Joseph Hobson Jagger (1830–1892) was a British engineer, referred to as, but not an exclusive holder of the title of, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo. His name is sometimes reported as Jaggers, but the International Genealogical Index indicates that Jagger is more likely. 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Look up engineer on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The International Genealogical Index (IGI) is a database of genealogical records, compiled from a variety of different sources, and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ...

Jagger was born in September 1830 in the village of Shelf in Calderdale, Yorkshire. Jagger gained his practical experience of mechanics working in Yorkshire's cotton manufacturing industry. He extended his experience to the behaviour of a roulette wheel, speculating that its outcomes were not purely random numbers but that mechanical imbalances might result in biases towards particular outcomes. Shelf is a detail of furniture for storing items. ... Calderdale is a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. ... Jump to: navigation, search The White Yorkshire rose. ... Mechanics refers to: a craft relating to machinery (from the Latin mechanicus, from the Greek mechanikos, meaning one skilled in machines), or a range of disciplines in science and engineering. ... Jump to: navigation, search The White Yorkshire rose. ... Jump to: navigation, search Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search Roulette is a casino and gambling game (Roulette is a French word meaning small wheel). A croupier turns a round roulette wheel which has 37 or 38 separately numbered pockets in which a ball must land. ... In statistics, a random number is a single observation (outcome) of a specified random variable. ...

In 1873, Jagger hired six clerks clandestinely to record the outcomes of the six roulette wheels at the Beaux-Arts Casino at Monte Carlo, Monaco. He discovered that one of the six wheels showed a clear bias, in that nine of the numbers (7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28 and 29) occurred more frequently than the others. He therefore placed his first bets on 7 July 1875 and quickly won a considerable amount of money, USD 70,000. Over the next three days, Jagger amassed $300,000 in earnings with other gamblers in tow emulating his bets. In response the casino rearranged the wheels, which threw Jagger into confusion. After a losing streak, Jagger finally recalled that a scratch he noted on the biased wheel wasn't present. Looking for this telltale mark, Jagger was able to relocate his preferred wheel and resumed winning. Counterattacking again, the casino moved the frets, metal dividers between numbers, around daily. Over the next two days Jagger lost and gave up, but he took his remaining earnings, two million francs, then about USD 325,000, and left Monte Carlo never to return. Jump to: navigation, search 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Roulette is a casino and gambling game (Roulette is a French word meaning small wheel). A croupier turns a round roulette wheel which has 37 or 38 separately numbered pockets in which a ball must land. ... Jump to: navigation, search Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas (jb) A casino is a building that accommodates certain types of gambling games and activities. ... Monte Carlo is a very wealthy section of the city-state of Monaco known for its casino, gambling, beaches, glamour, and sightings of famous people. ... In statistics, a biased estimator is one that for some reason on average over- or underestimates what is being estimated. ... Jump to: navigation, search July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search USD redirects here. ...

Jagger resigned from his job at the mill and invested his money in property. He is buried at Bethel Church, Shelf.

In 1892, Fred Gilbert wrote a popular song, The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo that is mistakenly attributed to Jagger's exploits. Instead, the song is a celebration of Charles Wells, another Englishman, who in 1891 won handsomely in Monte Carlo. The song was popularised by the music hall star, Charles Coburn. Jump to: navigation, search 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Charles Wells (1841-1926), gambler and confidence trickster, is one of the men that broke the bank at Monte Carlo, made famous by the song. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

References

• "'Monte Carlo' Wells". (January 18, 1893). New York Times, p. 3.
• Grochowski, John. (February 21, 1997). "House has built-in edge when roulette wheel spins". Chicago Sun-Times, p. 21.
• "The great expectations of a royal reporter". (April 20, 1994). Daily Mail (London), p. 50.

New Chicago Sun-Times building located at 350 N. Orleans St. ...

External links

• The Full Monte: In 1873 a British mill engineer "broke the bank" at a Monte Carlo casino (Snopes.com)
• Lyrics to "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo"