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Dr. Richard Jarecki was just an everyday medical researcher who occasionally loved to wager some cash. From a young age, Jarecki loved to play card games and win money from his friends. As he grew older, Jarecki grew an affinity for the roulette table. He was enamored by the simple game, and played it often for varying amounts of money.
While most consider roulette as a purely luck-based affair, the shark Jarecki believed he could ‘beat’ the game. Devising a unique and ingenious strategy, Jarecki won sums of money that would equate to millions today.
50 years after beating the system, his strategy has finally been revealed.
Humble Beginnings
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Born in Germany during World War II, Jarecki and his family relocated to America when he was just a boy. A young Jarecki found solace in card games like rummy, skat, and bridge. Anything that involved cards and gambling was right up Jarecki’s alley. He had a mind for remembering statistics and making inferences based upon data. As he got older, these experiences would help in all facets of life.
A Dark Secret
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Jarecki’s bright mind lent itself to higher education. Once he was of age, Jarecki began studying medicine (to the delight of his father). By the time he was in his 20s, Jarecki had already solidified himself as one of the world’s top medical researchers. His stature among the medical community was undeniable, and his income allowed him to live a calm lifestyle. Despite his seemingly comfortable life, Jarecki held a dark secret.
Source of Motivation
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Jarecki’s passion lied within the walls of a casino. No matter how successful of a doctor he had become, no feeling equated to the joy of cracking the code. Jarecki became obsessed with table games in the 1960s, but nothing caught his eye quite like roulette. He was in awe of the multi-colored wheel and the simplicity of it all. It consumed him over the ensuing years, and defeating the game became Jarecki’s primary focus.
Luck of the Draw?
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Up until Jarecki’s epic run, roulette was looked at as a game that was purely based upon chance. There’s no telling where the little white ball could end up. However, as Jarecki began studying the wheel more and more, he started to notice the smallest of details which could tip the scales in his favor.
Noticing The Little Things
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Casino games are designed to give the ‘house’ an advantage, but there are a handful of things Jarecki noticed that even casino owners couldn’t decipher. While gathering data, Jarecki noticed that casinos would replace both cards and dice with new sets at the end of each night. However, they never touched the roulette wheels. The wheels themselves are typically expensive, and casino owners preferred to save money by reusing wheels as opposed to buying new ones.
Putting In The Hours
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The observant Jarecki began to notice imperfections in these untouched roulette wheels – little nooks and crannies that could influence where a ball might fall. In a game like roulette, even the smallest divots could drastically flood the results of several rolls towards a certain number. Jarecki spent hours, even days, studying the outcomes of certain tables. He eventually began forming hypotheses based upon these results, and could infer a certain sequence of numbers would be likely to come up after a set of particular rolls.
“If numbers 1, 2, and 3 won the last 3 rounds, [I could determine] what was most likely to win the next 3.”
An Ode To The Roulette Pioneers
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While his game plan was impressive, it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking. A few gambling experts had devised a similar strategy (although not to the same results). Joseph Jagger won loads of money in the 1880s, and is considered the pioneer of the ‘biased wheel’ strategy. Two doctors, Albert Hibbs and Roy Walford, utilized the strategy en route to purchasing a yacht in 1947. Helmut Berlin, a former lathe operator, employed an entire team and made $420,000 using the ‘biased wheel’ strategy in 1950.
Jarecki had an even bigger prize in mind though.
The First Trial
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After months of collecting empirical data. Jarecki finally decided to put his plan to action. He grabbed $100 in cash, and ventured to his casino of choice. Jarecki walked up to the roulette table and placed his money on the board. In just a few short hours of playing, Jarecki had turned his lowly $100 bet into a whopping $5,000 (which equates to roughly $41,000 today). He had found a crack in the system, and Jarecki’s wages only grew from there.
Taking His Business Elsewhere
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Following his early victories stateside, Jarecki eventually moved back to Germany as a job opportunity presented itself. Jarecki went to work at the University of Heidelberg to study forensic medicine and electrophoresis. By this point in his career, Jarecki had garnered several awards within his field of medicine, and had become one of the most well-known researchers world-wide. However, Jarecki’s itch for the tables never wavered as he set his eyes on a new prize.
An Overseas Advantage
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Roulette is played slightly differently in Europe. While the basics remain relatively the same, European casinos have one less number, which serves as an advantage for players (and shrinks the house’s ‘edge’). More importantly, the tables typically used in European casinos were right up Jarecki’s alley: old, worn, and littered with imperfections. The roulette savant was ready to strike.
Jarecki’s Eight
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Of course, before he could place some hefty wagers, Jarecki had to gather more evidence on the new wheels. With the help of his wife, Carol, Jarecki and a team of eight ‘clockers’ gathered intel on dozens of roulette tables across Europe. In total, Jarecki’s squad recorded over 20,000 spins in just a 30-day period. While Jarecki knew he was operating in a game of chance, he wanted to be absolutely certain that the odds would be stacked in his favor.
With A Little Help From?
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Jarecki finally made his move in 1964. To ensure he had ample funds, Jarecki secured a bank loan of $25,000 from a Swiss bank. He proceeded to make a killing at the tables. By the end of it all, Jarecki had won around $625,000 – which equates to nearly $6.7 million today.
Quite The Showman
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The gambling genius began gaining national notoriety for his play. Newspapers, magazines, and headlines all touted a ‘roulette wizard’ who had seemingly figured out the system. While many were hopeful to employ Jarecki’s strategy for their own personal gain, the practicing doctor chose to never disclose his secrets.
Keeping His Secrets Close To The Vest
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Instead of disclosing his true strategy, Jarecki gave up bits and pieces of his playing style to appease the masses. He did admit to tallying thousands of results from various roulette tables, though he claimed to have inputted those numbers into a super computer for the results. He never mentioned observing which tables were the faultiest, and decided to keep that all-too-important secret to himself.
A Threat Is Detected
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As Jarecki continued to build his bank account, casino owners fell further and further into debt. The ‘myth’ surrounding Jarecki began to grow larger. Casino owners went to great lengths to keep their losses at a minimum. One casino even went as far as suspending Jarecki from their floor for a week for “being too good.” The night the suspension ended, Jarecki returned to the casino and won an additional $100,000 ($710,000 today).
Bankrupting Casinos, Just Your Average Sunday Night
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Though a few owners attempted to thwart Jarecki’s plans, the high-roller continued to collect big winnings. By the late ’60s, he had moved his operation to Italy. In the summer of 1969, Jarecki reportedly won all of the on-hand cash from a casino twice in the same night.
A Menace To Society
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Crowds of on-lookers began to watch Jarecki as he played – hoping to pick up on his tendencies and habits. Casino owners tried anything in their power to slow him down, but his knowledge of each table had continued to grow. He was locked-in, and no roulette table could stop him.
“He is a menace to every casino in Europe.”
Finally Admitting Defeat
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Eventually, the casino Jarecki most frequently visited decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and replace all of their tables with brand new wheels. It was an admittance of defeat to one of the greatest gamblers of all-time. Casinos have since upped their monitoring of tables to ensure nothing like Jarecki’s run could occur again. His lasting effect on the gambling world can still be felt today.
Retiring A Legend
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By the very end of Jarecki’s monumental run, he had won a reported $1.25 million – equivalent to $8 million today. By 1973, Jarecki had made enough money to move his family back to America – settling in New Jersey where he began a new career as a broker. Over the years, casino owners got in contact with Jarecki in hopes of striking a partnership. He respectfully declined all offers. Carol offered this thought in an interview with the New York Times:
“He [liked] to take money from the casinos, not give it to them.”