Roulettenburg of Dostoevsky
The Gambler (1866): di best book about roulette, wey one man wey dey lose for am write, inside twenty-six days.
Dostoevsky tok The Gambler make person write am, to pay debts wey e get for di tables of Wiesbaden and Homburg. Di person wey dey tell di story, Alexei, describe di spa casino, di systems, di belief sey one run must end and di way win dey feel like understanding, wit accuracy wey no mathematician don ever improve.
Wetin happen dat time
For 1866 Dostoevsky owe one publisher one novel by 1 November, or e go lose di rights to im works for nine years. E don lose plenty for roulette for di German spas for 1863 and 1865, and e don pawn im property and im wife jewellery. E hire one stenographer, Anna Snitkina, and tok The Gambler make she write am between 4 and 29 October, and e finish wit some days remain. E marry Anna di year wey follow. E continue to gamble until 1871, den e stop completely.
Roulettenburg
Di town na Wiesbaden, Homburg and Baden-Baden join togeda: di Kurhaus, di promenade, di Russian family wey dey live on credit while dem dey wait for one grandmother to die. Di casino scenes correct well well. Alexei describe di calls of di croupierspipoCroupierDi dealer for roulette table.Read di whole tin →, di layoutequipmentLayoutDi betting grid wey dem print for di table. Dem also dey call am: table, felt, cloth.Read di whole tin →, di stakes, di crowd for di table, di “systems” wey players dey follow wit notebooks, and di way players dey tok about numbers like sey di numbers get intention. Every detail match di roulette pages for dis site; di book na primary source.
Di grandmother
Di big scene of di novel: Antonida Vasilievna, di rich grandmother wey di family dey wait make she die, reach Roulettenburg inside sedan chair, dem push her go di tables, she bet on zerowheelZeroDi one green pocket wey no even-money, dozen or column bet dey cover; na im be di source of di house edge. Dem also dey call am: single zero, 0.Read di whole tin → becos pipo tell her sey e dey pay 35 to 1, and e hit. She bet zero again. And again. Inside two days she don lose most of her fortune, as she insist on zero, sure sey e must come, while her relatives dey watch dia inheritance cross di table one straight upbetStraight upOne single number, e dey pay 35:1.Read di whole tin → at a time. Na di best fiction account of wetin 1/37 bet dey do to person wey don see am hit once.
Di win of Alexei
Late for di book, Alexei win two hundred thousand francs inside one night, mostly on redbetRedEven-money bet on di 18 red numbers. For French: rouge.Read di whole tin → and on straight ups, for one line of bets wey di book describe spin by spin. E feel, for dat moment, sey e don understand sometin: sey e fit control di wheel wit im will. Di win don spend and finish inside few pages. Di book understand sey di win na di worst tin wey fit happen to am, and dat na di clinical view one century before clinic dey.
Di first trip to di spas; e win, den e lose plenty for Wiesbaden.
Wiesbaden again; e lose everytin; e write letters to beg; e write part of Crime and Punishment for dis condition.
E tok The Gambler make person write am inside 26 days to meet one contract.
E marry Anna Snitkina; dem travel go abroad; e gamble for Homburg, Baden-Baden and Saxon-les-Bains, and e lose again and again.
Di last gambling wey dem record, for Wiesbaden. E write Anna sey e don finish. E finish true true.
Di German casinos close. The Gambler outlive di tables wey e describe.
Why na di best book on roulette
Becos e no explain anytin and e get everytin right. Di mathematics pages for dis site tok sey spins no dey depend on each oda, sey systems dey change di shape of sessions but no be expectations, sey win na variancemathsVarianceOne measure of how wide di results dey spread around di expected value. E high for straight up, e low for even-money bets.Read di whole tin → wey dey feel like skill. Dostoevsky show one man wey believe di opposite of each of dose, one by one, from inside, and e make di reader feel di belief. Di arithmetic tell you wetin true; di novel tell you why dat one no reach.
Questions wey pipo dey ask
E believe for calm: sey player wey calm no fit lose. Na di illusion of control, and e describe am better pass anybody while e still dey hold am.
Na mixture. Wiesbaden na di main model.
E short: one long evening. Read am before your next session, no be afta.
Small laugh
E describe di fallacy perfect while e dey believe am. Na dat one be di book.
Sources
- Dostoevsky, F. The Gambler.
- Frank, J. Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865–1871.
- Kavanagh, T. M. Dice, Cards, Wheels: A Different History of French Culture.