DONALD YOUNG, Le Flambeur

[KRAMER]

Dear Mr. Randi,

Pursuant to your paranormal challenge I submit the attached feat, along with the appropriate compliance suggestions plus what constitutes a positive or negative conclusion.

PARANORMAL FEAT

I can over come the 5.26% mathematical edge on a 00 roulette wheel test of 5,000 spins.

SUGGESTED PROOF GUIDELINES

Following are my suggestions for a test and what constitutes a positive or negative outcome:

1. A normal roulette wheel and balls as would be found in any casino will be used. All normal casino procedures will be followed.

2. I will bet on the layout just like in a casino with appropriate payouts. I may designate when to spin the ball with 90 second maximum.

3. I will start with 1,000 chips and if I run out of chips or have less than 1,000 chips after 5,000 spins -- I will have a negative result. If I have more than 1,000 chips -- I will have a positive result. Minimum bet one chip. Maximum bet 25 chips. Minimum plays -- 300 seperate bets.

4. I may observe the ball rolling in the wheel and may record the spins. I may not have any computer, electronic device, or communications apparatus.

I have severe emphysema and can not travel.

Appreciative for your considerations.

Donald N. Young

 

[KRAMER]

Dear Mr. Young,

Thank you for submitting a duly executed JREF Paranormal Challenge application.

Sadly, however, it seems that you misunderstand the nature of the Challenge.
If we were to offer a one million dollar reward to anyone who could beat the odds at a roulette wheel, I suspect we'd have awarded the prize many, many moons ago. Your claim is not a paranormal one.

If, however, you could tell us which numbers would come up when the wheel was spun, and do so successfuly with the required consistency, this WOULD be paranormal. Your claim, simply put, is that you wll be lucky on the day the test takes place, and that proves nothing of interest to us. People beat chance all the time. It's not a paranormal phenomenon.

As such, your application has been rejected. We wish you the very best.

KRAMER, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept.

 

[KRAMER]

Dear Mr. Kramer:

Most appreciative for your prompt reply. I guess the question is "where does luck end and paranormal begin". Concerning my proposal I would agree that a lucky person might win. Perhaps one person a year might win after 300 equal bets on a wheel.

Where does luck end? If I were to say I could win over 2500 plays and never increase the bet -- is that paranormal.? What about we add that I would beat equal segments on the way to 2500? What about we add that I would end up with an edge of 10% or more on each segment and 25% on the total. (under normal odds the casino has an 5.26% edge)

Certainly any casino odds expert or mathematical teacher on probability would say it is paranormal because if it were possible they wouldn't be casinos. Plus it's never happened. Casino and mathematical probability experts will tell you beating 2500 plays--with every play for the same amount --plus winning each individual 250 play segment--plus the 10%/25% edge-- would be equal to flying. (absolutely impossible)

Ask a few!!

With the increased interest in gambling throughout the world this project would capture the imagination of hundreds of millions. We would never be able to finish this project because of the time involved. I knew this and never intended to win the million --I would sign off on the possibility. I simply wanted to get to the preliminary and prove I could win. We could probably never finish the preliminary.

Most appreciative for your considerations.

Sincerely
Don Young

=========================================================

Hello Don,

I appreciate your response, as well as your acknowledgement that a test such as the one you've proposed would take up more time than the JREF has to offer, even if your claim WAS a paranormal one.

The JREF has no interest in gambling, or in capturing the imagination of gamblers around the world. We are involved in a very different set of activities than the one you have presumed us to be interested in. Please consult our website (www.randi.org) for a better understanding of the JREF's endeavors.

We're just curious about one thing, though; If this phenomenon you are claiming has "never happened", as you state in this email, how do you know that YOU can do it?

Just curious.

-Kramer, JREF Paranormal Claims Dept.

 

[KRAMER]

Dear Kramer:

Thanks for your time. You have explained perfectly and now I understand.

European casinos record the numbers from the main roulette wheel in each casino and print the results each month in a book called permanenzen. I have a disk with 1,900,000 casino spins taken from these permanenzen books. Several programmers from Austria and Israel have programmed in 80% of my procedures and run tests. I took these results and continued to run additional tests with American programmers. I manually complete the method.
After success I started gathering 00 wheel records and found the results were also good. I sell roulette systems over the net whereas I offer to perform actual tests for proof. I do not do well because I don't lie and my competition promises the moon.

It has been like a crossword puzzle. I contributed nothing to mankind so you might say it is wasted.

Again, thanks for your explanations.
Sincerely
Don Young