MILLION FRANC COMBINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 226, 24 September 1927, Page 23

MILLION FRANC COMBINE.

LOSES AT MONTE CARLO. GAMING SYNDICATE FAILS TO "BREAK BANK."

Recently at Budapest four Hungarians formed a syndicate, or consortium, with a fully paid in capita.! of a million francs, with which they purposed to do great things. Where should they play. At Deauville? At Paris—Plage? At Biarritz? At Nice? At Cannes? Finally, after much deliberation, they decided to move upon the supreme metropolis of chance, Monte Carlo itself. Reaching the tiny principality, they took quarters at the best hotel, and spent a few days in mere pleasure-seek-ing, without playing at the Casino. Then, having thus disarmed suspicion, they set to work with the million francs all in their pockets, in bills of 1000 or 500 francs each. The first evening, following carefully an ingeniously devised "system," they won largely. The second evening they again won. The third evening they lost. The fourth evening they won back all that they had lost, and were thus pecuniarily just where they started. The fifth evening —alas! They were arrested. Pourquoi? Because all their million francs were in counterfeit notes. After that, one wonders why they came armed with only one million. But the bank remained unbroken.