4. JOSEPH JAGGER
Many people will not have heard of the name Joseph Jagger, that is hardly surprising seeing as I am going back to 1873 when this happened. Jagger was born in 1829 in Yorkshire, England. Jagger became an Engineer so it was no surprise that he had an intense knowledge of mechanics which was undoubtedly the reason as to why he had a fascination with roulette.
It was later found out that Jagger had a team of wheel clockers watching certain wheels at a large casino in Monte Carlo. What this team discovered was that one of the roulette wheels was exhibiting a clear bias towards certain numbers. In fact Jagger did not place any action unil 1875 and won around $20,000 in a very short space of time.
This figure is over $1 million in today’s money which puts it into perspective the spending power of $20,000 in 1875. Within a week that figure had risen to $100,000 which is around $5 million today. The casino tried to switch wheels which initially caused Jagger to lose much of that money back. Jagger then began to win much of that back but it was clear to him by that stage that the casino were constantly taking counter measures against him.
This in part would either eliminate the bias or negate the effect. So he stopped playing and his winnings were an estimated $5 million in today’s money. Jagger left his job and then went into buying property but it is reported that he never went inside casinos ever again.
Quite possibly one of the greatest gamblers who ever lived and well worth a place in the hall of fame.
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