Joseph Jagger - The Original Wheel Bias Master

Despite the fact that many people credit gambler/conman Charlie Wells with being the first man to break the bank at Monte Carlo casinos in 1891, British engineer Joseph Jagger actually beat Wells to the punch 18 years earlier. The only difference is that Jagger didn’t play to the media like Wells, nor did he have famous songs written about him (The Man who broke the Bank at Monte Carlo). But as you’ll find out, Jagger’s casino story is definitely interesting in its own right.

Born in 1830, Joseph Jagger, who is an ancestor of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, gained the background that would eventually help him beat roulette by working as an engineer in Halifax, Yorkshire. The British engineer’s job was to help improve the manufacturing process, and make any necessary repairs at a cotton factory in Halifax.

On the side of his engineering/mechanic job, Jagger also played casino roulette, and developed a theory that not all roulette wheels are created equal. Drawing upon his past work experience, Jagger predicted that some wheels were bound to have mechanical imperfections that would favor certain numbers. In Jagger’s mind, every human-made device had at least one minor problem, and he wanted to exploit these imperfections by wagering on biased roulette numbers.

After coming up with his roulette wheel bias theory, Jagger took the idea and ran with it. In 1873, he hired six clerks to go to the Beaux-Arts Casino in Monte Carlo and record every roulette spin during their trip. Each clerk was assigned to a roulette wheel, and the goal was to record enough data so that Jagger could later analyze it and find a biased wheel.

When the clerks returned with the data, Jagger looked over the numbers and eventually found that one of the six wheels was indeed biased; it heavily favored the numbers 7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28 and 29. With detailed instructions on the biased wheel and his six-man team still intact, he traveled to the Beaux-Arts Casino in 1875 to make some money.

The result was a huge success as Jagger used his knowledge to make £14,000 on the first day alone! Not yet finished, he made another £60,000 over the next three days, which altogether is around £3,700,000 when compared to the value of today’s money. Other bettors noticed the success that Jagger was having, and joined him on the same wheel to make the same bets. Unfortunately, the house wasn’t going to stand idly by while they bled out tons of profits.

It isn’t clear about whether or not the Beaux-Arts Casino knew Jagger’s method for winning. But they did know is that whatever he was doing had something to do with the particular wheel he was betting on. So after the casino had closed, the staff switched the roulette wheels around to throw him off.

Much to Jagger’s surprise, he started losing on the fifth day of his gambling excursion. After taking some losses, Jagger noticed that a specific scratch he had seen on the biased wheel was no longer there. Eventually, he put two and two together, and searched for the scratched wheel; he found it in another part of the casino.

Once again, Jagger went on another winning streak, which prompted the casino to change the biased wheel’s frets (metal dividers between numbers) the following night. Finally, they achieved success as Jagger went on to lose over the next couple of days. Showing some true restraint, the engineer pocketed the remainder of his winnings, and left Monte Carlo with the team of clerks. However, the damage had already been done, and Jagger was a very rich man.

Upon returning from Monte Carlo, Jagger quit his engineer job and invested the winnings (around $4 million in today’s money) into real estate. Amazingly, he was able to stay away from Monte Carlo and gambling altogether, which is something that many other famous gamblers who’ve gotten rich - including Charles Wells - haven’t been able to do.

As a result of his gambling success, every casino in Monte Carlo has tested their roulette wheels for biases since 1875. He has also served as an icon to future wheel bias experts such as Gonzalo Garcia-Pelayo.