“I wish mine was. It’s rather dicky.”
“Oh, I wasn’t referrin’ to my corporationus system. It’s my system at roulette. Allow me....”
He handed Hugh a rather soiled card on which was engraved:
Professor Robert Bender,
roulette expert,
inventor of bender’s voisin system
Author of “How to live at the Cost of the Casino.”
“Yes,” supplemented the shabby man importantly. “You see before you one of the greatest livin’ authorities on roulette. I’ve studied it now for twenty years. They all consult old Bob. Many a gentleman I’ve ’elped to fortune. ’Avin’ no capital myself, I’m obliged to let others ’ave the benefit of my experience.”
“And your system?” queried Hugh politely.
“Well, sir, it’s based on the fact that the old croupiers ’ave a ’abit of throwin’ the ball in a hotomatic way, so that they ’ave spells when they throw into the same section of the wheel. Of course, it calls for judgment and observation.”
“Luck, too, I should imagine.”
“Not so much. Luck is a thing we scientific roulette players try not to recognize. We aim to beat chance by calculation.”
“Is it really true,” said Hugh, “that one can live at the cost of the Casino?”