New Britain Herald Newspaper, February 14, 1929, Page 23

S \nnermost 7ambling After Twenty Years at the Wheel a Croupier Tells of the Only Honest System Which Ever Beat the Casino Bank, and Reveals the Startling Dramas Which Take Place There. By JOHN BINNEY BENT., LONDON. CROUPIER has confessed! Who was the man who de- vised the only honest system to mystery of the “J” Club? Elesnora Dr:.: i R ? =\ Sing Wiy ng? y % Boran Burefard iz o tabs herlife? Who was “M e Six"? How did Rudolph Valentino save an adoring woman from suicide? Who is the onl woman whe ever “broke the ban! twice in ene evening? How did the Dowager Queen Margherita, of Italy, chasten & rude Americzn woman an still her regul toaring? Answers to all of thess questions, and many more, make up the “Confes sions of a Croupier” (Hurst and Black- ott, Ltd.) recently published here. Paul de Ketchiva, for twenty years a crou. gm at Monte Carlo, Deauville, Le s:aut. 8an Sebastian, and other Continental resorts, is the author, and his revelations probably are the most ever made about what he calls the {lded gambling hells of Europe.” ‘The one and over devised to Monte Carlo was gineer named Ji of England, e figured, rightly enough, that the manufacturers of roulette wheels could not possibly bal- ance them so perfectly that, over many days of play, one or two numbers would not come up more often than others. Ji rs employed several clerks, and put them to watching the various wheels. They listed the numbers as they came up, and each night Jaggers poured over the statistics. Finally he was ready to )‘lll{, and with his list he started out. In a day or two he had won $400,000! His hunch been right and he was familiar with the peculiarities of each wheel. The Casino authorities were panic stricken. They tried mov- ing the wheels about to differ- ent tables each evening. BRut Jaggers was relentless. He ob- served each wheel closely, and found identifying marks on only honest system “beat the bank" at evolved by an en- from the North for money,” Cuben. The Lights Were Dimmed, the Curtains Drawn Back, and There St a Beautiful Woman. She Wore s Mask, But Nothing Else. “Surely here is o worthy stake, gentlemen,” Said the Host. each, so that no matter where they put the wheel he still knew which was the “luckiest” number because of the wheel’s mechanical imperfections. Finally the manufacturers them selves were called in. They }mmodiuuly devised a system for changing the posi- tion of the slots in which the ball came to rest, so that the wheel might be changed each evening. That finished Jaggers, but he took $400,000 of the Casino's money with him when he left Monte Carlo! And his was the only honest system ever devised to “beat the bank.” ! 8 No one knows the fetid. hectic, poisonous and sinister atmosphere of the gambling casino like the croupier. He lives in it, daily rubs elbows with rgeously gowned women caught in the merciless grip of gambling hysteria, and he sees thrilling dramas of life acted out under his very nose. But he must remain cool and calm. H must not show emotion. His air al- ways must be that of the blase sophisti- cate. Not long after M. Ketchiva became a croupier a beautiful, veiled woman called at his humble apartment. She made love to the frightened man, and then ended by offering him s fortune if he would attach a emal! magnetic device under his wheel for a single week! She and her gang would “cloan up” during that week. snd M. Ketchia would have been a million- He toid he would help her, reported the matter to the casino su- thorities, and the whole gang was eay, Above: The Beautiful lalian Women, Who Had Lost Heavily Sob i3 Lares: e jm, rge Cigarette in His Vest Pocket, Saved His Life! Right: The Baroness Groner. Her Phenomenal Fortune Broke the Monte Carlo Bank Twice in One Evening. Sir Basil Zaharoff. During the War, When the ( Clemenceau, the Tiger of France, Is Another of the lmzruationally h Famous People Who Pars “* Before the Croupier as He Twirled His Wheel and Raked in the Stakes. Soon after this incident s duchess lured him to her apartment, and there offered to marry him if he would be- tray his trust for a few days and allow her to make a grand coup at the tables. : The next week a beau- tiful Italian woman, who had lost everything at the tables, tried to stab him'us " tsughtes. ¢ :oulned individual,” he said. ino Autharities Found Themselves in Financial Difficulties They Appealed to S Basil and He Took Over a Contrulling Interest in the Resort. Elizubeth, the Ex-Queen of Greece, and Daughter of Queen Marie of Roumania. This Brilliant Beauty Is But One of the Hundreds of Regul Visitors Who Played Often at M. Ketchi he was walking in the Casino gardens. M. Ketchiva had a large cigarette case in his breast pocket. The point of the poniard struck this, and his life was saved. He let the crazed woman go free! One evening, upon returning to his modest apartment, the croupier was surprised to find a strange man await- ing him. “l am going to kill myself,” the: stranger informed him with calm deliberation. *“But first | am going to kill you!” M. Ketchiva recognized the man as one who had lost heavily st ‘the table the day before. The stranger drew a revolver, aimed at the eroupier, and was about to pull the trigger. M. Ketchiva thought fast! “See Bere, my friend,” he said, “I am a fataliet. 