Joseph Jagger

Joseph Hobson Jagger (2 September 1830 – 25 April 1892) was an English textile industry businessman from Yorkshire, who in around 1881 is said to have "broken the bank at Monte Carlo" by identifying and exploiting biases in the wheels of the roulette tables there. He used his winnings to buy property in Bradford. In 2018 he was the subject of a biography by his great-great niece Anne Fletcher.

Early life and family Joseph Jagger was born at Cock Hill, Shelf, Yorkshire

Monte Carlo In the 1871 census, Jagger was described as a "piece worker".

After studying the tables at the Casino de Monte-Carlo for a month to determine which numbers came up most frequently he began to place successful bets. Jagger is reputed to have won over 2 million francs over several days, the equivalent of £80,000 at the time and, according to The Times, worth £7.5 million in 2018. The expression "breaking the bank" is used when a gambler wins more money than the reserve held at that particular table in the casino. At the start of each day, every table was funded with a cash reserve of 100,000 francs – known as "the bank". If this reserve was insufficient to pay the winnings, play at that table was suspended while extra funds were brought out from the casino's vaults. In a ceremony devised by François Blanc, the original owner of the casino, a black cloth was laid over the table in question, and the successful player was said to have broken the bank. After an interval the table re-opened and play continued.

Death and legacy

Jagger died on 25 April 1892, He was buried in the family grave at the Methodist Bethel Chapel in Shelf, Halifax.

He is incorrectly described by Brewers as the inspiration for Fred Gilbert's song "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo", however, the song is thought to have actually been written about the gambler and fraudster Charles Wells. He is the subject of a biography by his great-great niece Anne Fletcher titled From the Mill to Monte Carlo: The Working-Class Englishman Who Beat the Monaco Casino and Changed Gambling Forever, published by Amberley in 2018.