"Why, you have had three hundred and lost it," said he. "Now, take my
advice, and don't lose any more."
"I don't mean to. But I am determined to win back the three hundred, and
a great deal more, before I leave this. I have discovered a system, an
infallible one."
"I am sorry to hear it," said Harrington, gravely. "That is the second
step on the road to ruin; the gambler with a system is the confirmed
maniac."
"What! because _other_ systems have been tried, and proved to be false?
Mine is untried, and it is mere prejudice to condemn it unheard."
"Propound it, then," said Vizard. "Only please observe the bank has got
its system; you forget that: and the bank's system is to take a positive
advantage, which must win in the long run; therefore, all counter-systems
must lose in the long run."
"But the bank is tied to a long run, the individual player is not."
This reply checked Vizard for a moment and the other followed up his
advantage. "Now, Vizard, be reasonable. What would the trifling advantage
the bank derives from an incident, which occurs only once in twenty-eight
deals, avail against a player who could foresee at any given deal whether
the card that was going to come up the nearest thirty would be on the red
or black?"
"No avail at all.
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