Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-06-23
A MEMORABLE GAME.
How Mr.. Weed Played Poker and Lost
Heavily,
From the New York Times


From the Nelc York Times
Ifthere Is any game that Mr.. Weed
can play better than he can play poker
he would do well to eonfine himself
to such game and to abstain from poker
forever. Nothing eau be clearer than
that he was never meant for poker
player. The purpose OF his creation is
undoubtedly mystery, and is univer-
sally recognized as such by all his ac-
quaintances; but though he may not
be able to imagine what he was made
for, he must by this time know that he
was not made to play poker.
There are two aspects in which MIR.
Weeds now celebrated game of poker
with DR.. Hedges and Mr.. Scott may be
regarded. The first of these Is what
We may call the scientific view. Mr..
Weed had q hand OF four aces, Mr..
Scott held a straight flush," and DR..
Hedges had a "full" which he had
dealt himself. Mr.. Weed, full of faith
in the efficacy of his aces, proceeded TO
bet as long as Mr.. Scott would "raise"
him. and thus the game went on until
a "calln was made and MIR. Scott seeur-
ed the nice little pot OF S45O, 900, of
which $4,000 represented the loss OF
Mr.. Weed.
Ii is not many years since the
straight flush" was introduced into the
game of poker and given the power to
beat four aces. The history of the de-
velopment of the straight flush" since
the date of its introduction affords a
curious instance of the way in which
nature supplies every demand that Is
made upon her. In 1856 a straight
flush" occurred once in every $4,000
hands, flour aces" occurring at the
same date once in every 1927 hands.
With the demand for straight flushes"
the frequency Uftheir appearance in
creased, until at the time of the famous
| transit of Venus when scientific par
ties were sent out by our government
to the end of the earth, the straight
flush" according so the excellent
| authority of Prof. Hardness, of the
| Naval Observatory, could be expected
! to appear once in every $1,000 hands
| in round numbers. In the very able
paper on poker, read at the meeting of
the American Scientific Association
| last August, ii was asserted that the
straight flush" had so greatly increas-
| ed i'm frequency that il was commonly
met once in every ,l47 hands, thus
being very nearly rs common as four
| aces.
These facts Mr. Weed ought to have
| known, for To sit down To gam.
without knowing them would have
been an incredible act of folly Now,
when he began to bet heavily on his
four aces, and found that no matter
how much he might bet, Mr.. Scott
wa. always ready to "raiSe' him, he
ought to have eOmprehended that the
latter gentleman held straight flush. ]"
The argument was a simple one.
Evidently Mr.. Scott had full confidence
i'm his hand, for no man continues to
bluff when $4,000 or 10000 is at
stake, and his adversary is ready to bet
TO any amount. The only hand which
could give him this full confidence was
a straight flush" for Mr.. Weed had
four aces, and ar the game did not take
place on the Mississippi River, there
was no reason 10 believe that Mr.. Scott
was relying upon hand of five more
aces. The chance that Mr.. Scott held
a straight flush" was greatly strength
ened by the fact that he had drawn
only one card. In those circumstances,
even a way-faring player, though he
lnlkLl ut u DAOlCSNAOhhcef "OAAN 80
known the character of Mr.. Scotts
hand lust as well rs if his cards had
been transparent. And yet Mr.. Weed,
with a faulty rarely equaled in the
annals of Democratic conventions,
went on betting on his miserable in
adequate four aces until he lost
Sl5O, COO. 49,.
In its practical aspect the game gives
4. 10 Ar MA 1hn
deal which was made by DIR. Hedges,
reflected great credit upon his skill and
Judgment. Some men endeayoring 20
earn an honest living by poker would
have dealt much more suspicious
hands. DIR. Hedges dealt Mr.. Scott a
straight flush" with king high."
This was an act of great self-restraint;:
Most men in DR.. Hedges place would
have given Mr.. Scotia straight flush,
with an ''aee high" and given Mr..
Weed q ''straigh flush," head ID by a
king, with the expectation that the
latter would bet his very last dollar on
his hand. But DIR. Hedges knew bet
ter. With the instinct of thorough
artist he would not overdo the matter
i'm hand. He dealt Mr.. Scott a hand
which he knew would be good enough
without the gaudy COMMUNICATION OF
an ace, and he gave Mr.. Weed poorer,
but vet an eminently seductive, hand.
What Mr.. Weed ought to have done,
on discovering that he had lost the
"pot," was to claim that he was not
pisying "straights"-that "strItghts"
should not be counted except by spe-
cial agreement, but that, with view
to harmony, he would accept $1,000
nom Mr.Scott and call it square. The
wretched man, of course, did not think
of this. He was as ignorant OF the
WAYS of Hedges and Scott as he was OF
the cardinal principles of poker, He
actually paid SS5, 900 to his antagonists
before Il occurred to him that there was
ANYTHING suspicious about the game;
and that DIR. Hedges was too bold and
original dealer forany discreet man to
play with.
Mr.. Weed ought to study mumble-te
neg. 1t is beautiful game, and just
suited to his abilities. 1t is also an
economical game, and, even II he
were to play it with Mr.. Scott
and DIR, Hedges, he could not
loose anything except one or TWO
front teeth.