. 95 Monte Carlo Anecdotes Now under my improved method I should commence with instead of and open ten different scores, playing on each one in turn. My score-sheet would then appear as follows X I i X X I i X I I 2 2 2 * 2 2 2 2 2 2 X I I X I I I X I I 2 2 * 2 2 2 2 ist ten coups 2 3 3 3 3 2 2nd ten coups The difference in the two methods becomes at once apparent. In the first case we have got to stake 34 units, and in the event of a win it will have to be followed by 30, and then 26, and if any of these three ' coups ' are lost, the stakes will mount much higher. Now, under the slower and safer method, we have started badly it is true, but up to the present the largest stake we are threatened with is only 4 units, the reason being that the bad luck has been spread over a number of columns instead of all being added to one solitary one. After this bad beginning, let us assume that the luck remains about normal for the next 50 96 The 'Labouchere* System or 60 ' coups,' i. e. the player and the Bank each win about 30 bets. The result of this will probably be that about 7 out of your 10 original scores will have been entirely obliterated, leaving, say, 3 remaining. These three will then have something like the following appearance i i i 222 3 3 3 H \ 4 5, 3 $ 445 Total Outstanding 10 10 12 Now with only 3 scores open, if we come suddenly on another run of bad luck, such as at the commencement of the game, we shall very soon find ourselves forced into big figures. It will therefore be more prudent to split up our 3 remaining scores into six columns, and have a little more patience. We can split each column into two in the following way - ist. 2nd. 3rd. I I I I 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 at 2 2 2 2 2 2 97 Monte Carlo Anecdotes Now continue playing on each in turn as before. After about 30 ' coups ' of varying luck, probably 5 out of these columns will have been obliterated, leaving only one, which will look something like this Total Outstanding 20 We have reduced our amount outstanding from 32 to 20, but the one remaining column is beginning to look dangerous. Prudence there- fore dictates that we should again have recourse to the splitting process. It now ought to be quite safe to split our outstanding amount into 4 columns instead of six. We should do so in the following manner I I I I 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 And unless we suddenly come across a run of bad luck we may soon hope to wipe all the figures out. Possibly three of the columns may disappear at once, leaving only one which again assumes threatening proportions. In this case The 'Labouchere' System rather than risk high stakes, I should once more split up the remaining column into two or three separate ones, according to its size. As soon as all the figures are obliterated, the player will have won 40 units, and may con- gratulate himself on a very fair day's work. I know of a man who is supposed to have won 90,000 francs on this method, beginning with only a comparatively small capital. 99 THE 'WRANGLER'S' SYSTEM A FEW years ago some friends of mine were comparing notes in the smoking-room of a Monte Carlo hotel, on the results of the season's play. It was in the month of April : most of them were habitues, and had been over three months in the hotel, and they found that not one of them had won. One man had lost -200, another ^500, and some even more. They came to the conclusion that it was almost impossible to win if you stayed a long time in the place. Sitting in a corner of the room drinking his coffee was another elderly Englishman. He was of a shy, retiring nature, and did not as a rule join in the general conversation. He had the reputation of being in Monte Carlo under doctor's orders, and although he had been seen occasionally putting on a few five-franc pieces at the Roulette Table, no one in the hotel con- 100 The 'Wrangler's' System sidered him anything of a gambler, but regarded him as the sort of person who might possibly win or lose ^50 during the season, playing for the sake of amusement. After the others had gone to the Casino, one of rny friends, who remained behind, thought he would sound the unsociable one as to his opinions on the all-absorbing topic. "Well, Mr. So-and-So," said he, " I suppose you are inclined to agree with us, that the Bank has all the best of it ? " " Oh, I've no doubt it does," he replied, "in the majority of cases, but it has not been so in mine." " Why, do you mean to say that you can win ? " asked my friend. " I mean to say that for the last six years I have made from ^500 to ^800 every season," he replied, " and I don't consider that at all bad." " I should think, not," said my friend. " When you come to consider that all of us, who were in the room just now, think nothing of putting down 5 or 10 louis at a 'coup,' and invariably lose in the long run, and yet you, who never seem to play more than a few five-franc pieces, are making a regular income why it's simply astounding ! " " Oh, I take no credit for it myself," said the 101 Monte Carlo Anecdotes other, " I just play a little system that was shown me by a friend years ago, and it seems pretty sound, so I stick to it. The man who invented it was one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his day, so I have christened it ' The Wrangler's System.' " Well, of course my friend did not rest until he knew all about such a wonderfully successful system, and as he has kindly shown it to me, I can now give the public a chance. The man who played it with such success used to come to Monte Carlo with ^400. This he divided up into two capitals of 5000 francs each. If he doubled the first one, he used to put his own money away and play entirely with that of the Bank. If he lost his first capital, he used to fall back upon the second one. His unit was a five-franc piece ; consequently he always had 1000 units in his pocket to fight the Bank with. He had plenty of time four or five months in which to operate, and was therefore never in a hurry. " Little fish are sweet," said he ; " if they let me have 5 or 10 louis a day I am quite satisfied." The system was perfectly simple, being a mixture of the ordinary Martingale combined with a sort of improved 'Labby,' but the method of staking was ingenious and well adapted to the Progression he employed. The 'Wrangler's' System As soon as he arrived at the table he waited for one spin, to see what came out. If it was Red he staked on Red, and if it was Black he went on Black. He continued to stake on the same colour until he lost twice in succession, and then changed over to the opposite side. He remained on that side until he again lost twice consecutively, when he once more changed over. This was his invariable method of staking. It is something like the 'Avant Derniere,' which is fully described in Ten Days at Monte Carlo, only better adapted to the 'Wrangler's' Progression. For example N No stake. R Play Black and Lose. N , Win. R , Lose. R , Lose. R Red Win. N , Lose. R . , Win. He commenced with a five-franc piece and played the Martingale i, 2, 4, 8. Unless, therefore, the Bank beat him four times running, he continued to win their five- franc pieces, and as there was practically only one combination of figures on which they could beat him, he often won 5 or 10 louis from them 103 Monte Carlo Anecdotes without any trouble. It will be seen that the following tables suited him equally well TABLES ON WHICH YOU COULD NOT LOSE FOUR TIMES CONSECUTIVELY. RUNS. INTRR- MITTENCES. ' COUPS* OF THREE. 'Coups' OF FOUR. N. R. N. R. N. R. N. R. N N N N N R N N N N N N N R R N N N R R R R R R R R N R R N N R R R N N R N R R N N R R N R R R N N R R The only thing that defeated him was several ' coups dedeux' coming consecutively, or two coming after a run ; for example, on this card he loses four times in succession. 104 The 'Wrangler's' System If the ' coups de deux ' do not follow one another on the card, it does not matter, and he still continues to win i ' coup ' in every 4. For example N ^| R N N On this card, although full of 'coups de deux,' he would never lose four times in succes- sion. J Now in the event of his losing four times con- secutively his total loss amounted to 15 units. This he used to write down on his score- sheet in the following manner and endeavour to wipe it out with an ordinary ' Labouchere ' method of I staking (see page 93). 3 J If he found that his figures were becoming too large and he had already lost about 50 units, he then used to cry a 'halt,' and split 105 Monte Carlo Anecdotes up his one big ' Labby ' into two or three small ones, and continue staking on the same system until he saw daylight. After getting into deep water and coming out without loss, he would always abandon the struggle for that day, and be thankful that his capital was intact. Of course if he succeeded in doubling his first capital, and was playing entirely with the Bank's money, he used to play a less cautious game than he would if his own was at stake. 106 THE NOBLE LORD'S SYSTEM THIS system had the advantage of simplicity, and required very little capital. It proved most successful, whilst it lasted, but has unfor- tunately been rendered impracticable for the future, owing to the determination of the clergy to discourage System-playing on the Sabbath. The story is as follows A few years ago, a certain noble lord attended Morning Service at the English church at Monte Carlo, and, following his usual custom, slipped quietly out during the last verse of the hymn before the sermon. He strolled down towards the Casino, humming the tune softly to himself, and finding there was half-an-hour to spare before lunch, thought he would go and have a look at the play. He had been having a particularly bad time all the preceding week, and had resolved to give the game a rest, to allow his luck time to change. As he entered the Rooms, with the hymn- 107 Monte Carlo Anecdotes tune still running in his head, he heard ' Trente-deux, Rouge, Pair et Passe ' sung out from the table on his right. An instant after 'Trente-deux, Rouge, Pair et Passe' was re- echoed from the table on his left. Then he suddenly remembered that the number of the hymn was also 32. He felt hurriedly in his pocket, and found just forty-five francs, so going to the third table, he announced, ' Trente-deux en plein, les quatre chevaux, et quatre carres par cinq francs,' and up rolled the number at the first attempt. To make a long story short, by moving from table to table, backing 32 with gradually in- creasing stakes, he left the Rooms at lunch- time the winner of over ^500. During the week, having related his experi- ences to one or two friends, the story went the round of Monte Carlo, and about fifty people came to the conclusion that to attend Sunday Morning Service, and back the number of the hymn, was from all accounts as good a system as any they knew. .The following Sunday the church was liter- ally packed, and as nearly every one slipped a louis into the bag for luck, the offertory was the largest on record. The announcement of the last hymn was awaited with breathless excite- ment, and then there was a rush for the door. 108 The Noble Lord's System The story goes that the system was again successful, in the majority of cases, and most of the players, including his Lordship, went back to lunch with a balance on the right side. But the non-gambling members of the congre- gation were so shocked and scandalized at the behaviour of the other half, that the parson made it a fixed rule, from that day, that no hymn under number 37 should ever be selected at the Monte Carlo church. The moral of this is, when you have discovered a really good system, keep it to yourself.