Gambling is like life you know it's the , the the grand metaphor metaphor of life 5:36 a.m. and floor staff have just called . Casino security a tourist has been playing the same roulette wheel all night at first they thought he was an addict but now they think it's far worse because he appears to be in profit and in the last hour he's doubled his Stakes last night a young woman was doing , something similar in half an hour you have all the things that happen in life the struggle of the victories the catastrophe everything they don't know what's going on because at the time nobody thinks it's possible little do they know they're about to get a massive shock . this is a story of a poor family that beat Vegas roulette it's early in the '90s and a smalltime . music producer radio host and film director is at a pivotal point in his life for many years he's worked extremely hard the money isn't great and the hours long in truth he's had enough he wants to get out of the business he wants a better life for his family he wants to get rich this is where . his recent Obsession comes in roulette after an exceptionally hard week he's there again in the casino Grand Madrid stood next to his favorite roulette will 16 it's the fourth time it's come up , he vaguely remembers it coming up last week too he Ponders for a moment is it really a coincidence . he wants to find out and he's desperate to make money so he starts to track the amount of times it . comes up in doing so he realizes that 24 just two spaces away from his Mark is also a regular result , he sits there for hours it's too good to be true by the end of the evening he's convinced there's , a huge opportunity here he just has to get to the bottom of it but how to crack the code Gonzalo . needs to gather data for his theory initially he thinks 3,000 spins will be enough so after . he finished his work for the following fortnite he sits in the casino Grand Madrid writing down . numbers at 5 hours at night it's intense stuff to lighten the load HE acquires help from his , children Ivan and Vanessa later after reviewing the data gonzalo's hunch appears to be right , the roulette will is biased for context roulette biases can appear for a multitude of reasons if a whe sees a lot of action the central rotor starts to warp and wobble if the wheel is tilted the roulette table is uneven or if the wheel's track is significantly worn from excess play all of , these things can cause certain numbers to come up more frequently typically one or two numbers . are affected on almost every roulette world as you might expect nothing in life is completely random and now Gonzalo plans to make the most of it thoughts of Financial Freedom Fast Cars . a flashy lifestyle and hanging out in Vegas all flash through his mind it's the get-rich quick , scheme he's always dreamt of quickly he recruits more family members to record roulette data now . they're tracking individual data for all of the roulette wheels in the casino Grand Madrid they , discover that different Wheels produce different biases not only does some favor certain numbers , but there are numbers that rarely come up these are the numbers to avoid if he assigns each , wheel a number with unique values he believes that he can create an effective way to beat the house creating a score system like this quite literally allows him to Value each individual , will he knows they must play harder and state bigger on the numbers with a highest expected . outcome it's basically math but the best part it's not cheating just like card counting he's , being smart and playing within the rules however there's a problem the casino isn't going to . like this one bit Gonzalo isn't phas though he isn't doing anything wrong and being a hard . worker that has paid his taxes all his life he believes in the system he just needs more data . to be absolutely sure of his Edge in gambling short-term variance often hides the bigger picture like all great gambling strategies gonz needs a very large sample of results to truly . measure his average Advantage accurately so this time he deploys the entire family their aim . to document and collect over 30,000 results for five or 6 hours a night six of the Poo family . sit by different roulette tables in the casino they're skeptical and they think he's crazy but , big money promises do the trick after two whole weeks they've done it the data set is complete , gonzalo's daughter is concerned though she's skeptical of the casin cino's reaction already , she suspects that the casino staff are watching them and his nephews agree but Gonzalo puts it . down to their age and forges on after all his strategy is going to make the millionaires , after sifting through the data he now knows exactly which roulette tables wheels and numbers , are best to bet on he's not messing around he'll run this operation like a business with five of the family members placing bets simultaneously he sets some ground rules one don't tell anybody their operation must Ain 100% secret two no risk taking no wasting money and no tips this is . business not a Leisure visit and three we only play roulette and only at bias Wheels nowhere else . with his family hitting the house he doesn't want any mistakes discipline is Paramount because money .
