One final word of advice to all system players. Play on the chance that is most convenient to your seat at the table. It is as likely to win as any other. Never get flurried with your system or calculations. It is not at all necessary to stake on every coup. You are just as likely to win if you postpone staking until the day after to-morrow, as if you stake on the very next spin of the Wheel—the Rooms are open for twelve hours per diem, which should allow ample time for the number of coups you wish to play.
There may or not be such a thing as "luck." There can, however, be no harm in giving its existence the benefit of the doubt. If on some particular occasions you find you cannot do right, assume you are out of luck, and stop playing. Do not consider either that you owe a grudge to the Bank because you have lost, or that it is absolutely necessary to retrieve your fortune then and there! Postpone playing until the following day, or week, or year, when you may be in good luck, and can easily recoup yourself.
Always bear the clever gambler's great maxim well in mind: "Cut your losses—play up your gains!"
The writer's only object has been to try and explain how the games of chance are played at Monte Carlo, and to point out that the player is at a disadvantage on each occasion that he stakes, though that disadvantage may be increased or reduced by bad or good staking. It now remains for the reader to decide whether the pleasure he derives from gambling is likely to recompense him for his probable losses.
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
Edinburgh & London
NOTES
[1] This is the old-fashioned rule, but at the present day the Whist rule of "lowest card deals" is frequently followed.
[2] See note on last page.