* 109 'HOW TO BREAK THE BANK AT FLAT STAKES' " To invent a system by which you can win more bets than the Bank on an even chance, at first sight seems impossible. In fact it does not look as if the player could even hope to win as many bets as the Bank in the long run, seeing that Zero is due to come up once in every 37 spins of the wheel, and this means the loss of half his stake, no matter on which side of the table it may be placed. " The writer does not claim to be the original discoverer of the following ingenious method of staking, by which it seems that the Bank will be placed at a disadvantage. He believes, however, that the secret is known to few, and that it will doubtless be a surprise to many old gamblers to learn that it is possible (on paper) not only to win more bets than the Bank on an even chance, but to win so many more as no Flat Stakes to leave the player a small profit, after allowing for the disadvantage of Zero. " If it is found that the method works out in actual play as it does mathematically, it results that the player can dispense with his usual mode of attack the Progression. This has been very aptly described by a French writer as a double-edged sword, just as likely to prove dangerous to the player who makes use of it, as to the Bank, or party assailed. " Putting the question of Zero or the Refait aside for the present, for the sake of argument, it will probably be admitted by any one who has studied the problem, that in every 1000 'coups' there ought to be on the average 500 Reds and 500 Blacks. The question of Zero can be dealt with later. It is equally certain, although perhaps not so universally recognized, that in every 1000 ' coups ' there will be 500 sequences of colour, and 500 intermittences. In other words there will be 500 changes of colour, and 500 sequences of colour. If any one doubts this, let him find out which predom- inates, the sequence or intermittence, and let him play upon the one which occurs the oftenest; he will then be on the high-road to fortune, without the aid of this system, which is much more intricate and complicated. " He will find, however, that over a long period in the sequences and intermittences will always balance one another. This being so, it follows that for every ' coup ' of sequence there must eventually be a ' coup ' of intermittence to coun- terbalance it. In every 1000 ' coups ' then there will be on the average 500 sequences and 500 intermittences. But the 500 sequences are made up of runs, on one or the other colour, of different lengths. " It will be found that in every 1000 'coups' the results on the average will be as follows There will be about 250 ' coups ' of one = 250 126 runs of two = 252 63 three =189 32 16 I four =128 five = 80 six = 48 seven = 28 eight = 1 6 nine = 9 1,000 " If the player were to back the intermittence (in other words, always play for a change of colour), and stake every ' coup,' he would on the average win and lose 500 bets. But if he backs the intermittence, and stops playing after two consecutive losses, and only continues when an intermittence reappears, he avoids all the losses he would otherwise make over the long runs of colour. " It is true that in staking in this manner he 112 Flat Stakes also misses a certain number of wins, but the advantage will still remain on his side. " For example, on a run of four Reds, suppose the table ran Black Red Red Red Red Black " If he played every ' coup ' he would lose three bets consecutively, but if he stops playing after two losses, he saves the last loss of the run. It is true that he does not secure the win he would otherwise get when the run breaks, and he is therefore no better off than if he had played every 'coup.' But on every run of over four he gains a distinct advantage. For on a run of five he saves two losses and misses only one win, whilst on a run of six he saves three losses and misses one win in other words scores a net gain of two points. "This being so, in every 1000 'coups' he makes a net gain of 1 point over 16 runs of five = 16 2 points ,, 8 runs of six = 16 3 points ,, 4 runs of seven = 12 4 points 2 runs of eight = 8 5 points ,, I run of nine = 5 " 113 Monte Carlo Anecdotes "Now in every 1000 'coups' Zero is due to appear 27 times. On each of these occasions he loses half his stake, or a net loss of 13^ points, which leaves him with a net gain on every 1000 'coups ' of 57 Less 13.50 43-50 " If these figures hold good in actual play (and I see no reason to doubt it), it means that a player can go to the tables and back the inter- mittence with the same stake every 'coup,' stopping after every two consecutive losses, and commencing again as soon as an intermittence appears, and that he will on the average win 43 1 stakes for every thousand ' coups ' played, after making due allowance for the disadvantage of Zero. " To have converted the ordinary percentage in favour of the Bank (which on an even chance is about ij per cent.) into a percentage of about 4^ per cent, in favour of the player is already something achieved, but the author sees no reason why this advantage should not be more than doubled. " His scheme consists in setting two people to work, to play on this idea, on both sides of the table. 114 Flat Stakes "For if there are the same number of sequences as intermittences in every xooo ' coups,' it seems pretty certain that there will be the same number of runs of intermittence as there are runs of sequence. " In that case one ought to arrive at the same result, viz. a net gain of 43^ points, by backing sequences of colour and stopping after two consecutive losses, until a sequence reappears. There will be a net gain to the player of one point in every run of five intermittences that occur ; a net gain of two points for every run of six intermittences, etc., etc. " The author proposes, therefore, that two people should sit next to one another at the same table, and play in flat stakes. A would back the intermittence and stop after two con- secutive losses, until an intermittence re- appeared. B would back the sequences in the same manner. When, however, it was seen that A had to back Red and B the Black, they would neither of them play at all, but would wait until, in the ordinary course of the game, one of them would have made two consecutive losses; then the other would commence staking. " By this method the profits of the system would be doubled over 1000 ' coups ' played, and the loss through Zero would be less than half, "5 Monte Carlo Anecdotes for not half as many stakes would be placed upon the table. The profits should be 1 14 Less loss from Zero, about 6 Net profit 108 or an advantage to the player of nearly 1 1 per cent.!" This was the system which a friend of mine once bought in a shop at Nice labelled " The Discovery of the Age!" " How to beat the Bank at Flat Stakes." Price 20 Francs. Well, he took it home and thought his fortune was made. An advantage of 1 1 per cent, at flat stakes seemed too good to be true, but he could not see any flaw in the reasoning. Of course, if you avoided all the long runs against you on both sides of the table, it must give you an enormous advantage ! He showed it to one or two friends, and they agreed to make up a capital of 60,000 francs, and play it in thousand-franc notes. They all had visions of the Casino either closing its doors, or sending a representative to them to inquire what amount they would accept to stop playing and leave the Principality ! The first day's result was a little disappointing a loss of 4000 francs. However, as they had 116 Flat Stakes only played about 300 'coups,' they came to the conclusion that it was not a fair test. Next day they played another 300 ' coups ' and lost 3 coo francs ; still they thought it must work out in time. When, however, they lost 3000 francs on the third day, they were in despair. Fortunately one of them showed me the pamphlet that evening, and thinking it over in bed next morning, I hit upon the weak spot. The author took credit for all losses saved on the runs of five and over : he allowed for the wins he missed on the runs of four, but what about the runs of three ? On every run of three, by stopping after two consecutive losses he missed a win for which he had made no allowance. As there were 63 runs of three on each side of the table, there were 126 wins missed, and this had to be deducted from his supposed profit, leaving him with an actual loss of 1 8 stakes per 1000 ' coups ' ! All things considered, it was not very aston- ishing that my friends had lost ten stakes in three days' play. They were lucky not to have lost more. The author cites this rather long example to show how fallacious most of the so-called infallible systems are. It is one of the common- est errors to suppose that the player obtains any advantage by stopping after so many losses, 117 Monte Carlo Anecdotes until his colour reappears. As a general rule it comes to exactly the same thing in the long run, whether he stops occasionally or plays every ' coup ' ; and in this particular instance it looks as if the result of the occasional breaks was a slight disadvantage to the player. The inventors of these elaborate systems generally fail to observe some very simple flaw, such as the above, and this reminds me of an amusing little conversation in M. Limousin's Guide. It is supposed to take place in the hall of the Casino Facetious Unbeliever in Systems to Serious Student of Chances. " Well, do you think you have discovered anything ? " Serious Student. " Yes, I have discovered that ' coups ' of four occur oftener than ' coups ' of five, and ' coups ' of three much oftener than ' coups ' of four." Facetious Unbeliever. " Anything else ? " Serious Student. " Yes. I find that ' coups ' of one occur nearly twice as often as ' coups ' of two." Facetious One. " Yes. But there's one 'coup' you've forgotten which occurs oftener than any of them." Serious One. " What is that ? " Facetious One (triumphantly). " The ' coup de rateau ! ' " (the croupier's rake). 