GAMBLING AT MONTE CARLO

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1685, 15 June 1904, Page 76 (Supplement)

GAMBLING AT MONTE CARLO

Sir Hiram Maxim lias written a book on Monte Carlo, in which he preaches on the maxim that “A fool and his money are soon parted.” An ordinary player, he declares, stands only one chance in a million. There is only one good “system”—and that is to be the bank! Dependence on “luck” is futile, lu short, when at Monte Carlo adopt the advice of “Don’t!” The book abounds in excellent stories of play and players at the world-famed casino. For instance, a honeymoon bride was persuaded by her husband to try her luck at the tables with a louis. “I will stake on my age,” she said, and placed the louis on number 21. A few seconds of suspense, and the ball finally lodged m 35. The lady immediately fainted. Evidently the gentleman had married a great bargain—a 35 marked down to 21. Sir Hiram Maxim throws an interesting sidelight on the methods of the “bank," as, for instance, in its dealings with Lord Rosslyn. of the famous system, and the late Mr Sam Lewis. Upon one occasion these two gentlemen approached a trente-et-quarante table, and each staked a maximum of 12,000 f. upon black. Black came up, and the bank paid them 24,000 f. Again they staked the maximum on black and again blaok came up. They continued staking on black till they had scored seven consecutive wins, when the bank was said to be broken. A bell was rung and an official of the bank approached with considerable ceremony. A demand was made, also with a considerable amountof ceremony, for more money; again, with considerable ceremony, it was delivered, and the play went on, black coming up every time. The bank was again broken; more money was sent for —more ceremony. This time there was great excitement, hundreds of people were crowding about the table, and everybody that Could stake a louis staked on black; and black continued to come up for seventeen times. Then, on the eighteenth coup, which was red, Lord Rosslyn and Mr Lewis each lost 12,000 f. “This,” says Sir Hiram, “was, the longest run I ever witnessed at Monte Carlo. However, my suspicions were aroused. I did not believe, for a moment that the bank had actually been broken. I knew thftt there had been a great deal of play that day, and that the winnings of this particular' table must have been heavy indeed. I therefore remained to see the money taken from the table, when I-found it was exactly as I had expected; there was at least a peck of large bank notes. It had not been necessary for the bank to send for money at all; this had only been done for effect. It was telegraphed all over the world that Lord Rosslyn and Mr Sam Lewis had broken the bank three consecutive times in a single evening. True, the bank had lost money, but they turned it into a valuable advertisement.” One player mentioned by Sir Hiram admitted to a loss of £35,000 in sixteen years. In other words, ha must have staked £5,100,000 —according to average play—or more than 40 tons of gold. Here is one of the odd types Sir Hiram noticed: —“There was one old woman whom I particularly noticed; she always came early and secured a good seat. She then brought out the implement of her trade, which consisted of two 5-franc pieces, a louis, a punter’s card and pin, and a lead pencil. She wore a peculiar form of a black liat especially constructed for her trade, the broad. wire rim being covered with black gauze. Seated at the table with her hooked nose, claw-like handstand peculiar hat, she looked, curiously enough, like a bird of prey, or, I might say, a human spider concealed under her web.” Her aim in life was to “grab” other people’s winnings. After glancing at the appalling mathematical problems presented in this book, the average man cannot fail, though his brain be reeling, to realise that even * senior wrangler can only hope to be a “more child” in the matter of roulette.