is scarce quite literally he can't afford to mess this up to finance his secret plan he's just sold , his biggest asset all of the rights to one of his documentaries previously considered to be best , work in today's money it puts the equivalent of $4,700 in the pot hopefully this will be enough to , see him through a bad run of short-term variants it's a long shot in itself so the team will start with small bets just to be safe as frustrating as this is it's very wise if they lose it hurts less . and if they win they won't draw much attention so finally after a lot of hard work armed with their , fine tune data and a year after gonzalo's initial experience they're in a position to play ball and win enter in Madrid's Premier Casino individually Gonzalo and his family believe they have a . 6% Advantage more than double the house Edge in theory they should be able to win money from , the casino at twice the speed it's usually lost European Roulette gives the house a 2.7% Edge over . the player because there's only one green number on the wheel the number zero betting rules are simple players can bet on an exact number where the payout is 35 to1 or they can bet a red or . black number will come up at even odds the poos aren't interested in betting red or black they're , here for the bias alone it means that most of the time they bet they'll lose however because of the bias the 35 to1 wins they hit will drastically outweigh the losses except things haven't started , well for the first two hours the numbers they've been betting on don't connect spin after spin . loss after loss their already small bank roll is disappearing fast as restar Gonzalo knows he . needs to be patient and then probability bites back dealing the team several high stakes wins in . a row despite the early losses their first serious night of roulette is a profitable one but Gonzalo . has no intention of leaving it there they go back every night that week gradually increasing their , bets each time the more they win the more they stake later it would be reported that they nearly . quadruple their money in that first month of play and in the second month their bottom line jumped more than 10 times times to a who in $100,000 for context that's the equivalent of $227,000 today . very quickly it become a large scale operation six poo family members are now at different . roulette wheels inside the casino Grand Madrid for six nights a week the more they play the more . they win and the bigger their bankroll gets so the more they can stake varium results are no longer . a problem they can absorb losing runs of bad luck if needed but ironically with mult MP players and , multiple Wheels the sample of bets is increased meaning that the chance of a losing streak is drastically reduced for around half a year the family are taking today's equivalent of $25,000 per month to them it's lifechanging designer watches cars and jewelry are starting to appear . but once more there's an issue the casino creers now know them very well they recognize them as . consistent winners who never show emotion or leave a tip their behavior makes them stand out for , the crowd I mean who doesn't celebrate a winner in Spain winners who experience Good Fortune are . expected to tip gonzalo's team complain is drawing unnecessary attention towards them but he won't have it this is business not keeping the casino staff happy no tips at the tables it creates . an awkward tension winning such large sums of money on a daily basis is frustrating for the low , paid crew peers it's seen as incredibly greedy and eventually word of the greedy players who keep winning at the roulette reaches management this is where the real problems start because . they now know why Casino profits are lower than usual Casino security are made aware and now . Gonzalo and his children are thrust into the spotlight the creers detest them management are , trying to work out their advantage and security staff are following them around they've even been tracked outside of the casino worse still gonzalo's nephews expensive habits are drawing attention like a red flag for all who are watching the casino Grand Madrid is down $500,000 to the poos they realize quite how serious this is getting when one of the casino staff makes an . unsettling comment about his former job clearly it's an attempt to intimidate them but it doesn't , work sensing their time's limited the team kick on and up the stakes it infuriates management so , Casino starts messing with the game when acupia spots one of the team they spin up the ball harder than before it's a massive own goal on the casinos half speeding up the ball actually helps the team , strike rate these Falls are accidentally smoothing out results and reducing short-term variance for Gonzalo and his team next the casino changed their strategy overnight they switched the roulette wheels between the tables although this makes it clear once again they haven't got a clue . about gonzalo's strategy ever since they began recording data the team identified each wheel . via unique marks that they carry switching the wheels doesn't make a difference it just means , that they play different numbers at different tables now however the casino are now tracking . which numbers they bet too seeing that their bets follow the wheels is a direct tip off for the casino the strategy is all about which will they're playing either way Casino bosses have had ,