1f I'm to die, all well and good. But, as we are to die to- gether, let's have a bit of supper first.” The stranger agreed, and the croupier laid the cloth. For some minutes they ate in silence. Then the croupier offered a proposition. “You say you have lost your fortune at my table? Well, of course that was not my fault. But ['ll tell you what I'll do. We'll cut the cards, high man wins. If 1 win you give me my life. If 1 lose, I'll give you 10.000 francs and you may kill me!” The stranger was startled, but after some thought he agreed to the proposi- tion.. They cut. The stranger turned up a tén'of diamonds, and the croupier turped up a four of clubs! “Ah, well,” sighed M. Ketchiva, as he tossed his wallet on the bed. “You'll find 10,000 francs in there. Go ahead and shoot!” Instead. the stranger burst into 1 couldn’t kill such a self- Instead e . borrowed the 10,000 fr: re- turne§’to the table the next day, and made @ winning. He paid the money back, and now the stranger and the eroupier are the best of friends! But theee are just s few ot the “highlights” in the life of a croupier. On another occasion M. Ketchiva was called to the palatial villa of a Cuban millionaire, to run a private roulette wheel for a party. The guests, all men, gambled for several hours, and the eroupier noticed that the wheel acted strangely. He was convinced that the Cevice was crooked but he didn’t know what to do about it. Suddenly the host spoke: “I'm tired of gambling for money! We should have more interesting stakes!” Sud- denly the lights in the room were dimmed, the great velvet curtains at one end parted, and a beautiful woman appeared. She wore a mask, but noth- ing else! Kewapaper Feature Service, 1929, e Table. “Gentlemen, surely here is a worth stake!” said the millionaire. “We wi play for madamoiselle. No ! than 10,000 francs, mind you The girl was given & number in a sealed envelope, and the understanding was that she would belong to the man who vlayed that'number and won. Play continued for an hour and still the number didn’t turn up. Finally “seven” the “lucky number” ap- peared, but the Cuban himself had won! The croupier sensed the plot. The wheel was crooked, and the plot had been to keep it off the winning number as long as possible, so that the 10,000 franc stakes would go to the bank! M. Ketchiva called the bluff, and it also developed that an agent of the French Government was present. He had been trailing the Cuban for months, and the beauti- ful woman was the million- aire’s wife! They were both arrested, and the guests got the money they had Cuban’s st! None of the big casinos are ‘“‘crooked,” s M Ketchiva in his onfes- sions.” Those behind the casinos know that the “gam- bling mania” will bring their victims back, and that few will ever kecp the winnings they gain at the tables. Nevertheless everything is done to bring more players to the casino. For one thing, day- t is never allowed to shine any gambling room, because it has iy 4h ] ny upon big " at the Continental casinos ch a gang, the “J Club,” was par larly active using women decoys pot” a winner, follow him fro casino. lure him to a private hote! and there swindle him out of sverything he possessed! A beautiful ltalian girl, plunging heavily at the tables. sat next to the famed Eleonora Duse. “Steady, child,” mumbled Signora Duse, but the girl paid no attention. The wheel spun, the winning number was announced and the girl lost a great stake. She turned deathly white. slipped poison into her mouth, and collapsed at the table! Signora Duse rose, swore that she never would gamble again. and kept her promise! Once when the Kaiser was visiting the Riviera he heard that a certain Professor Schott, of Heidelberg Uni- versity, had perfected a stem” for beating the bank. The Kaiser was im. ‘et £ <5 “The beautiful, veiled woman made love to the astonished croupier, and then offered him a fortune to betray his trust for only six days!™ Mr. Bonar Law, the Brilliant British Statesman Who Took a Tip from Statescraft and Played Bus Ligha When He Visited the Tables at Monte Carlo. pressed, called the professor to his suite, and purchased the “system.” In the next day, it lost him 6,000 Edward VII, the “Peace Maker” was a frequent visitor st the Continental casinos. Once, while playing next to the Archduke Ferdi- nand, of Austria, whose assassination brought on the World War, he noticed that a fellow player was taking the Archduke’s winnings. The King called the attention of the croupier by a glance, and the ‘“stake thief” was caught. A woman, who had been following Rudolph Valentino about Monte Carlo and trying to force her attentions upon him, finally took a seat near him in the dining room. and while looking at him started to slip something into her champagne. The actor startled his companions by leaping to his feet, u setting the table at which he gat, dash- ing across the room, and striking the poisoned champagne from her hand. She was about to commit suicide be- cause he would not pay any attention to her!