Casino: The Famous Monte Carlo
The Societe des Bains de Mer et Cercle des Etrangers (the Sea Bathing Society and Circle of Foreigners) sounds more like a multi-national beach party than a gambling organization, but it is in fact the society which owns the Monte Carlo casino.
It was formed by Francois Blanc in 1863.
Francois and his twin brother Louis made money as stockbrokers in Bordeaux, but, as it was made through bribing telegraph workers, it earned them a spell in prison.
On their release they opened a casino in Luxembourg, and later operated one in the Bavarian state of Homburg. Meanwhile, an unsuccessful casino was operating in Monaco.
When in 1861, France annexed most of Monaco, what was left of the principality was more of a rock than a country and Prince Charles was forced to look to the casino as a principal source of revenue.
The French were persuaded to build a railway from the prospering resort of Nice, and Francois Blanc (his brother had died) was asked to take over the casino. Blanc went further; he began to build a town around the casino.
The town grew until it nearly was Monaco, and it was called Monte Carlo in honor of Prince Charles. Blanc was immediately successful. The new railway, the boom on the Riviera became a popular holiday area for rich Americans, as well as the European aristocracy.
Not to mention this adds Blanc's astuteness in cutting the casino's percentage and thereby increasing business, all contributed to undreamed of prosperity for Blanc, the casino, Monte Carlo and Prince Charles.
Although not a flamboyant gambler, he rarely missed a season for thirty years and brought social status to the casino.
The resort became fashionable as other rulers arrived--- Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Leopold II, Emperor Franz Josef and Czar Nicholas II among them. Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse, the great actresses, liked to gamble, the divine Sarah too much.
After one particularly distressing loss, she tried to commit suicide. If the resultant publicity spotlighted the dangers of the lure of the casino, the activities of Charles Wells in 1891 really hit the promotional jackpot and established Monte Carlo as the world's most famous casino.
Wells broke the bank at one of the roulette tables at that time. Each table started with a bank of 100,000 francs. Camille Blanc, the son of Francois, who had died in 1877, was by now running the casino, and he made the most of his misfortune by making sure Wells' feat became well-known, draping the table with black crepe.
Wells' astonishing run continued, and he broke the bank again and again. There was a speculation about Wells' system, but he later admitted that he head none, and that his win was extraordinary luck.
Wells lost all his money on a later expedition to Monte Carlo and was imprisoned for other people's money, too. He died a poor man, having provided the best publicity any casino ever had.