The 8/5 system is a simple little betting system used exclusively in roulette and mostly in Monaco by tourist ladies with purple hair. You bet on the same eight numbers consecutively for five times. However, if your number hits on the first spin, you drop that eight number group and pick another set of numbers.

For instance, if you're betting $1 on each number, then your total amount wagered is $8. If one of your numbers hits, you win $35, with a net gain of $27.

So, let's say you don't hit any of your numbers on the first spin, but you do on the second. Again, you end this 8-number group and tot up your winnings. At this point, with your total wager of $16, you win $35, with a net gain of $19.

With a hit on the third spin, against your total wager to date of $24; you win $35, with a net gain of $11. How do you like this slope? If you score on the fourth spin, the total wagered is $32, your winnings are $35, and your net gain is $3, price of an economy size pack of Bubble Gum.

And if you hit on the fifth spin, you are in for a total of $40, winning $35, and your net loss is $5. If none of your eight numbers hits over five spins, your net loss is $40. At this point you end your eight number group and think hard about your next move -- pick another set of numbers is what the system recommends.

Now if anyone in la la land thinks you can tar-and-feather the casino with this system, I'm thinkin' you are not putting any strain on your brain cells. Groups of eight or not, every spin is a random, independent event.

The ball has no memory and lacks the artificial intelligence necessary to remember which number, or groups of numbers appeared last. In addition, the 8/5 betting in no way disarms the 5.25% edge the casino holds on every number, on every spin.

Oh sure, with any such-n-such system you might be eating chicken glazed in truffles one day, but I promise you this, it will be feathers and droppings the next.