Page:Book of the Riviera.djvu/318

252 lands the player a winner of one unit. The defect, however, is that, starting with the minimum stake, the maximum is reached at the eleventh doubling, and a run of eleven is of by no means an infrequent occurrence. Against this the bank protects itself in its most vulnerable place; even then, were its limits removed, yet it would be steadily levying its 1.66 commission. It is accordingly not necessary for the company to have recourse to underhand work as charged by Captain Weihe; the income of £1, 245.008 realised without trickery, on an average stake per table would be 611.55 fr. Any one who has been at Monte Carlo will admit that this is probably very much below the average amount of money on the table at each spin of the wheel; and with such an income, where arises the occasion for illicitly supplementing it? The following is a table of stakes needed to realise the known profits of the company:

611.55 fr., average stake each Bank percentage, 10*15 fr. of 14 tables 8,56170 fr. total stakes at 14 Bank percentage 142-69 fr. tables, 50 coups per hour 428,085.00 fr., average stakes Bank percentage 7, 1347 5 fr. each 12 hours the Casino is open

5,137,020.00 fr., total daily Bank percentage 85,617.00 fr. stakes, 365 days a year Casino is open 1,875,012,300-00 fr., total Bank percentage 31,250,205-00 fr. yearly stakes

£75,000,492 sterling equivalent Bank percentage £1,245,008

Thus enabling the bank on average stakes of 611-55 francs to realise £1,245,008. But it must be remembered