" A tremor of excitement ran through the crowd.
It was almost unprecedented.
DeLong, with a stifled oath, leaned back and scanned the faces
about the table.
"And '17' has precisely the same chance of turning up in the next
spin as if it had not already had a run of three," said a voice
at my elbow.
It was Kennedy. The roulette-table needs no introduction when
curious sequences are afoot. All are friends.
"That's the theory of Sir Hiram Maxim;" commented my friend, as
he excused himself reluctantly for another appointment. "But no
true gambler will believe it, monsieur, or at least act on it."
All eyes were turned on Kennedy, who made a gesture of polite
deprecation, as if the remark of my friend were true, but he
nonchalantly placed his chips on the "17."
"The odds against '17' appearing four consecutive times are some
millions," he went on, "and yet, having appeared three times, it
is just as likely to appear again as before. It is the usual
practice to avoid a number that has had a run, on the theory that
some other number is more likely to come up than it is. That
would be the case if it were drawing balls from a bag full of red
and black balls--the more red ones drawn the smaller the chance
of drawing another red one. But if the balls are put back in the
bag after being drawn the chances of drawing a red one after
three have been drawn are exactly the same as ever.
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