enough the family is banned if Gonzalo or any of his team is seen in the casino the instruction , is to throw him out frustrated Gonzalo turns to the government's Regulatory Commission for , intervention and the judge rules in his favor while the court advocates for their participation . the casino's verbal agreement proves empty they continue to expel them without repercussions from . the court in Madrid the casino operates under the watch of the gaming police who frequented nightly and D there forging friendships with the casino management essentially safeguarding their interests ultimately the casino has got away of it yet Gonzalo is dismayed by the commission's in action towards those who blatantly disregard its directives he's been naive at 45 years old he believes the governing system is fair and open so far he's won around $1 million , adjusted for inflation that's about 2.2 now def finally Gonzalo enters the casino and begins to . play next security arrive he argues back cting the commission's ruling in his defense this , time things get a little bit more physical Gonzalo is ejected from the casino's front door it appears that they couldn't care less but the confrontational Spaniard isn't going to quit he . marches into the local government office once more and submit commits a further appeal success once , more they rule that he and his family should be able to play roulette in the casino however when he arrives he's horrified to see that the casino has totally changed the game new roulette wheels , new tables and in different positions they've deliberately messed with the original setup you . have to wonder who's the real cheat here stressed out a mly depressed Gonzalo acknowledges it's time to move on after all there's still big money to be made in Europe London and even Vegas a biased . will is a biased will wherever you are in the world first they Venture further into Europe where . they take Amsterdam's Casino for several hundred thousand it's shortlived though as many of the . European casinos communicate with one another once they catch on and communicate with Madrid . the game is up they have the magic formula but nowhere to use it roulette wheels are now being , changed and renewed on a regular basis plus some of the casinos are demanding ID before before . you play it's a real problem for the players as it marks their cards even quicker so it's time . to make the plunge and make their boldest move yet once more Gonzalo pulls together a smaller but . stealthy team this time they're making the 8,900 Mi trip to Sin City for 3 months except there's a . Twist American roulette is slightly different in that the house Edge is bigger and harder to beat , Vegas roulette wheels have more than one green number this seemingly small detail means that the . house Edge is 5.26% over players it means that Gonzalo and his family must only play the most biased Wheels if they're to win previously their advantage over European Roulette was around 6% so . it's not impossible but it will be more difficult and of course it's not the only problem they need to beat Vegas surveillance too in Vegas their security systems are better and much bigger however they've got experience on their side this time so they approach things differently firstly tipping will be allowed second they'll keep the stakes modest only increasing them towards the . end of their trip and thirdly as they identify bias Wheels they'll also make notes about Casino , star the plan is to blend in with all the other tourists without being noticed to do this they map , out all of the shift patterns for various Casino staff whilst hitting a bias wheel they will rotate , who's playing so that the creier doesn't realize the same person playing all the time plus they'll , disguise their accents to try and blend in the whole scheme is elaborately organized to avoid , being notied plus they will enter and leave the casino individually to avoid being linked , it's tougher than before but they soon find their stride several months into the visit they've . banked more than six figures with extremely biased Wills he wants to crank up the numbers before they , leave the team have been playing deep into the small hours spin after spin he's betting maximum . Stakes now despite feeling a little bit worn out 19 typical he's hit 19 several times now and he's . starting to feel frustrated but being how Gonzalo is like a dog with a bone he just can't stop 19 again suddenly his legs turned to jelly he doesn't know what's going on before he even realizes it . he bounces off the table collapsing on the floor Gonzalo shouts his daughter as several family , members run over they've just blown their cover now the casino staff they're together but what's happened the high stakes pressure of a night long binge in the casino has finally caught up with him the family fears he's had a heart attack although fortunately it later transpires that it was just exhaustion and stress after several years of beating the house and more than $1.5 million . in profit he's forced into his worst nightmare giving up rudette after all there's no point being the richest man in the graveyard right,