Cheating the Cheats
The secrets of the roulette wheel
As the best friend of Brisbane Wimbledon title-winner Kenny Fletcher, I got to see the little white ball bounce around roulette wheels throughout the world.
We played all night in Macau; all day in Nice, France; for a week in Monte Carlo … and most evenings in London during Wimbledon 1965 and 1966.
While Fletch searched for an elusive winning system — saying “roulette drives you mad” — as a non-gambler I was more interested in the illogical order in which the numbers were scattered around the colourful aesthetic wheel.
Why would these numbers be next to each other?
What possible arithmetic connection is there, for example. between 5, 24, 16, 33, and 1?
So, while Fletch gambled, I studied the game: I even bought a book on it by a mathematician.
He concluded that — because the odds were against you on every bet — you must inevitably lose in the long run. But you could put the odds in your favour in the short term.
But this meant you had to be prepared to leave the table when you were winning — like James Bond always did.
Of course, no addicted gambler ever quits when he’s “on a winning streak”.
Slowly, I realised that these 37 numbers are each deliberately placed. And, because casinos can’t help cheating, there is one sure way to win.
Until they kick you out.
Two years ago, I wrote my second story of the 80 so far on this substack site, a story that explained how casinos operate … from what I observed.
Since I posted that story, almost 400 new subscribers have joined my site.
So here it is: a lesson for both gamblers and cynics.
Take a chance …
Betting Against The Casinos
It’s not just the people at the top of the Casino pile who break all the rules to rake in more money from their brightly-coloured felt tables.
I'm doing my best George, but you can't rely on me as your sole form of entertainment.
Still, I'm very pleased to have a reliable reader in WA -- particularly a journalist I admired in the early '70s on The Oz: in a mad, mad world you were,likeNic Nagle, sensible, intelligent, and focused. None of us would last a minute ont hat paper now. That's why I'm doing this.
I like your claim to having "discovered" me after i camped in your Sydney house in 1971 -- which is true. Having worked in London I found it strange that Ruert couldnt afford a Hotel room for me.
But it was nicer out on you enclosed side verandah.
Hugh
Gday Hugh,
Another ripping yarn. but come on mate, pick up the pace.
Suspect you might be breaching some law or rule when you write "Of course no addicted gambler will quit when HE is on a winning streak."
What about "her" and "They" and all the other binary (or not) gender possibilities available in the year 2024?
And don't ignore the seahorses...
Glad you're still not pushing up daisies.
George Williams in the oft forgotten Swan River colony.