4t) Life in the West. [JAN. 



thrown together promiscuously, which stands before him ; and lays out a 

 a row upon the table, counting the number of pips upon each card as he 

 proceeds, until he has counted or gone past, the number thirty-one. 

 This row is the chance of the noir, or black. He then lays out, counting 

 in the same way, a second row for the chance of the rouge, or red again 

 dealing on until he counts or has passed (reckoning by the pips) the num- 

 ber thirty-one. Then, whichever of the two rows is nearest to the num- 

 ber thirty-one one may be 35 and the other 33 or one 37 and the other 

 40, no matter which whatever is nearest to the 31, is the winner. 



Thus, so far, the game is perfectly even; and, if the players 

 staked equally upon the two colours, the bank, which takes all that is 

 staked upon the losing colour, and pays, (i. e. doubles) all that 

 stands on that which wins, could neither win nor lose. But, as that 

 is a sort of game which it would not suit people, as a trade, to carry 

 on, the bank is allowed a particular advantage which is this. The first 

 row of cards, dealt for the black, may stop (it must stop whenever 

 the last card reaches or passes 31) may stop, as we have already 

 observed, at 35, or 36, or 37 : and the second, or red may stop at 38, or 

 39, or 40: and in each case tlie t first, being nearest to the number 31, 

 wins. Or the two rows may stop at the same number : both at 32, or 

 33, or 35, or 40 : in which case, the dealer deals again ; and the first deal 

 counts for nothing. But there is one case where the numbers of both 

 rows of cards stop at exactly 31 in which the deal does not count for 

 nothing, but half the stakes upon the table become forfeited to the bank. 

 The dealer deals again ; but this time, he takes all the money from that 

 colour which may lose, without paying any thing to the side which is 

 a winner. Now this event of the two 31's, which is called an appret, 

 occurs about once in every thirty-three or thirty-four deals ; half the 

 stakes on the table are forfeit every time it occurs : consequently, the 

 whole stake becomes forfeit in sixty-eight deals. Which amounts to a 

 tax in favour of the bank of one and a half per cent upon the stake 

 whatever its amount may be every time it is put down. 



For example: If a player plays 100/. stakes, and at the end of 

 thirty-four deals loses half his stake to the bank, in thirty-four stakes of 

 100/. each, he loses 50/. Going on, in thirty-four stakes more, or sixty- 

 eight altogether, he loses 50/. again, which is the whole 100/. Thus 

 his actual loss is the sixty-eighth part of his 100/., or II. 10s. even/ 

 time that he plays. This profit appears trifling ; but the rapidity of the 

 play makes it enormous. The " coup" or deal, which decides the fate 

 of each stake, does not occupy five minutes in fact, it does not occupy 

 three minutes. Fifty or sixty coups, therefore, is far from being an 

 extreme extent of play in the course of an evening. Suppose, then, 

 the whole money staked upon each deal at a house by an inde- 

 finite number of players to be 100Z. (which is a low average stake for 

 a house of any considerable custom) : in sixty-eight deals, one of these 

 stakes of 100/. taking the average run of the cards becomes, by the 

 appret the property of the bank ; which mere advantage the rest of 

 the play being (as games of chance are necessarily, in the long run) 

 even affords the bank supposing the same rate of play to be con- 

 tinued nightly a profit considerably exceeding thirty thousands pounds 

 a-year!!! 



This is the state of chances at rouge et noir supposing the game to 

 be played fairly ; although frauds, as Mr. Gisborne Deal [we had for- 



