The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-03-25
POKER IN LONDON.
What Has Come Of Gen. Schanc1k's
Neat Little Book ON the Great
American Game.

Vanity Fair, February q.
Excitement of one sort or another il
an absolute necessity to those for whom
an unktnd Providence has provided on
" the dreary occupation of "killing
time" For them each day must have
'ts eliminating point; aud, satiated
with dinners, the play, concerts and
countless dances, the pleasure seeking
world has foundat last mighty panacea
IN the subtle mysteries Of poker.
For those who play only for the sake
| Of amusement no game could he better.
1t is far superior to Napoleon" which
an American friend Of mine once des-
cribed to me as 4 game Of ''brute f0rce;;"
for you either win or lose with each deal,
whereas in poker, unless you are ''ante,"
you can retire and hide your time. But
when It Is possible for any one player to
raise the ''ante" ut his pleasure 10 an in
definite amount, and then tie ''rise" al-
50 Is absolutely unlimited, then pOSer
becomes dangerous pastime. There
are few, perhaps, who know what u
pitch it has lately reached in several
London houses. II i 10 lonxera game;
it is serious business. Little poker
dinners" are now arranged almost night
~. The piOl.s prc:cnsc OF having q
low table aud = high" one is nearly
exploded. Those whose modest means
might induce them to play ut the former
are soon detected and are simply not
asked again; while the Plunger is be-
siegeC with invitations and tile thigh"
table is full t" overhowins. Everything
of course goes by comparison, and that
which might seem low ut 1.-THE Turf" is
high where ladies are concerned, and
there IRE always ladies' at poker parties.
1t Is just their presence which makes
poker 80 dangerous. They get more
excited than the men, and plunge more
desperately. One Interesting spinster
of my acquaintance, after winning E73
the other night, was 10 elated with her
success that she seriously talked of buy
Ong yearling and commencing active
operations on the turf! Reflection,
however, and subsequent losses have, /
am glad to say, somewhat damped the
ardOr Of her sporting proclivities.
How immensely the love Of play has
increased Of late may be judged from the
fact that only two years ago lady
whose poker parties are now famous, was
80 anxious that the game in her house
should never exceed the most modest
proportions that she positively forbade
anybody to bet more than ten shillings
at time yet now the sums won and
lost in a single night under the same
the last few months that the poker fever
has arrived at . really acute stage. Just
before Christmas q small party Of poker
ties who had already gained rcputa-
ton for unusually high stakes, sat down
to play enc evening ut ID o'clock. In
couple q: hours they had 50 f:.rcxcceded
their former efforts that it actually cost
. player ESQ to Ego in''-by which it
must be understood that before any
body was allowed to bet, which is really
the beginning and the essence Of the
game. the sum Of ESQ had to be placed in
the pool by each player. The result
was extraordinary from the fact that on
" ESQ changed hands when the party
broke up. I'm told by one who was
present that he was surprised The final
amount was 30 small, for ut o..e time be-
tween e., 900 and Es,OOO had been lost
and won. A peer with large family
must in these days be rich indeed If he
can afford the luxury Of younger son
who c0ntrives to lose 81 500 in one year
at poker; But such has lately been the
case. The youth in question Is only
lust of age and rcjoices in the handsome
annual allowance Of e3OO. Still lie plays
and to his credit be it said, still he
plays; but when the day Oi final reckon
ing comes, ~ come it must before long;
some wcll-known member Of the ''per-
secuted race'' will grun,ble, no doubt,
ut the meagre ID per cent. awarded him
in lieu Of his moderate l.O.
While the unlucky lose so much,
some one more fortunate and with u
better knowledge of the game must of
course win. Two thousand pounds Is
the modest sum which report places to
the credit Of one successful player during
the year of grace 1881. To pocket rs
large an amount rs the result Of post
prantliai poker during a twelvenlOnth
would naturally produce in the human
breast feeling of goodwill toward men
hut it is not ever, successful Plungcr
who subsequently goes out Of his way
to present his less fortunate opponents
with such handsome souvenirs Of the
fry rs pearl pins, jeweiled studs and
enamelled sleeve-links. There are many,
however, who rejoice ut this moment in
some such sparkling poker 'ne'nentos
from the great winner Of the past year.
TO General Sclenck, who less then
ten wears ago first brought poker to
England, and ut the request Of the late
Lazy Waldegrave wrote out the rules Of
the game, we are undoubtedly indebted
for the present gambling mania in pri-
vate life, which, rs We have already
shown, in doing such serious injury to
the poorer members Of society. surely
Il is D0esible to anlusc oneself after dim
ner without trying to ruin ones friends
or enrich oneself? Poker in mO(iera-
ton IS an excellent safety-valve no
doubt for aftcr-dinner excitement, but
carried to the length which it has lately
reached It becmOes . serious social
scandal. There are plenty Of gaming
clubs and to spare for those who choose
tn frequent them. In the meanwhile 1t
should not he possible to say that any
hostess can offer greater Inducements to
nlay in private house than those pro-
vided by the keeper Of public hell.
BOULDER CITY HoTE1
This n voPjte Hotel has oeen completely 1ovog.
hamlI.1 Ard lathed aud .pl0Stefod..