After every one has staked and "_rien ne va plus_" has been called, the croupier deals the first card face upwards, and continues dealing until the cards turned up exceed thirty pips in number, when he must announce the numbers from "trente-et-un" to "quarante." This top line of cards is black, and when it is less in number than the one which is dealt beneath black wins. Another line underneath is then dealt for _rouge_. When the two lines are equal in the number of pips--say thirty-six each--the dealer announces an _après_; thirty-one is the _refait_ when all stakes are _en prison_. When, however, a _refait_ has been dealt, a player may withdraw half his stake if he chooses, or move his money over from the red "prison" to the black "prison." In the case of another _refait_, the money is removed into another space, which is called the second prison. The odds against a _refait_ turning up are usually reckoned as 63 to 1. The bank is said, however, to expect it twice in three deals, and there are generally from twenty-nine to thirty-two coups in each deal. By paying one per cent players may insure their stake. A large white counter is placed by the croupier on or near the money insured, which is unaffected by the _refait_. There are high players, however, who consider it bad policy to insure, and prefer to run the risk of 31 being dealt in both lines. As a matter of fact, from a mathematical point of view, thirty-one is the number which the cards are most likely to make, as any one can easily prove for himself; the combinations formed by the numbers of the pips on the cards being more adapted to produce thirty-one than anything else. It is for this reason, no doubt, that the number in question was chosen for the _refait_, when the game first came into vogue. At trente-et-quarante, besides the even chances of _rouge_ and _noir_, there are also the even chances of _couleur gagne_ and _couleur perd_. The first card dealt determines _couleur_. If, for instance, it is red and _rouge_ (the bottom line) wins--_couleur gagne_--the croupier says, "_rouge gagne et la couleur_"; if it is black and _rouge_ wins--_couleur perd_--the croupier says, "_rouge gagne, couleur perd_." The prison, of course, applies to _couleur_ just as it does to _rouge_ and _noir_. At certain stated intervals, in the presence of a _sous-directeur_ or _chef de partie_, the used packs of cards from trente-et-quarante are carried to a furnace in sealed sacks and scrupulously burnt. A good many years ago the backs of the cards used at trente-et-quarante were plain white; at the present time, however, a slight design, the pattern of which varies daily, is upon them. The reason for the change was said to be that the plain backs once facilitated a fraud, which cost the authorities of the Casino many thousands of francs. The story is a curious one.