118 THE LADIES' SYSTEM I FIND that many players, especially the fair sex, consider the even chances dull and uninterest- ing. They seem to have a preference for the mild excitement of the Dozens, and even more so for the Transversales. Now by playing on Dozens and Transversales without hedging your money you may some- times lose a capital of twenty pieces in a very short time. I have on two or three occasions seen a run of twenty-seven against a Dozen, and I believe that runs of forty against a Transver- sale are fairly common. I would therefore recommend players of small capital, who like the excitement of Dozens and Transversales, to hedge their money on the even chances. If they are in bad luck, they will lose much more slowly and have more play for their money ; whereas if they are in good luck, they will win faster than they can ever lose. The arrangement of the Roulette board has many little oeculiarities which one does not 119 Monte Carlo Anecdotes notice at first. And this reminds me of an amusing conversation I heard last year at the tables at Ostend. Two ladies of a certain age, who had just arrived from England, and had evidently not much experience of the game, were having their first flutter at Roulette. Said one to the other : " I see you always play on Red." " Of course," she replied, sinking her voice almost to a whisper for fear the croupier should hear ; " don't you know that you get an extra number on the Red side ? " " No," said the first, " how do you make that out ? " " Why," said the other, "number i is Red, and number 36 is Red, so of course you get an extra number in your favour on the Red side ! " " How clever of you to discover it," said number one, and down went her stakes on the Red. I suppose she did not want the croupier to hear of her great discovery, for fear they might alter the arrangement of the colours and so defeat her imaginary advantage on the Red side ! I did not point out to her, that 10 and n were both Black, and so were 28 and 29, and as the only two red numbers following one another were 1 8 and 19, this made up for the first and last numbers both being Red. It would have been a pity to have dispelled her illusion, especially as she seemed to be winning. 1 20 The Ladies' System Probably you have never noticed that whereas in the First Dozen there are five numbers Red and Impair, in the Middle Dozen there are only three, and in the Last Dozen only two. It is the same with Black and Pair : in the First Dozen there are five of them, in the middle three, and in the last only two. With this knowledge we can frame an amusing little system. If you fancy the Red side of the table you put one piece on Red, one piece on Impair, one on the First Dozen, and one on either the Transversale 19 to 24, or 22 to 27. The result of this will be that the worst that can happen to you is a loss of four pieces, and this can only occur when one of two numbers appears. On the other hand, if one of the Red numbers of your Transversale appears, you can win six pieces, and as there are three of them, you may reasonably hope to win six pieces once in every twelve spins, whereas you ought not to lose all four of your pieces more than once in eighteen spins. This system can be played with a capital of twenty pieces, but I think the player should move from table to table as soon as he is a winner of ten pieces at any one of them. If the player prefers Black and Pair, the stakes on the First Dozen and Transversale 121 Monte Carlo Anecdotes are the same, and the results will be precisely similar. There will be three numbers on which he can win six pieces, and only two on which he can lose as much as four. Perhaps I ought to point out that mathemati- cally speaking this system is not to be recom- mended, on the principle that the more numbers you cover, the bigger the advantage you allow the Bank to have over you. If you stake in the manner described above, their advantage will be about eight per cent, whereas if you were content to stick to the even chances it would only be about one and one-third per cent. In spite of this, however, the system is amusing, and should bring you to very little harm, unless you have exceptionally bad luck. 122 THE 'BAROMETER' SYSTEM THIS is a very pretty system, but rather com- plicated to explain. It is played on all three Even Chances at Roulette, at the same time ; but there is one good point about it no Progression is necessary. Consequently, when a stake has to be made, it is always of the same amount. This is what is called ' Masse Egale ' or ' Flat Stakes.' You require a capital of 1 2 Flat Stakes, the higher the better according to your means, and your game will be to double your capital every day or break in the attempt. The man who showed it to me played it with a capital of 6000 francs (/. e. a Flat Stake of 500 francs), and succeeded in doubling his capital for 22 days in succession ! Had he played it on the snowball system, of adding his previous day's winnings to his capital, he would have made 44,285 louis, beginning with twelve five-franc pieces; or 51,476 louis had he begun with a capital of twelve louis ! As it was he did not do 123 Monte Carlo Anecdotes this, but started with the same capital of 6000 francs every day, and left off a winner of about ^5000. Until you get used to the marking and scor- ing, you had better have two assistants, and sit opposite the Chances, Red, Impair, and Manque. Each man will take a third of the capital, viz. 4 units, and play on the chance opposite to him with the following rules 1. Always play for the intermittence or change of colour, and cease staking after one loss, until another intermittence occurs. Then play again for the intermittence, and continue as long as you win, but always stop after the first loss until another intermittence occurs. In this way you look on without playing whenever a run occurs, and only recommence when it breaks. 2. Always stake the same amount, viz. i unit. 3. Keep a record of your net results from the commencement, and stop playing on any one chance as soon as you have won 4 units on it. 4. After your score has reached + 4, you continue marking the game, but without really staking. If at any time your imaginary score has descended from + 4 to o, you will then re- commence playing in reality, following exactly the same rules as before. All three players will remain at the table, and 124 The 'Barometer' System continue playing, subject to these rules, until the net result of the three different games added to- gether amounts to double the capital you started with. The following Tables will clearly show how the game is played, but the numbers shown here are extremely favourable to the system, and it must not be expected that such a fortunate 'tableau' will be usually encountered. Some- times it will take the players five or six hours to arrive at the desired result. 125 Monte Carlo Anecdotes TABLE OF THE PLAY ON BLACK AND RED. BLACK. a a AMOUNT STAKED. RESULT. NET SCOKE + or - OBSERVATIONS. 19 No stake. 16 I Lose - I We play for the 23 change of colour 12 and lose. We then wait until the Run on Red finishes. 8 The Run being 27 I Win O over we now play 6 I Win + I for the Intennit- 30 I Win + 2 tence and Win. II I Win + 3 31 I Lose + 2 Again stop. 17 29 14 4 I Win + 3 Re-commence. 26 I Lose + 2 Stop. 7 13 I Win + 3 Re-commence. 9 I Win + 4 Having won 4 Units we rule off the score and cease staking on this chance. 28 I Win + 5 } 3 I Win + 6 24 I Win + 7 1 All these are only i? I Lose + 6 f imaginary Wins. 36 33 I Win + 7 J 126 The 'Barometer' System TABLE OF THE PLAY ON IMPAIR AND PAIR. IMPAIR. K < OH AMOUNT STAKED. RESULT. NET SCORE + or - OBSERVATIONS. 19 No stake. 16 I Win + I Play for the Inter- 23 I Win + 2 mittence. 12 I Win + 3 8 I Lose + 2 Stop after one loss. 27 6 I Win + 3 Re-commence. 30 I Lose + 2 Stop. II 31 I Lose + I Re-commence. 17 Stop. 29 14 4 I Lose Re-commence. 26 Stop. 7 13 I Lose - I Re-commence. 9 Stop. 28 3 I Win Re-commence. 24 I Win + I 17 I Win + 2 36 I Win * 3 33 I Win + 4 Rule off the score after winning 4 Units. 127 Monte Carlo Anecdotes TABLE OF THE PLAY ON 'PASSE' AND 'MANQUE.' H w w 3 z. h gl O 1 0^ i OT OBSERVATIONS. 0, s 13 i Lose + 8 9 nil nil _ 28 nil nil _ All these are un- 3 Win + 9 . fortunately only 24 Win + 10 imaginary wins. 17 Win + 11 36 Win + 12 33 Lose + 11 ' 128 The 'Barometer' System The player on ' Passe ' and ' Manque ' will have a very dull period after winning his 4 units, for he will have to look on all the time without playing, seeing his imaginary wins mounting up continu- ally. The idea of stopping after winning 4 units is based on the theory of equilibrium. To have arrived at the result of + 4 the table must have favoured you, therefore it will be prudent to let the pendulum swing back to o (see page 73) before recommencing to stake. After a certain amount of practice, you will be able to dispense with your two assistants, and play on all three Chances by yourself, but it requires a clear head, and plenty of nerve and patience. N.B. Of course if at any time one of the three players runs down to the score of - 4, he must borrow more capital from the man who has the most. They are partners in the 12 units, and must play to double them or lose everything. The following 'resume' of the game will show how the score should be kept by one person - 129 Monte Carlo Anecdotes SUMMARY OF THE GAME ON ALL THREE CHANCES. N. R. SCORE. I. p. SCORE. P. M. SCORE. 19 _ _ e _ 16 - I + 1 + I 23 + 2 + 2 12 + 3 + 3 8 + 2 + 2 27 O g 6 + 1 + 3 + 3 30 + 2 o + 2 * + 4 ii + 3 ^ + 5 31 + 2 + 1 o + 6 17 a e + 7 29 + 8 14 * + 9 4 + 3 e O * + 8 26 + 2 7 * + 9 13 + 3 - 1 * + 8 9 + 4 * 28 + 5 , 3 + 6 + 9 24 + 7 + 1 + 10 17 + 6 + 2 + 11 36 + 3 + 12 33 + 7 + 4 * + II 130 THE 'MARTINGALE' SYSTEM THERE are two Martingales, the small and the great. The former aims at getting back all previous losses in one ' coup ' and landing you a winner at the finish of i unit. The stakes are as follows i, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024. Consequently at the Roulette Table it re- quires 1 1 consecutive losses to defeat you, and one ' coup ' less at Trente-et-Quarante. The Great Martingale is even more ambitious. It aims at getting back all previous losses, and landing you a winner of i unit for every ' coup ' played, at the first bet won. The stakes are !> 3, 7> !5> 3i, 63, 127, 255, 511 and 1023. The player is consequently defeated by ten consecutive losses at Roulette, or nine at the Trente-et-Quarante Table. Both these systems are a fraud and delusion, and it is only a question of time before the player is sure to be defeated. 