WHEEL OF MISFORTUNE ?

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 July 1934, Page 3

WHEEL OF MISFORTUNE ?

ROULETTE AT MONTE CARLO. “Faites votre jeu!”—and then, when the wheel begins to revolve more slowly, “Rien, ne va plus.” People who have tried their luck at the roulette tables of Monte Carlo will remember thd monotonous phrases croaked by the croupiers telling you to back your fancy any then telling you, if you have hesitated too long, that you must, wait until another spin of the wheel (writes Hugh Sharp). Monaco, a. sovereign State picturesquely situated on a little rocky brown and green promontory that juts into the blue Mediterranean from the French province of the Alpes Maritimes, has an area of only eight square miles. It is the smallest sovereign State in the world. It is governed by an hereditary prince, and though his principality is the smallest in Ibe world, it is, by reason of . the casino at Monte Carlo, one of the most famous, or notorious. Its 22,000 inhabitants live in a perfect climate, and they are free from one of the major worries of life, for business, though it has its fluctuations, is always brisk. They may be almost said, indeed, to live in an earthly paradise, for they pay no taxes and they do not suffer from temptation to gamble, for ever since the vast gambling organisation -was established at Monte Carlo in 1860 no subject of the Prince of Monaco has been allowed to enter the portals. The casino is magnificent in its appointments, and it is wonderfully well kept. This is not surprising, for the company that owns it employs a permanent staff of 1000 persons to care for the palatial building and the grounds. Gamblers are given a fair and square deal. Certainly “the bank” always has the best of it, but not so much the best of it as have the companies that “run” other and less prosperous gambling dens in Europe and America. In roulette, as played at Monte Carlo, the gambler has 35 chances of winning against the bank’s 37. The bank’s advantage, therefore, though sufficient to ruin any gambler in the long run, must be regarded as being moderate. In a race some horses have a better '■banco of winning than others; the better the chance the shorter the bookmaker’s price. So it is in roulette; 'but with this important difference —the odds you get are absolutely proportionate to the chances of a win. Fcr example, you may elect to back a number “straight out.’ The numbers range from 1 to 37. The bank regards them all as being equally outsiders, and will lay you 35 to 1, not 37 to 1, against any of them winning, the two unlaid or extra. chances being the bank’s advantage. You may back two o- 1 ’ more numbers in preference to backing one. The more numbers that are backed the better will be the chance of one of them winning; but tho odds that the bank will lay will bo proportionately shorter. The table offers backers a great many other ways of backing their fancy, but in the Jong run the bank is bound to win, with its 37 chances against the backer’s 35. , . . ’Co the simple-minded backer it is obvious that if you pit yourself against lbe bank with the odds against you. even though they arc only small odds, you must lose in the end. Less simpleminded punters, with a gift for mathematics, deny this. “System,” they cay “ought to beat the bank, which has’ no system”; and they, will prove

their case to you. Whether system is better than no system when fighting the inevitable need not be discussed. It is certain, however, that no one has ever succeeded in living year in and year out on roulette by playing on a system. CHANGE OF LUCK. Many years ago Melba, and Lady de Gray, a famous beauty and social leader when King Edward was on the Throne, tried their Jack at the tables and lost all their cash. Melba asked Baron Hirsch, who was playing, to lend them some money. To her surprise he hesitated. “But I’ll send you my cheque to-morrow,” she said. After further hesitation he handed her a roll of notes, and both women went to the tables again. At one table at which two chairs were vacant a. heavy, sullen Frenchman grudgingly moved up ?>, chair so that the women might sit together. He had been winning before they arrived, but now’ he began losing. As he lost his money he lost bis temper. Muttering a very uncomplimentary remark about them in French, he jumped up l from the table. His particular superstition w r as that it was unlucky to change your seat when you were winning.

When Melba, sent her cheque next day to Baron Hirsch she found that he, too was superstitious, and that was why he had hesitated about lending her money. He was one of the many who believe that it is unlucky to lend a stranded woman money. The millionaire, however, might have had anther reason for hesitating, for a day or two before she left Monte Carlo Melba received from him a letter enclosing a tiny, but valuable, diamond brooch worth far more than the 1000 francs that he had lent her. In asking her to accept this he said that of all the women to whom he had lent money Melba was the only one who bad paid him back. Some gamblers do not like to be .spoken to when playing. Melba noticed this trait in the elderly Duchess of . Sitting at the table with hooked fingers and burning eyes, she looked more like a witch in masquertitle attire than an aged and wealthy patrician. If anyone spoke to her she got into a fury. There are gamblers who are obsessed with the idea that they have a lucky number, and so long as thev have a. franc in their possession they wnl back this number. A woman who lost a small fortune in a week and practicaly ruined herself is only one of dreds who believe in the luck which may smile at first, but. which betiays them in the end. Seven was tins woman’s lucky number, she thougm, and night after night she backed it, always leaving the table a losei. The night came when she was coming near the end of her resources, but with a face growing ever waiter an-d more haggard she kept backing the elusive seven. When she was reduced to her last 200 francs she staked 100 francs twice in succession on seven —and lost! “For God’s sake, m’sieu, lend me 100 francs till to-morrow —only 100 francs. I have the money,” she begged the croupier. * , . But croupiers do not lend money t. ruined women. If they had done so on this occasion this woman would have won 0300 francs on th spin "1 ih<next wheel. • , One of the things that is not done at Motno Carlo is to speak of gambling scandals-— especially of the suicides. These have numbered on an average one every ten days since iB6O. Hu. company which conducts the Casino

and pays for the concession, diverts about £25,000 from its annual revenues to prevent suicides and other painful scandals from being reported in the French newspapers. The news that some unfortunate gambler has taken his life leaks out at Monte Carlo. It is strange, however, that so many of these unhappy people should die, according to official assurances, with plenty of money in their pockets. It would seem that it must have been some cause other than loss of money that has persuaded them to take their lives.

An enterprising American decided to solve this mystery. Rising from one of the tables in great seeming agitation he ran outside into the grounds. Presently a pistol shot was heard. He explained to his friends afterward that he had laid down in the shadow’ of a palm and had fired a. pistol into the air. Scarcely had he done so, he said, than two silent men approached and crammed notes into his emptv pockets. ’Then they as silently left him. He at once jumped up and a minute or two latei, when other silent men, accompanied by some scared visitors, arrived, he joined in the search for the body. The American’s ruse has been imitated by others, but without success. The company will now put money into no man’s pockets unless it is cei tain that he has ceased to live.