Morning journal and courier., 1882-03-15
Poker in London.
What Has Come of General schsnek.s Neat Little Book on the Great American

l Game
 l From Vanity FzirI
 | Excitement of one sort or another Is an l absolute necessity to those for whom an un-
 kind Providence has provided only the dreary | occupation of killing time."- For them l each day must have it's eliminating point ::
 and, satiated with dinners, the play, concerts I and countless dances, the plessure-seeking world has found at last mighty panacea in the subtle mysteries Of poker.
 For those who play only for the sake of amusement no game could be better. It is ! far superior to Napoleon" which an Ameri- can friend of mine once described to me as 8 game of brute force ;'' for you either win or lose with each deal, whereas in poker, un- less you are ''ante, you can retire and bide your time. But when it is possible for any one player to raise the ''ante'' al his pleasure
 to an indefinite amount, and when the 'trise''
 also is absolutely unlimited then poker be- comes dangerous pastime. There are few,
 perhaps, who know what pitch it has lately reached in several London houses. It is no longer a game; it is a serious business
 Little poker dinners" are now arranged al-
 most nightly The pious pretense of having How" table and high one is nearly ex- ploded. Those whose modest means might induce them to play at the former are soon detected and are simply not asked again; while the Plunger is besieged with invitations and the ''high" table is full to overfowing Everything of course goes by comparison, and that which might seem low at ''The Turf is high where ladies are concerned, and there are always ladies at poker parties It is just their presence which makes poker so dangerous They get more excited than the men, and plunge more desperately. One interesting spinster of my acquaintance, sf> ter winning e73 the other night, was so elated with her success that she seriously talked of buying yearling andIcommencing active operations on the turf! Reflection, however, and subsequent losses have, am glad to say, somewhat damped the ardor of her sporting proclvities.
 How immensely the love of play has in- creased of late may be judged from the fact that only two years ago lady whose poker parties are now famous was so anxious that the game in her house should never exceed the most modest proportions that she posi- lively forbade anybody to bet more than ten shillings at time; yet now. the sums won and lost in single night under the same roof are appalling. But it is only during the last few months that the poker fever has arrived at a really acute stage. Just before Christ a small party of pokerites, who had ai- ready gained reputation for unusually high stakes, sat down to play one evening at 10 o'clock. In couple of hours they had so far exceeded their former efforts that it act ually cost player $50 to ''go in''-by which
 
 was allowed to bet, which is really the beginning and the essence of the game, the sum of e5O had to be placed in the pool by each player. The result was extra ordinary from the fact that only eJGO changed hands when the party broke up. I am told by one who was present that he was surprised the final amount was so small, for at one time between @, OGO and q, ,OOO had been lost and won 4 peer with large fam fly must in these days be rich indeed if he can afford the luxury of a younger son who contrives to lose q. 500 in one year at poker. But such has lately been the case. The youth in question IS only just of age and rejOices in the handsome annual allowance of e.}OO. Still he plays-and, to his credit be 1t said, still he pays but when the day of final reckoning comes, as come it must before long, some well known member of the ''Persecu.ed race" will grumble, no doubt at the meagre 10 per cent awarded him in lieu of his moderate 15O.
 While the unlucky lose so much some one more fortunate and with better knowledge of the game must of course win Two thou sand pounds Is the modest sum which report places to tue credit of one successful player during the year of grace 1SSI. To pocket so large an amount as the result of pos.prandiAl poker during twelvemonth would natural ly produce in the human breast feeling Of goodwill towards men but it is not every suCCeSSIul IIuDS5r WHO suDse4 4leullF goes out of his way to present his less fortunate opponents with such handsome souvenirs of the fray as pearl pins, jswelled studs and en- amelled sleeve-links. There are many, how ever, who rejoice at this moment in some such sparkling poker mementos from the great winner of the past year.
 To General Sehenok, who less than ten years ago first brought poker to England, and at the request of the late Lady Walde- grave wrote out the rules of the game, we are undoubtedly indebted for the present gambling mania in private life, which, ss we have already shown, Is doing such serious in- jury to the poorer members of society. Sure ly it is possible to amuse oneself after din ner without trying to ruin one's friends or enrich oneself: Poker in moderation is an excellent safety-valve no doubt for after-din- ner excitement, but carried to the length which it has latterly reached it becomes 8 serious social scandal. There are plenty of gaming clubs and to spare for those who choose to frequent them. In the meanwhile it should not be possible to say that any host ess can offer greater inducements to play in private house than those provided by the keeper of public hell.