131 Monte Carlo Anecdotes Some punters are, however, much more lucky than others. A friend of mine once made the acquaintance of a foreigner in the Reading-room of the Casino at Monte Carlo, who informed him that he had made 50 louis a day for three months on the small Martingale System. He did not simply play it on Black or Red, but used to write down eleven imaginary ' coups ' on a card, every morning, as he was dressing. He would then go to the Casino and play against the Bank, reproducing at the table the exact pattern he had thought of. For example N N R N N R N R R R R If he won fifty louis before the Bank repro- duced his particular combination, he used to come away satisfied. Every day he would invent a fresh pattern. My friend thought the idea was so good, that he took in 1000 louis and tried it himself. He was defeated at the very first attempt ! I also remember another well-known English- man and his wife who played the little Martin- 132 The 'Martingale' System gale successfully for two years following. They brought down ^1000 as capital, and each year went back with ^"1000 to the good. But the third year they tried it, everything went wrong. The Bank laid hands on their first capital of 1000 before they had been three days in the place. They then sent home for a second ^1000, and a very remarkable thing happened. They decided to take in the second ;iooo, and start to play on the Red, at a certain Trente-et-Quarante Table, as soon as the game commenced the following morning. The gentle- man's wife, who was in deep mourning, cut the cards, and the deal began with a run of thirteen on Black, by which of course her husband was promptly defeated on his first ten stakes. But the curious thing was that another Englishman I knew, who was generally a very moderate gambler, had such an extraordinarily vivid dream the night before, that he made up his mind to have a big gamble on the strength of it. He actually dreamt that he saw a lady dressed all in black cut the cards for the first deal at the table in question, and that there was imme- diately an extraordinary run on Black, the exact number of which he could not ascertain. He resolved, however, to take in 10,000 francs, and leave it on the Black ten times. 133 Monte Carlo Anecdotes He drew the money from the Bank and took it in, but at the critical moment his nerve failed him, and although he mustered up sufficient courage to put his 10,000 francs on for the first ' coup,' as soon as he had doubled his money he took it all off, and looked on for the rest of the deal. Had he carried out his original intention he would have won just ^4000 1 134 THE 'PHILIBERTE' SYSTEM THIS system consists in playing that the Bank will not beat you three ' coups ' in succession. If it does, you lose one capital or ' sautez,' and must recommence with a unit of i again. This method would be well adapted to the game of Scientific Trente-et-Quarante described on page 59. The Progression employed is i, 2, 4, to commence with. If you lose your 1 + 2 + 4 = 7 pieces, you then attack with a capital of 1 1 pieces, and play i, 3, 7 until you have got back the 7 just lost, in which case you return to your original method of i, 2, 4. Supposing you lose your second capital of 1 1 pieces, you would then double your unit and play 2, 4, 8, and if this also goes down before all losses are recovered, you would play 2, 6, 14, and if still unsuccessful 3, 6, 12, to be followed by 3, 9, 21. Provided you have lots of patience and plenty of capital behind you, there are many worse systems than this. 135 THE 'DECAVE'S' SYSTEM THIS system is so called because it is usually adopted by a man who is ' de'cave,' which means 'cleaned out' or 'stony-broke.' It has one good point it requires no capital. All that is necessary to obtain success is a good dress-suit, a respectable appearance, and plenty of assurance. The dress-suit had better be hired for the evening, as in the event of any unpleasantness it may come in for some rather rough treatment. If you can find an accomplice of an equally good appearance as yourself, so much the better ; the profits will be less, but he may be useful in an emergency. The following is the mode of procedure You stroll round the Rooms until you see a lunatic covering the Roulette Table with pieces. At the crowded season of the year such players are fairly common. They never put on less than about 30 pieces every spin of the Wheel, 136 The 'Decave's' System and cannot possibly remember where each piece is placed. They commence by covering all the numbers from i to 15, and then suddenly get an inspir- ation for the last dozen, and make a dash to put on about ten more pieces just as the ball is about to land. Whilst they are so occupied, you have been standing near the Chef de Partie watching your opportunity. Now is your chance. You take up a rake, and as if suddenly changing your mind, quickly move a piece which was 'a cheval ' 8-n on to either 5 or 14 'en plein.' It is a thousand to one against any one noticing it. If they do, you are of course very sorry, and apologize for having made a mistake ; you had several pieces on the table, and thought this was one of yours. It is, however, very long odds against any one suspecting there is anything wrong. You wait till the number is announced, and if 5 or 14 come out you claim the money, which of course no one will dispute. If neither 5, 8, ii, nor 14 appear, no one will be any the wiser that you stood to win 35 pieces to nothing, and you will then remain at the table to repeat the operation when another opportunity occurs. If however either 8 or n come out, you shrug your shoulders and walk away as if you had lost your money. The person who staked 137 Monte Carlo Anecdotes on 8- 1 1 'a cheval ' will claim to be paid, and will be informed that there was no money there. He will probably think he made a mistake, and omitted to place his money where he had intended. If he makes a row, you and your friend will be at the other end of the ' Salle ' before it begins, and will therefore hear nothing of it. Another victim must then be selected, and the operation repeated until your efforts are crowned with success. A most immaculately dressed foreigner made a good haul at this game in Belgium last summer. The same trick was also played most success- fully a few years ago at one of the Clubs in Nice. The game was ecarte, at which all the bystanders were accustomed to bet. Suppose the players were A and J3, perhaps ten or fifteen members would back A and put 200 louis on him, whilst another ten or fifteen members would back B and put, say, 220 louis on his side. It was however absolutely neces- sary for the stakes on each side of the table to balance one another. If they didn't, either one of -#'s backers had to withdraw 20 louis, or A had to find a backer for 20 louis more, or some one who had ten louis on B had to move them over to A's side of the table. There was a certain elderly Englishman of 138 The 'Decave's' System aristocratic manners and appearance who was extremely popular at the Club that season. Not only was he such a charming and agreeable fellow to talk to, but he had two exceedingly pretty daughters, who were also very popular in society. He was proverbially unlucky at cards, and always made out that he was losing ; so much so, that he came to be known as ' Poor Palmer ' ! Now ' P. P.,' in addition to his other numerous qualities, was the most obliging fellow in the world; consequently, whenever he saw the table in the above-described awkward predicament, he at once came to the rescue. " Oh, I don't care in the least which side I am on," he would say, "I'll move my 10 louis over on to A." Now of course, as a matter of fact, he never had a penny on the table at all, but what happened was this. If A's side won, Palmer got his 20 louis, and it could not possibly be discovered that there was anything wrong. If, on the other hand, A lost, Palmer would exclaim in a loud voice, " There ! Of course I'm on the wrong side as usual ! " And everybody would say, " Poor Palmer ! He's lost again ! " When the backers of B came to be paid, there would be 10 louis short, and the matter had to be arranged among them : there had 139 Monte Carlo Anecdotes evidently been a mistake somewhere, but no one could say how it had arisen. At any rate the last person to connect with it would be ' Poor Palmer.' He had ' lost again ' and gone to the Smoking-room to have a drink. This went on for quite a long time, till at last such 'mistakes' became so unpleasantly fre- quent, that the Committee engaged two detec- tives and dressed them as waiters to watch the game. They had very little trouble in catching ' Poor Palmer ' red-handed. 140 THE 'FITZROY' SYSTEM THIS is quite a good system, and was very popular amongst the English community about three years ago, but unfortunately it is barred to most people on account of the enormous capital it requires. To feel at all sure of ultimate success, a capital of 10,000 units is essential, and even then it is not absolutely infallible. But if a Syndicate were formed to play it at Trente- et-Quarante on a i louis unit, with ; 16,000 at their back, I think they would probably succeed. The amount they would win, as long as it lasted, would be about 600 louis a day. The idea of the game is to increase your stakes by i unit every time, without ever decreasing, until you have wiped out all previous losses and gained i louis as well for every ' coup ' played. There are two exceptions to this rule. Your first stake is always i, but if you lose this, instead of your next stake being 2, it is 3 ; after that it should be 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc., until your task is accomplished. Your game is finished when 141 Monte Carlo Anecdotes you can wipe out all minus quantities from your score-sheet and bring the result to + i. Suppose, therefore, your score-sheet shows you to be 3, and your stake in the ordinary way ought to be 7 ; instead of staking 7, you would only stake 4, in order to arrive at the result of + i if you win. In the event of your losing the stake of 4 your next stake will be 8, just as if you had staked 7 in the ordinary course of the game the previous ' coup.' If you lose the 8 you would continue with 9, 10, u, etc. If you win two or three stakes of i at the commencement you consider them as definite gains, and put them away quite apart from your capital. Suppose you lose your first two stakes of i and 3, you are now out of pocket 1st Loss - i 2nd Loss - 3 Total - 4 But in addition to getting back your previous losses, the object of the system is to win a unit per ' coup ' as well, consequently in order to keep a clear record of the amount you require to win, it is best to add i unit to your losses after every ' coup.' Supposing that you commence the game with 4 losses and 3 wins, you will score the game as follows 142 The 'Fitzroy' System 1st Loss I to which add I more Total 2nd Stake Lost Total 3rd Stake Lost Total 4th Stake Lost - 2 - 3 and Lose - 5 to which add I more i - 6 - 4 and Lose - 10 to which add I more i - II - 5 an ^ Lose - 1 6 to which add I more i Total - 17 5th Stake Deduct + 6 and Win Lost it to which add i more i Total - 12 6th Stake Deduct + 7 and Win Lost Total 7th Stake Re stilt - 5 to which add I more I - 6 7 am 1 Win + i Result : Coups played Coups lost =4 Units won = 20 Coups won =3 Units lost = 13 Total won = 7 143 Monte Carlo Anecdotes It will be noticed that the last stake is only 7 instead of 8. This is because you only require to arrive at a result of + i. Had you staked 8 in the ordinary course and won, you would have won a unit more than you needed, and would have taken a little unnecessary risk. In case the reader should not have quite grasped what