The Spotted Ball – Chapter 10

The Spotted Ball, a True Story by Larry Cohen c 2025

Chapter 10
Geld ohne Arbeit—- German: Money without Work

The whole concept of a bet, a gamble, is to gain without work. In the German language, translated, we also have the expression, “to play in someone else’s pockets” or roughly the same as “money without work” Mankind has to work “by the sweat of his brow” as Biblically referenced in the story of the Garden of Eden. The gambler, however, wants his gain “without work.”

We continue now with more on roulette….

Within the numerical portion of the roulette layout is where the real money is to be made or lost. As I explained earlier, with a thirty-five to one gain, it is hard to resist that. In Graham Greene’s novel, “The Comedians”,(Bodley Head, 1966) written in the first person, the protagonist has some good fortune in roulette with the numbers 1 and 19 alternating back and forth for a substantial win.
Over a century earlier, Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) in his masterpiece, “The Magic Skin”, also known as “The Talisman”, paints his protagonist as an inveterate gambler who, right at the beginning of the novel, loses all of his money at the gambling tables. (We’ll come back to Balzac in another chapter)

In the classic film,”Casablanca” (b/w 1942).Humphrey Bogart, in his unique, tobacco-cured voice, asks the roulette player. who is losing miserably, “Have you tried 22 tonight?” Speaking louder while staring directly at the French roulette wheel spinner, “I said 22” . When the number 22 wins, Bogart says, “Leave it there” The gambler wins again on the number 22 at which point Bogart orders the player to “Cash it in and don’t come back!” Though the audience understands that the reality of this French spinner, or any spinner, controlling the game’s outcome is virtually impossible, we are happy to give Bogart dramatic license since the scene serves its purpose.

In the Casino Embajador, I remember a roulette wheel spinner from Trinidad who often admonished the players with, “Never remove a winning bet”. This meant that if a number had “come in” it would most likely come in again. “Nothing is sweeter than a repeater” he would proclaim in his Trinidadian accent. There is a logic to that as I will explain in the next chapter as well as a time when there were two roulette wheels spinning simultaneously for an even greater payout..

To be continued…