Charles Deville Wells

The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo

For this roulette legend, we need to take you back to the 19th century- 1891 to be precise.

This was the year that a gambler called Charles Deville Wells managed to break the bank at Monte Carlo Casino when he won 1 million French Francs at the roulette table.

The Song Inspired by Charles Wells- The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo

How Much Did He Win in Today’s Money?

How much were 1 million French Francs in 1891 worth in US dollars in today’s money? Well, in 1865 the French Franc was pegged to 0.29 grams of gold. According to this chart, the US$ was at 18.96 per troy ounce in 1891, which is 31.1 grams, which gives a figure of $.60 per gram, which means there were approximately 2 French Francs to a US dollar in those days.

So Charles Wells won US $500,000 in 1891, a huge sum. $500,000 in 1891 would have bought Wells 25,316 troy ounces of gold. That is around 0.7 metric tonnes! If you sold that gold today, you would net around $50 million.

So using that theory of account inflation from this cool site, that means he won around US $50 million in today’s money. Wow!

Other estimates I have seen, put his win at $6-10 million. Let’s call it $8 million. I am not sure how they calculated that.

Either way, it was an enormous multi-million dollar win in today’s money.

A Well Known Player

Wells was a known fraudster. He rounded up investors for £400 a time and used the money to gamble in the casinos in the French Riviera. He managed to win a million francs during an 11-hour monster session at the tables, and became globally famous for it even inspiring the song “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo”.

“The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” is a British music hall song written by Fred Gilbert.

Charles Coborn

The song was popularised by singer and comedian Charles Coborn, and quickly became a staple of his act, performed on tour in different languages throughout the world. The song remained popular from the 1890s until the late 1940s and is still referenced in popular culture today.

Financier George Soros was called “The Man Who Broke the Bank of England” in 1992, following the infamous Black Wednesday which saw Britain’s exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. There have been a few memes of him with Coborn’s song tacked on.

Wells’ luck eventually ran out. He lost all the money that he had won back in the Casino de Monte-Carlo and was arrested in the UK for a confidence scheme and served eight 8 years for fraud.

But when he peaked, oh boy did he peak.

After several more arrests, he died penniless.

What Does it Mean to Break the Bank at Monte Carlo?

Well, Charles Wells did just that in 1891. But what does it mean exactly? At the end of the 19th Century, if a player won more chips than were on the table, they had “faire sauter la banque”, or broken the bank.

The bank went bust and a black shroud was placed over the table until new chips could be brought in. Wells managed to win 23 out of 30 spins of the wheel. He returned to Monte Carlo in November of that year and won again.

His most famous session was a succession of winning bets on the number five for five consecutive spins

How Did Charles Deville Wells Do It?

The truth? No one, even to this day, knows. Remember, he was a confidence trickster so it could have been fraud (past posting etc), but this seems unlikely given that so much attention was on him at the table.

The Casino never worked out how Wells did it. Wells said it was just an amazing purple streak. Some reckon he was using the Martingale betting system, others claim it was a twist on the popular D’Alembert system.

Which Bets Did He Make?

Wells made all sorts of bets during his successful run, but the most famous was on the Number 5.

He bet on 5 for the maximum stake of 180 francs, betting on red, impair (odd numbers) and manque (1-18), each for the maximum of 6,000 francs, and went to the limit on every other possible bet involving the No. 5.

A Complete Bet in other words: 360 francs on Cheval, 760 on Carré, 560 on Transversale, 1,500 on the column containing 5, and others.

The bet came in! So the payoff was 35 to 1 (6,300 francs), three even-money bets at 6,000 francs a pop. The total haul was around 90,000 francs, or $18,000. Charles Deville Wells had broken the bank.

An Inside Job?

One theory was that the Casino Director, a distinguished-looking gentleman called Camille Blanc, was in partnership with Wells.

Blanc figured that customers who broke the bank were good for publicity which attracted more gamblers to the casino. Over the longer term, it was a profitable strategy for the casino.

Hence, the great drama that was played out with the black cloth was spread over the table to signify that Well had broken the bank.

Charles Wells’ run of ‘luck’ in Monte Carlo ended up benefitting Camille Blanc considerably. Punters poured into the casino in their thousands, boosting the fortunes of the Monaco Royal Family. The casino was allowed to remain open.

Within a couple of years, the value of the Blanc family’s majority share in the casino had increased by about £120 million in today’s money.

That’s one theory. But you know what? We’ll never know. It’s one of those amazing stories that the game of roulette is awash with.

Facts

– Charles Deville Wells (1841–1922)
– In July 1891 Wells went to Monte Carlo with £4,000. He won 1 million French Francs.
– In 1922, Wells died with no money in Paris.

Lyrics

Lyrics to the “Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo”

I’ve just got here, to Paris,
From the sunny southern shore
I to Monte Carlo went,
Just to raise me winter’s rent
Dame Fortune smiled upon me
As she’d never smiled before,
And I’ve now got lots of money, I’m a gent,
Yes, I’ve now got lots of rhino, I’m a gent

As I walk along the Bois de Boulogne
With an independent air
You can hear the girls declare,
‘He must be a millionaire.’
You can hear them sigh and wish to die,
You can see them wink the other eye
At the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo
(×2)

I stay indoors till after lunch,
and then me daily walk
To the great Triumphal Arch
Is a grand triumphal march,
Observed by each observer
with the keenness of a hawk,
I’m a mass of money, linen, silk and starch
I’m a mass of money, linen, silk and starch

As I walk along the Bois de Boulogne
With an independent air
You can hear the girls declare,
‘He must be a millionaire.’
You can hear them sigh and wish to die,
You can see them wink the other eye
At the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo
(×2)

I patronised the tables at the Monte Carlo hell
Till they hadn’t got a sou
for a Christian or a Jew;
So I quickly went to Paris
for the charms of mademoiselle,
Who’s the darling of me heart
What can I do?
When with twenty tongues she swears
that she’ll be true?

As I walk along the Bois de Boulogne
With an independent air
You can hear the girls declare,
‘He must be a millionaire.’
You can hear them sigh and wish to die,
You can see them wink the other eye
At the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo
(×2)