has gone before, I will try and make it clearer. The Progression to be employed is i, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, etc. If you start by losing, you keep a record of all the minus quantities, to which you add i unit for every ' coup ' played. Losses will then be added to this score, and wins deducted, until you can eventually arrive at the score of + i, when your task is finished and you must re-commence with a stake of i. In a very short time you will be able to add the invariable i to the score mechanically and without requiring to show it on the score-sheet, as I have done in the example given. We will suppose that on arriving at the table you score 2 Losses, i Win, i Loss, and 2 Wins. When you have attained proficiency in mark- ing the game, your score-sheet will appear as follows 144 The 'Fitzroy' System 1st Stake - I Lose (and add i) - i Total - 2 2nd Stake - 3 Lose (and add i) Result - 6 (not 5) 3rd Stake +4 Win Result - 3 (not 2) 4th Stake - 4 (not 5) Lose Result - 8 5th Stake + 6 (not 5) Win Result - 3 (not 2) 6th Stake + 4 (not 7) Win + i Result : Coups played = 6 Units won = 14 Won = 3 Units lost = 8 Lost = 3 Total won = 6 At the 3rd stake, instead of saying to your- self + 4 from - 6 = -2, you say + 4 from *T _ *" 7 - o- In the same way after the 5th Stake, instead of saying + 6 from - 8 leaves - 2, you say + 6 from - 9 leaves - 3. At the 6th ' coup ' you stake 4 because you only require to arrive at a result of + i to accomplish your object. If you should lose this ' coup ' instead of winning it, you would say - 3 And - 4 Total ~8 (not 7). and your *]th Stake would be 8. MS L Monte Carlo Anecdotes Because the 6th by the ordinary Progression ought to have been 7 and not 4. Supposing you win the 7th Stake you say : + 8 from - 9 = - 1, and your 8M Stake would be 2. In the event of your winning, the game would be finished. You will have played 8 ' coups,' losing 4 and winning 4, and yet you will be a winner of 8 units ! By far the best way to play this system is to work it on both sides of the table, in the same way as proposed for the ' Wells System ' on page 75. On a favourable 'tableau' you will win twice as fast and expose less money to the risk of Zero. If only played on one side, I would recommend the same method of staking as used in the ' Wrangler's System ' (see page 103). If you cannot raise the suggested capital of 10,000 or 20,000 units, the system can be attempted with several small capitals of about 200 units each. It is quite possible to turn 200 into 1000 in a very short time, if you are sufficiently lucky to avoid a bad day at the start. 146 THE 'TIERS ET TOUT' I FIRMLY believe that the system which 1 am now about to describe is the best in the whole book, and very probably the Casino authorities would give me , 10,000 not to publish it if I asked them but I don't intend to give them the chance. If, therefore, the sale of this book is prohibited in the Principality of Monaco, you will know the reason why. For was it not with the ' Tiers et Tout a la Boule de Neige ' that Garcia, the famous Spanish gambler, threatened to wreck the Gaming Estab- lishment at Homburg, in days gone by ; win- ning at one time, it is said, about six million francs ? Consequently it is the one system of which the Gambling Establishments stand in dread. The reason is not far to seek. In most of the other methods herein described, whenever the player gets into trouble he has to put more 147 Monte Carlo Anecdotes and more of his own money on the table to get his losses back. With the ' Tiers et Tout ' it is just the reverse. The player never stands to lose more than 9 units of his own money, and never has a big stake on the table unless it is with money already won from the Bank. If, therefore, a punter has sufficient strength of mind never to take more than one capital of 9 units into the Casino with him at a time, he puts the Bank in the unpleasant position, that no matter how good their luck may be, they can never win more than 9 units from him. On the other hand, when the player's lucky day arrives, he will win 200 units from the Bank, which will cover twenty-two days' losses. Your capital then is 9 units, and you play that the Bank will not win two ' coups ' in suc- cession before you have turned the 9 into 200. You do not ask for any very extraordinary run of luck to enable you to do this ; all you require is to win the same number of 'coups' as the Bank, but you must not let them win twice running or you will be defeated. The system consists in always dividing your capital by three, and staking first a third, and in the event of loss, the remaining two-thirds. The usual method of staking is always to play for the intermittence. Unless you come upon a 148 The 'Tiers et Tout' run of three on one or the other Colour, you will succeed. For example, suppose the Colours run as follows Noir. Rouge. N No Stake R Win R Lose N Win N Lose R Win N Win N Lose R Win N Win R Win R Lose N Win R Win R Lose N Win R Win When you arrive at the table, Black appears, you consequently put 3 units on to Red and win. You add this to your capital, which now con- sists of 1 2 units. Your next Stake will be 4 on Black, which is lost. After that you stake 8 on the Black and win. Your capital is now 16, so you next put 5 on to Red, and Lose : then 10 on to Red and win. Your capital now consists of 21 pieces, con- sequently you have to put 7 on to Black and win. You have now 28 pieces in hand, so your 149 Monte Carlo Anecdotes next Stake will be 9 on Red which is lost ; after- wards 1 8 on to Red which is won. Holding 37 units, you then put 12 on to Black and win. This brings your capital up to 49. Then stake 16 on Red and win, capital now amounts to 65 units. Place 2 1 on the Black and lose ; then 42 on Black and win. This increases your total to 86. Stake 28 on Red and win. Capital now amounts to 114 pieces, and you are nearing the finish. Place 38 on the Black and lose, then 76 on Black and win. You have now arrived at the last 'coup.' Your capital is 152, so you place 50 on Red and win, and have succeeded in converting your 9 louis into 202 ! The reason why this system is not oftener played, is because it requires more pluck and determination than almost any other. Time after time you may run your Snowball from 9 up to 37 or even 65 units, only to see them relentlessly raked in by the Bank. After a run of bad luck it is simply heart- breaking, and very few players have the grit to stand it. If persevered with for a sufficient time, it will probably always come out right in the end. 150 ANECDOTES OF THE RESTAURANTS, ETC. READERS of Ten Days at Monte Carlo will doubtless be glad to learn that Monsieur Ciro is still flourishing on the Galerie Charles III. His restaurant is as popular as ever, and his humorous remarks continue to provoke much merriment during the luncheon-hour. The following little anecdote will serve to show that he still retains some of his old form. The weather had been seriously misbehaving itself; in fact there had been nothing but rain and cold winds for about ten days in succession. As long as this continued it was impossible to lunch on the Terrace at Giro's. Moreover, as the restaurant relies on a large clientele coming from Nice, Cannes and Mentone, a continued absence of sunshine must necessarily make a large difference in the receipts. Poor Ciro was in despair as he gazed at the rows of tables standing empty outside, with the Monte Carlo Anecdotes rain pattering down on them. Inside, as usual, business was pretty brisk : there were several cheery parties at lunch, the cheeriest of all, per- haps, being that of a well-known and popular railway magnate. " Bad weather, this, for business," said he to Giro. "My goodness!" said Giro, "I never seen such weather as this, ever since I been in Monte Carlo. They call this the Pays du Soleil, and just look at it outside : where is the sun? I want to know ; we not seen him for more than a week. The Grand Duke 'e no come from Cannes, Mr. Bennett 'e no come from Beaulieu, the Duchess of York she no come from Menton . . . when the d d sun 'e no shine 'e cost me fifty louts a day!/" We of course replied that if the sun could be made to understand how expensive he was proving to such a deserving person as Giro, we were quite sure he would try and mend his manners ! ***** Many persons imagine that in the restaurants at Monte Carlo the scale of charges is often based entirely on the appearance and manners of the client. At one or two establishments this is undoubtedly the case. The proprietor looks you over with a sort of " I-wonder-how-much- 152 Restaurant Life you-will-stand " kind of air, and then charges accordingly. The late Sir Arthur Sullivan used to tell a story of a well-known restaurant, which shall be nameless, where this system of wholesale extortion prevailed. Seeing that he lunched there nearly every day when he was alone, and generally partook of a most simple repast, he knew almost to a centime what the amount of his bill ought to be. One day when a Russian Grand Duke was entertaining some other Royalties at an adjoin- ing table, he found that the prices had risen in consequence. On looking closely at his bill he discovered that not only had the price for ' couvert ' been overcharged, but that they had put down 2 francs for 'hors d'oouvres,' and 40 centimes for ' beurre ' ; the last item was the one which annoyed him, so he sent for the proprietor and remonstrated. The head of the establishment was an Italian, and recognizing Sir Arthur as a very influential client, he was at once most effusively apologetic : "I very sorry, Sir Arthur," he began; "the cashier, she not see it was you ; the ' couvert ' I take him off directly, and the butter ... I charge him to the Grand Duke ; he not notice it!!" The idea of promptly charging the Grand 153 Monte Carlo Anecdotes Duke with any items which his neighbours objected to in their bills, always struck the great composer as being a distinctly humorous way of getting out of the difficulty ! * * * * * But at the Hotel de Paris things are managed differently, and if the following little incident related to me by a friend can be taken as a fair sample of the way in which customers are treated, there should not be many complaints. The gentleman in question, Mr. H. T., invited a lady to lunch with him at the restaurant of the Hotel de Paris. Now the lady had not been to Monte Carlo before, and was in fact on her first visit to the South of France, having accepted an invitation to spend a few weeks with some friends at Mentone. She was, therefore, not aware that there are one or two commodities for which extortionate prices are charged at all the smart restaurants, amongst them being caviar, asparagus and old brandy, but more especially caviar, for which I have known as much as 10 francs a portion charged ! As is usual on such occasions, when the hors d'oeuvres were handed round, the waiter was especially pressing with the caviar, and in all the innocence of her unsuspecting heart, our