The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-03-25

| reporter. as he mot Confidence SAM" the
bunko man. pufflng q cigar and deity shut
| aing pack Of enamelled cardboards.
What do think OF cards. heigh 2" respond
cd the bunko man. You want my opinion Of
these here little charmers do you7 Well I'll
| tell you. Cards are an outgrowth OF civiliza-
ton. absolutely indispensable TO q gentlemsn's
l outfit Why. blow my eyes. young follow. there
are more ways OF playing the cards. nowadays.
| and especially In this here Bowery than the
inventor OF the pasteboard playthings ever
dreamed Of. But It's when they are unfolded ~
Q bait for the countryman's cash. that they are
| displayed in all their mysterious power. Illus
trailing. as II were. the perfection OF human In
genuity on the one hnndl and the inability Of
human eyesight or 'intellectito follow or COM
prehcnd tho operations OF q gamblers fingers
on the other"
=" For instance 2" said the reporter interroga-
| lively. cutting short Sans glowing euogy Of
his professional implements. We'll. for In
stance. take three-card monte" replied the
sharper. us he slipped out three pasteboards to
illustrate. That's a regular frst-class. tip
top example Now. who do you suppose could
ever hope to get the best OF the three little
| iokers that We professionals exhibit to the
hayseeds who come In here from the country 2"
Where's the secret? How do you work tho
monte business anyway asked the reporter.
why let Us buppoSo tuht you uIe SALT.
Hezekiah Hayseed. with n flush pocketbook.
and we find 1t out by the handshaker and
steerer. and get you into .the bunko Joint
| told you about You're new-found friend the
capper' has won Some money for you. and
I'm the player and take the cards thus
Sam held queen Of spades In his LEFT hand:
nHe Tho other Rs eard trey re-"
| q DIAMONDS and the ten spot Of clubs. He held
his nal and held NV tho Sappnt Joint NJ
his thumb and the third joint of his fingers.
| The ten-spot card rested about an inch below
them he threw the single card ia his left hand
after 1t. Then he varied the proceeding by first
sbbs'ng down card frS ron, the hand that held
that the cards seemed to fly rather than be
thrown from his hand. and crossed each other
In the air in their descent to.the counter like
Now for the, trick" cried Sam. You SEQ
shHs N ,SS nut hs trey Of aa
Inc queen = spades ! hold i@st below i. a;
| and throw for your money. See there goes the
ten, spot and there goes the trey. Pick it up
The reporter who, had kept his eye fastened
on the hand which held the two cards. and felt
was the queen Of spades. The trey still ro-
sa7 %sssa hs sys ers% Sam with
yonr eyes that's A. Result, See rake in Hay;
she thSs % lie n can't d sc over %Gy
down the bottom card. as I seemed to. simply
ioosened the hold on the card above and let
i Seco@es matter Of impossibiIty to follow
ss ar f 9nSf us ne b be- it ted
Of the trey of diamonds first. instead. and keep
the changes going q number Of times before
an U expeTt Would be ' 50 mSddea I he s;ouidst
| TO make the thing still nrer we let the cap
per'-iiaysecds friend. YOU know,mark the
G sd w the nIt the
it drops il isn't the trey Mt ALL o.; you lust now
viii follow the marked card instinctively when
pick them up to shuttle them, when he has
human nature gets left every time when it
is that it all seems SO rcrfecty fair and square,
worked right before the fellows blooming eyes"
peker ASK asEe sit The rercre S'"e' 10 pA'
,oPok9ri Poker may be 20. good enough for
| Ing can double discount poker as II skin
game. 1t don't produce such glarng. cloar
as day -give-nway H. tour aces king full.
hand. Oh no! Wo have too much respect for
| even q greenhorn's common sense to expect
by more chance. We give him credit for some
| insight and consequently we ring in game on
him that gives the marked cards some show to
| be played without being detected"
What's the game you speak Of ?"
| Euchre. All! see you're rather surprised.
And am not surprised you're surprised. But.
| take my word for it, even SO simple and appa-
rently honest household game as euchre can
Pasteboards used in the game. Just look at
Well. YOU'RE mistaken. You see, for example.
that instead OF being cut perfectly traight
se at esa H pSch
cut with the bottom of the cards narrower
than the top. and the other half with the
effect when / draw the pack through my hand
to separate the cards. Presto! I have al the
and diamonds In tho other. That is ono I'D
vantage gained. tho possession Of which is
BACKS OF tho to You can't see any
thing. you say: No, Of course you can't; Put
81 Sa to SSGu anosr dot dot here nr
| space on this queen OF clubs. and. 80 on
through, the pack show YOU dots in AL Kinds 9d
have pretty BIZ meaning It is that can teli
simply siancing at the dots on the back. and b3y
cutting the cards can get at the seemingly
q DIAMOND ade or q club; or heart; Thus
get my ds4t friend haysssd to play
with the seven and eight spots added, sayey1"
| Yes. understand, but how Is 1t played"
| We'll. again for the sake of illustration We
will suppose that you are Hayseed from the
country. Well. having been greeted by the
handsiaker and given away your name. and
having then been recognized by. myself as
steerer. you find yourself in the bunko Joint
While | am waiting for the packages. which
President smith OF your native town, propose
e game OF euchre, You play, at home with
| gage in game. All right. ! call for n pack Of
cards; and receive this pack from tho barten-
atingly suggest. BY the way. Zeke.' famiiiarly
| abbreyating your front name. you observe
BY the way, Zeke. suppose we play tho game
| What is that =
You just take out the Joker and add the
| seven and cght-spot cards to the euchre deck.
| The matter Is not clear to you yet. and you nat
urally inquire why eight cards should be added.
| give you more soft soap in reply. Oh l as
sert. that Is done because the Joker is big card
lowance for 1t by counting it fully a. good AS
two trumps Wed play with it in. II we were
only playing for fun. but New York boys play
for money very often. and they don't want an y