fair friend was easily persuaded to take some. Now Mr. H. T. is not a millionaire, and con- 154 Restaurant Life sequently makes it a rule to eschew caviar at Monte Carlo ; but having had a very successful morning at the Rooms, and seeing his guest partaking, he thought it would be only politeness to keep her company. When the bill arrived the caviar was charged 8 francs. A few days afterwards the same lady came over again to lunch with Mr. H. T. at the same restaurant, and again elected to have some caviar. But it so happened that on this parti- cular occasion Mr. H. T. had been very unlucky at the Casino before lunch, and was feeling very economical in consequence, he therefore thought he would look on whilst the lady ate the caviar, and keep her in countenance by toying with a humble sardine. When the bill came, he was somewhat aston- ished to find the item Caviar, 3 francs. After asking the lady's permission to make a remark on the bill, he sent for the head-waiter, and told him that on a former occasion they had been charged 8 francs for two portions of caviar, and that therefore he did not understand why they now only charged him 3 francs for one portion. The waiter was quite equal to the occasion and said, " Because Monsieur did not take any." 155 Monte Carlo Anecdotes "Quite true," said Mr. T., "but my friend took a spoonful." " Parfaitement," replied the waiter, " but we have noticed that Monsieur always takes such a much larger spoonful than Madame ! " * * * * * The following amusing little story of Giro's Bar I have taken from the columns of the Mentone and Monte Carlo News. A certain journalistic personage his name need not be mentioned wrote over to England to a friend for a small loan. He received a letter containing what he supposed to be a five- pound note, and ivithout reading the epistle^ swaggered into Giro's and asked for 125 francs, which were promptly handed to him. He went, armed with this sum, into the Salon and won 100 louis. So elated was he that he asked a friend none other than the late lamented " Bill " Yardley to join him in a bottle of champagne at Giro's. The proprietor met them with shrieks of indignation : "What mean you by this? What mean you by this?" The journalistic personage examined the note which he had cashed. Then he read the letter. Then he turned to Giro and said, " My friend, you evidently don't understand a joke. I do. Help yourself ! " and he produced a handful of gold from his pocket. Giro was so struck 156 Restaurant Life with his magnificence that he paid for the champagne. But now I come to the point. The supposed ' fiver ' which Giro had changed was simply one of those fictitious documents on the Bank of Drury Lane issued by poor Augustus Harris to advertise, I think, the pantomime of The Forty Thieves, which said advertisement he had to withdraw under high official pressure. The friend in England was the cruel joker, but yet proved ' a friend in need.' I think I can make a shrewd guess at the identity of the 'journalistic personage'; it was probably none other than ' The Shifter,' that clever little man with the very large nose, whose death, a short while ago, was such a loss to the staff of the Sporting Times. SMART REPARTEE AT THE TABLES. This anecdote is generally credited to Mr. George R. Sims. In the days of Gilbert and Sullivan and D'Oyley Carte, when Savoy Comic Opera was at its zenith, and money was pouring in at a tremen- dous rate, the great musician loved nothing better than a visit to the Sunny South, with an occasional flutter at Roulette. On one particular evening, after winning at 157 Monte Carlo Anecdotes the commencement, he suddenly struck a most villainous run of bad luck. No matter where he staked the result was the same, and handfuls of gold quickly disappeared into the coffers of the Bank. " Not doing any good, I see," said ' George R.,' arriving on the scene at that moment. " I should think not indeed," said Sullivan; " why, I had a great heap of gold in front of me ten minutes ago, and now it has all disappeared." " Never mind, Sir Arthur," replied ' Dagonet,' " I am sure there are plenty more notes where that gold came from ! " ***** The following is related of that cheery Eng- lish nobleman, known to his friends as 'The Dasher,' whose sudden and unexpected death at Ostend last summer caused such universal and genuine regret in Monte Carlo circles. He was seated at a Roulette Table one day, and was being subjected to considerable annoy- ance by an excitable foreigner who had just been lunching off ' Bouillabaisse ' constantly reaching over him and puffing garlic in his face. At last the pushing and noise behind his chair got so bad, that ' The Dasher,' who was not very strong at French, said to a friend, " I 158 Smart Repartee wish you'd ask the man behind what on earth he wants." " Je veux ma mise, je veux ma mise ! " shouted the foreigner. " He says he wants his stake," translated the friend. " I've no doubt he does," said ' The Dasher,' " but I wish he'd understand that / don't want his onions I " 159 THE 'BREAD-WINNER' SYSTEM THIS is something similar to the system known as the ' Montant Beige.' It requires a good large capital, the patience of Job, and plenty of time at your disposal. If you have got all three, and wish to make win- ning a practical certainty, there are not many better methods than this, and I believe there are a few persevering mortals who regularly win their 5 or 6 units a day at it. It does not really matter very much what you elect to play it on it is the ' massage ' or Progression that is the important thing. It can be played on Red or Black, on the Sequences or Intermittences, or if you like on the ' Avant Derniere' which means that you always play on the colour that came out last but one it is probably as good as anything else, and the same may be said of the Wrangler's method (see page 103). You play to win your units one by one, each 1 60 The 'Bread-winner' System as a separate and distinct operation, and when- ever you win one you stow it away in another pocket as a definite gain. If you commence losing, you continue to play flat or level stakes of i unit, until either you are one to the good, or the Bank has won 5 from you. As soon as this has happened you begin playing flat stakes of 2 units, crossing out wins as they occur, and keeping a record of the losses. Say you start with 3 losses, 2 wins, and then 4 losses, your score would look like this You are now 5 units to the bad, so you write down and start playing flat stakes of 2 units. Suppose the game goes as follows Your score-sheet will appear thus Win Lose Win Win Lose i X X X X X 2 You continue staking 2, and the table wins. Starting afresh with the figures re- maining, viz. i, 2, your score-sheet will then read like this I 2 2 \ 2 2 2 You have now lost 5 twos on balance, so you 161 M Monte Carlo Anecdotes commence staking 3, and every time you win you will cross out 2 twos and write down a i. N.B. Ee sure you do this. If you cross out a 2 and a i it will alter the whole system, and make it more dangerous for the player. The table comes round in your favour, and gives you Win "I Starting with your score as follows Win j- Win J 122222 the result after the above coups of 3 have been played will be as follows Now as all the twos have disappeared, you drop from a stake of 3 to 2 again, starting as follows i i Supposing you get one loss and two wins, your score will appear XXX and you are quits once more you must then recommence with a stake of r unit. The Bank has won 1 5 ' coups ' to your 1 1 , and yet you have come out without loss. This is the merit of the slow and safe Pro- gression. How much capital it would be necessary to 162 The 'Bread-winner' System have, to make this method nearly infallible, I am unable to say, but the player who had 2000 units would be in a very strong position. Remember that all safe systems are necessarily slow. Of course, if the table had continued un- favourable, you would have commenced staking 4 as soon as five threes appeared on your score- sheet, and you would have lowered your stake to 3 again as soon as all the threes had been wiped out. 163 THE 'PAROLI' SYSTEM THE idea of the ordinary or simple ' Paroli ' is to play for two wins in succession, leaving the original stake plus the winnings on the table for the second ' coup.' The game can be played on any chance you prefer. On the Even Chances a ' Paroli ' of a five-franc piece brings you in a net profit of 15 francs : on a single number ' en plein ' it will bring you in a profit of 6295 francs, if successful at the first attempt. The player naturally has the best prospect of success on the Even Chances. The following table shows the most direct Progression for a 1 Paroli ' on the Even Chances. By means of this Progression the player is enabled to recoup all previous losses, and land himself a winner on Balance, as soon as two consecutive wins are scored. It will be seen from the following table that the player of a five-franc piece on an Even Chance at Roulette will reach the Maximum 164 The 'Paroli' System after 26 unsuccessful attempts to win twice in succession. The player of a louis at Trente- TABLE OF THE MOST DIRECT PROGRESSION FOR THE SIMPLE 'PAROLI' SYSTEM. NUMBER OF THE ' COUP.' AMOUNT STAKED. NET PROFIT. I I 3 2 I 2 3 I I 4 2 3 5 2 i 6 3 2 7 4 2 8 5 I 9 7 2 10 9 I ii 12 I 12 16 I 13 22 3 14 2 9 2 15 39 3 16 52 3 17 69 2 18 92 2 19 123 3 20 164 3 21 2lS i 22 291 2 23 388 2 24 517 I 2.S 690 3 26 920 3 et-Quarante will have two accomplishing his object, as would exceed the Maximum. 165 chances less of the 25th stake Monte Carlo Anecdotes The direct Progression on the ' Paroli ' System is not to be recommended. It is almost as dangerous as the ordinary Martingale, and is sure to bring the player to grief sooner or later. By playing on the same idea, however, with a modified Progression, we can obtain a sound and reliable method. We will call it 'The Ladder System.' It is based on the table given on the preceding page, and our first step consists of the first six stakes which we write down on our score-sheet horizontally as follows 111223 Now underneath each stake we will record the amount gained in the event of success : see Column 3 of the table given above. This gives us the following double line as the First Step of our Ladder s 2 T s T t~ We commence by staking i unit and play for two consecutive wins. Every time we are successful we count the net profit on the trans- action as a definite gain, and begin again with a stake of i unit. Should we eventually lose the last stake of 3, we have made a loss of 1 + 1 + 1+2 + 2 + 3 = 10 units. 166 The 'Ladder' System We then construct the Second Step of our Ladder, based on the table above, only instead of beginning with the stake opposite No. i ' coup ' we omit it, and begin with No. 2 'coup.' The Second Step of our Ladder then appears as follows 112234 Write the profit, in the event of success underneath these figures as before, thus 112234 $ i T 2 -5 Now continue playing in the same way as on Step No. i, until either you have regained the 10 units lost or have succeeded in losing your last stake of 4 units. In the event of this happening you will have lost in addition to anything outstanding on the prevous 10 units 1 + 1+2 + 2 + 3 + 4=13 units. In order to get back these we construct a Third Step to our Ladder, beginning with the 3rd ' coup ' on the Table of Progression. It will appear on our score-sheet as follows 1 2 2 :? 4 5 S T T T IF If we fail to get back all our losses with this step, we shall have lost in addition to anything outstanding 1 + 2 + 2+3+4 + 5=17 units. 167 Monte Carlo Anecdotes After recording the amount of losses out- standing, construct a Fourth Step as follows 23457 T T T T Each step of our Ladder is entirely independ- ent of the preceding one, and it will be noticed that the higher we get, the more equal the gains become. Continue on each successive step until all previous losses are wiped out, then re- commence entirely with the First Step. The above system, if strictly adhered to, can be safely recommended to a player with plenty of patience and capital at his disposal. The ' Avant Derniere ' method of staking (see p. 160) would be well adapted to this game. Of course, on a very unfavourable ' tableau,' it may be necessary to employ a 5th, 6th, and 7th Step, etc., but after a little study of the figures given above, it will be an easy matter to construct them. 168 SWINDLERS AND THEIR SYSTEMS THE first of these is called the Coup du Commandant^ or the Hidden Louis. It requires a modest capital of 25 francs, and is played as follows You must have an accomplice of irreproach- able appearance, but must never be seen to have any communication with him in the Rooms. The one who has the quickest eye and the most innocent demeanour will take the capital, and must behave as if he had hardly ever played the game before, and did not speak the language. We will call the operator A, and the accomplice B. A walks round until he sees a Roulette Table, where there is plenty of money staked, and no end of excitement. He sees where the ball is falling, and in spite of the croupier having said ' Rien ne va plus,' reaches forward, and dashes his money either on to the number ' en plein,' or on to a ' cheval ' or 'carre.' The 169 Monte Carlo Anecdotes five-franc piece is on top and the louis concealed underneath. " Trop tard ! " says the croupier, and knocks off the money with his rake, but in nine cases out of ten he only knocks off the five-franc piece, and the louis remains on the number. A is of course very apologetic for having staked too late but he doesn't understand the game, and cannot speak the language. If they try and make him take the louis as well, he denies all knowledge of it, and says it is not his. "A qui le louis? " asks the croupier. " A moi," says J3, who is ready on the opposite side of the table. " J'ai mis un louis en plein" Well, there is such a lot of money on the table, that of course it is very difficult for any one to swear he didn't, and as no one else claims it, B is paid 35 louis. The worst of this system is, that at Monte Carlo it is getting rather too well known, and if you try it more than once or twice, your exit from the Casino is likely to be a hurried one. The Coup du Beau-pere is much safer and not so well known ; more- over it does not require any capital at all. You walk round the Rooms and select your victim ; he is generally to be found in the Trente-et-Quarante Room. 170 The 'Coup du Beau-pere' Some players are very superstitious they never can win if they sit down at a table, nor if they watch the cards or touch their money. Consequently they put down, say, 5 louis on to Red, and stand a little way off listening whether they win or lose. If they hear three Reds announced they know they have got 40 louis on the Red, and they then come back and take it off. Certain players of this kind have stakes on two or three tables at a time, and walk about from one to the other. Occasionally a friend stops them on the way, and starts a conversation. They merely listen to hear whether they have won or lost and go on talking. This is the man you are on the look-out for. You watch his game and study his habits. Supposing he is accustomed to put 10 louis on to Red, and leave it to run three times, you wait until it has won twice, and see that the owner is either talking or has gone to another table, and then you whisper to the man who is sitting down in front of you "My dear sir, I wish you would do me a favour. I have got 40 louis on the Red, and see my father-in-law coming. There will be a most awful row if he catches me gambling ; for goodness' sake rake off the ' masse ' and give it me under the table ! " 171 Monte Carlo Anecdotes Well, of course the good-natured man does so, and you disappear into the crowd. When the rightful owner returns, if he hears the Black win, he knows he has lost his money, so nothing is said, but if he hears Red win for the third time, he asks for his 80 louis. Of course they are not to be found, and when inquiry is made, the croupier says there were 40 louis on the Red last time, " but that gentleman sitting over there raked them off." " Yes," says the party referred to, " but they weren't mine, I took them off to oblige a man standing behind me who saw his father-in-law coming ! " By this time,. I need hardly say, you are well on your way to the Cafd de Paris, or if needs be in the tram-car for Monaco. Forty louis is quite a good haul for one evening ! This reminds me of a good Baccarat story it is called The Coup de la Limonade. A certain man, who was very clever at cards, was introduced to a Club at a French water- ing-place, where they played a big game of Baccarat. He had only been playing for a very short time, when he discovered that all the members of the Club were in the habit of cheating by the 172 The 'Coup de la Limonade' method known as ' la poussette,' /. e. after seeing the card dealt they would either add to their stakes, or deduct from them when the Banker was not looking. " If that is their little game," thought he, " I believe I can go one better ! " and he waited his opportunity. Having secured some Club cards, he prepared a 'coup' and took a Bank of 50,000 francs. The ' coup ' was a very simple one, consisting of six cards two natural eights, followed by a natural nine; and by sleight-of-hand he easily conjured it on to the top of the pack. When he dealt the cards there were about 10,000 francs on one 'tableau' and 15,000 francs on the other. " Huit ! " said the man on his right, turning up his cards. " Encore huit ! " said the man on his left, doing the same. " Phew ! " said the Banker, " excuse me, gentlemen, but this is rather a nasty ' coup ' ; if you don't mind, I think I should like a drink before turning up my cards. Waiter ! just give me that lemonade off the table there." The drink was brought him on a salver, and our friend took care to turn his head well round whilst he took a long pull at it, knowing per- fectly that most of the players would seize the Monte Carlo Anecdotes opportunity to double their stakes whilst he was so engaged. Then resuming the game he produced his ' Nine,' and proceeded to rake in the chips, remarking as he did so, " Messieurs, les cartes passent ! " The twenty-five thousand francs originally staked had grown to be fifty thousand ! The Pinch of Snuff. This was another ingenious swindle which was practised in the Rooms at Monte Carlo for some time before the author was discovered and turned out. The party in question was always on the look-out for gamblers with plenty of cash and very little brains, who had just been losing a lot of money to the Bank. He would scrape their acquaintance and inform them that if they were anxious to get some of their losses back, he was in a position to help them. He professed to have an arrangement with one of the dealers at Trente-et-Quarante by which he was able to have one certain ' coup ' dealt for him every day. If the player would agree to stake a Maximum (12,000 francs) and give him half in the event of success he would arrange with the dealer and give him a signal. If the victim demurred at taking an unfair The Pinch of Snuff advantage of the Bank, he would assure him that the Bank was in the habit of cheating in many different ways, and that as he had most probably been cheated out of the greater part of his losses, there was no harm in trying to get even with them ! By means of this argument the man who hesitated was generally persuaded to come into the partnership, and often even paid down money in advance ; some of which was supposed to be given to the dealer who was to perform the trick. The arrangement was made that the swindler should sit at the table, and as soon as he got his secret signal from the dealer, he was to transmit it to the player by taking snuff. One pinch of snuff meant " Put a Maximum on Red," and two pinches of snuff meant " Put a Maximum on Black ! " If the ' coup ' came off, he would meet the victim outside in the hall, take 6000 francs from him, and arrange to repeat it the following day. As a matter of fact he had no understanding with the dealer at all, and it was simply an even chance whether he signalled the right colour or not. If he did, he got his 6000 francs every day as long as it went right. If, however, things went wrong, he would put all the blame on his imaginary accomplice, the dealer, and say that 175 Monte Carlo Anecdotes he would meet him after the Rooms had closed, and find out how the mistake had occurred. What he did then, depended upon his estimate of the victim's character. If he was the sort of man to make trouble, he would disappear from Monte Carlo altogether until the coast was clear. If not, he would pretend that the dealer had made an unfortunate mistake, and it would be all right next time. In any case the victim had no redress, be- cause if he made a fuss and matters were inquired into, he would have to confess that he was himself trying to swindle the Bank by bribing one of the employe's ! So, of course, rather than have to admit this, he preferred to lose the money and remain silent. 176 SYSTEMS ON NUMBERS READERS will probably have noticed that almost all the systems described in this book have been on the Even Chances. The reason for this is not far to seek. At Monte Carlo and Ostend, where Roulette is played with a Zero, and Trente-et-Quarante with a Refait, it is impossible to get away from the fact that a person who elects to play on any- thing but an Even Chance allows the Bank to have an unnecessary advantage over himself. Now, as it is hard enough to frame a system by which the player has a good chance of beat- ing the Bank, even when allowing it the least pos- sible advantage, it seems to me that we should be making our task doubly difficult were we to commence by allowing the Bank a larger percentage than is absolutely necessary. All this has been clearly set forth and explained in the first chapter of Ten Days at Monte Carlo, 177 N Monte Carlo Anecdotes and the conclusion arrived at was, that all serious systems should be played on the Even Chances. Some people, however, find them too dull and uninteresting, and are never happy unless playing on numbers or ' chevaux,' etc. I will therefore conclude with a few remarks on the various methods usually adopted by them. The most favourite system of all is to study the spinner's hand, and discover a croupier who throws 'voisins,' or neighbouring numbers on the Wheel. It is curious how some men seem to have a tendency to do this much oftener than others. The usual way to play the ' Voisin ' System is to back the number that came out last, and four numbers on each side of it on the Wheel. For the convenience of players wishing to try this method, I reproduce here a Table of each number, with its ' voisins.' It will not, of course, always be necessary to back nine numbers ' en plein.' For, supposing we wished to back 36 and its ' voisins,' instead of staking one piece on each of the nine numbers, we could accomplish our object by only staking six pieces, viz. one on 6 ' en plein,' one on T 8 T ' a cheval,' one on 13 'en plein,' one on 23, one or ' k cheval,' and one on the ' Transversale pleine,' 3436- Some spinners, it will be found, instead of 178 Voisins* TABLE OF 'VOISINS' ON THE ROULETTE WHEEL. "12' 35 3 26 32 15 19 4 5 24 16 33 1 20 14 31 9 15 19 4 21 2 25 17 34 6 7 28 12 35 3 26 32 15 32 15 19 4 21 2 25 17 30 8 23 10 5 24 16 33 I 2 25 17 34 6 27 13 36 11 9 22 18 29 7 28 12 35 3 13 36 11 30 8 23 10 5 24 1 20 14 31 9 22 18 29 7 11 30 8 23 10 5 24 16 33 6 27 13 36 11 30 8 23 10 18 29 7 28 12 35 3 26 17 34 6 27 13 36 11 30 8 16 33 1 20 14 31 9 22 18 3 26 32 15 19 4 21 2 23 10 5 24 16 33 1 20 14 4 21 2 25 17 34 6 27 13 U 31 9 22 18 29 7 28 12 179 Monte Carlo Anecdotes TABLE OF 'VOISINS' ON THE ROULETTE WHEEL 26 32 15 19 4 21 2 25 24 16 33 1 20 14 31 9 22 32 15 19 4 21 2 25 17 34 20 14 31 9 22 18 29 7 28 36 11 30 8 23 10 5 24 16 8 23 10 5 24 16 33 1 20 19 4 21 2 25 17 34 6 27 28 12 35 3 26 32 15 19 25 17 34 6 27 13 36 11 30 22 18 29 7 28 12 35 3 26 31 9 22 18 29 7 28 12 35 27 13 36 11 30 8 23 10 5 33 1 20 14 31 9 22 18 29 35 3 26 32 15 19 4 21 10 ; 24 16 33 1 20 14 31 21 2 25 17 34 6 27 13 36 2$ 7 28 12 35 3 26 32 34 6 27 13 36 11 30 8 23 1 80 ' Voisins ' bringing out 'voisins,' throw what are called ' distances,' on the Wheel. For example, if on arriving at a table you notice that a man spins first o followed by 22 and then 5, it will be seen that the ball has on each occasion fallen at a distance of exactly nine numbers from its last resting-place. In order, therefore, to catch it next time, the player would have to back 6 and its ' voisins,' and supposing this ' coup ' came off, he would then back all the neighbours of 32. Other croupiers might spin right across the Wheel and back again, say first o, then 5 or 10, and after .that o, 26, or 32. Some players have an idea that the croupiers are always trying to bring out o, and that the man who can succeed oftenest is promoted by the Administration. They consequently back o and its ' voisins ' every spin of the Wheel. I re- member telling this to a man some years ago, who thought the idea such a good one that he started to play on it, and continued every day for six weeks. He began with only a few five- franc pieces and won 100,000 francs; but nevertheless I am still an unbeliever in this system. Some people play what is called ' les nume'ros en retard,' others play exactly the opposite, on the method known as ' les numeros dominants.' To play either of these systems you first look 181 Monte Carlo Anecdotes on for 37 spins of the Wheel, marking down the numbers as they appear. The following curious discovery will then be made. It will be seen that there are invariably about 12 numbers which do not come out. This is the Law of Chance. Try it another way. Put 37 numbers into a hat, and draw out one 37 times always of course replacing the number drawn, and giving the hat a good shake. There will invariably be about 12 numbers which have not been drawn. Or you can tell 37 different people to think of a number on the Roulette Wheel and write it down, without comparing notes, the result will be the same. To play the ' numeros en retard,' you mark down the numbers which have not come out during the 37 spins you have witnessed, and play upon them with a slow Progression until you have won a fixed amount, or lost all your capital. To play the 'numeros dominants,' or ' favoured numbers,' you mark down those which have appeared more than once in 37 spins, and stake on them in the same way, with a slow Progression, until you have won a certain fixed sum. Of these two methods I should prefer the latter, being firmly impressed with the idea that every Roulette Wheel has its irregularities and 182 'Les Finales' imperfections, just like any ordinary billiard table ; and it will often be noticed that if any group of numbers shows a tendency to pre- dominate, when you first arrive at a table, they will sometimes contrive to do so for several hours. This may or may not be the result of an irregularity of the Wheel. Another method of playing on numbers, which is very popular, is to play on 'finales.' Suppose for example you elected to back ' les finales quatres,' the croupier would place your stakes on 4, 14, 24 and 34. Some people adopt the system just described above, and apply it to the ' finales.' They would, however, only require to mark down about 12 spins instead of 37, after which they would either back ' les finales en retard,' or ' les finales dominantes.' Supposing on arriving at a table the following numbers appeared 9, 6, 25,0, 12, 15,36, 33, 17, *4) 36, 35, the player on the 'finales en retard ' would select the ' finales ' i and 8 which have not come out at all. On the other hand, the player on the ' finales dominantes ' would select 5 and 6, both of which have appeared three times. For preference, I should select the latter method. Some people like to back a whole section of the Wheel, say 1 2 numbers next to one another, in the expectation of the ball falling into that quarter. 183 The following is an ingenious way of backing 28 numbers with only four stakes, 18 of which numbers it will be seen are next door to one another on the Wheel. Place your Wheel with o at the top, take 28 as your starting-point and count twelve numbers down the left-hand side of the cylinder, /. e. until you arrive at 16. You will find that half these numbers are in the first column. Now take 18 as your starting-point and count ten numbers down the left-hand side of the cylinder, i. e. until you come to 24. Out of these ten numbers six belong to the middle dozen. If then we place 5 louis on the first column and 5 louis on the middle dozen, we shall have covered every number on the Wheel from 28 to 23 with the exception of four numbers, viz. 29, 9, 33 and 5- Now place 2 louis on the 'carre' 5-9 and 2 louis on the ' carrd ' 29-33, and y u w ^ find that you have covered every number on the cylinder from 28 to 30, being exactly half the Wheel. You will also have 28 numbers on your side altogether, leaving only 9 unbacked, and the most curious thing of all is that out of these 9 which you have not touched, 5 of them, viz. 12, 35, 3, 26, and o, are next door to one another on the Wheel. And now, gentle readers, one last word of 184 The Law of Chance advice. Do not be surprised at anything you may see occurring at the Gambling Tables. Professor Pearson in his article ' Science and Monte Carlo,' which appeared in the Fortnightly Review of Feb. 1894, says "Monte Carlo Roulette, if judged by returns which are published apparently with the sanction of the 'Societe,' is, if the Laws of Chance rule, from the standpoint of exact science, the most prodigious miracle of the nineteenth century." Professor Pearson is right. At Monte Carlo the unexpected is always happening, and you will see things occurring almost every day, against which the odds should be over a million to one ! Be, therefore, prepared for the worst, and remember that the Law of Chance is a very elastic one. If you have carefully studied the foregoing pages, you will have been initiated into almost all the best known methods, in addition to one or two which have never before been published ; my task is therefore accomplished, and in the hope that each individual may make a judicious selection, and experience the best of good luck, I can only say " Mesdames et Messieurs, choisissez votre Systeme, et faites vos jeux rien ne va plus /" THE END RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BREAD STREET HILL, B.C., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. A. B. C. GUIDE to STOCK EXCHANGE (3Bih Edition) Stock Exchange Operations thoroughly explained, also Call Options. How to open an account with Limited risk. How to avoid Broker's Commissions. Contains Highest and Lowest Sales for last 15 years. Gratis from publishers FARROW, GRAHAM & CO. (SUCCESSORS TO FREEBORN, FRANKLIN & CO. Established 1899) EXCHANGE CHAMBERS, BANK ST. MANCHESTER PERLA'S "Poudre de Beautd" THE GREAT PARISIAN SUCCESS Dissolves instantly into a smooth, fragrant cream, making the skin like ivory. O i* i HARRODS . LIMITED AEMY AND NAVY STORES /. In I UNWIN AND ALBERT SELFRIDGE I 1 WILLIAM WHITELEY JOHN BARKER PER POT at I PETER ROBINSON BUTLER AND CRISPE AND THE PERLA TOILET COMPANY 84 Fulham Palace Road, W. BY THE SAME AUTHOR Bridge Reflections CONTAINING Problems and Solutions and 'Maxims to be Remembered' FCAP Svo. PRICE 2s. 6d. NKT. Can be commended for their usefulness to the intelligent player who is master of only an indifferent game and wishes to improve it. There could be no better method of imparting sound conceptions of strategy, and the author does his coaching so pleasantly as to deprive the student of all sense of effort. /'a// Mall Gazette. They are admirably varied in their character, and a careful study of them would enable the intelligent reader to improve his game sufficiently to qualify himself for the best company. Sunday Times and Sfe. ial. An admirable idea excellently carried out. Morning Post. Marked by sportsmanlike clearness and precision, well illustrated by dingrams, and based upon a sound knowledge of the practice and the conventions of the best players, the book cannot . but prove helpful to duffers, while older hands must always be interested to hear what can be said about this form of self improvement by the author of ' Ten days at Monte Carlo at the Bank's Expense.' Scotsman. WILLIAM HEINEMANN 21 Bedford Street, London, W.C . . In 1909 . . THE ANGLO=AMERICAN GAZETTE Organized a Competition for the BEST ROULETTE SYSTEM The Contest was Open to the whole World and secured a large Entry The FIRST PRIZE was won by "V. B." with a System showing a Profit of S9 2 on 7>50 Coups, commencing with a Capital of only ;lOO THIS PRIZE SYSTEM CAN NOW BB OBTAINED FROM THE ANQLO=AMERICAN GAZETTE 15, AVENUE DE LA QARE, NICE Send Fes. 20, or Postal Order for i6s. 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