Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-04-25
BIG POKER GAMES.


The recent publication of story origin
ating in Philadelphia, about a game of |
poker in that city, in which the late rail |
road king, Tom Scott, lost $4,000, i'm
PEELED reporter, in conversation with a |
gentleman of sporting proclivities, whose
experience and memory constitute mine
of learning on the subject, to inquire
if games of this size were common.
''Not very" his fne-looking and perfectly
dressed companion replied. II have heard
a good many such stories. Nowadays,
however, people don't play for royal stakes
as they did years ago. Poker is played
more generally. though. It has taken a
hold on all classes. The beautiful game
ofnerve and skill is an amusement whose
fascination never grows less, but contin-
ually stronger. Gentlemen while away
| their leisure hours with it at the clubs and
small hotels. Smaller fellows of every
grade of society are quite as eager over it
even though their hazards may not reach
dollar. Among all the games that pack
of cards include, I consider poker leads.
| Success at it requires,a rare combination of
| qualities. There are players of all degrees
of skill, of course, but never saw a really
good poker player who wasn't a man of an
uncommon kind.
There for instance he continued, sis
an illustration of my statement" He
pointed to a tall, portly man, with gray
ish beard who passed the two, exchanging
mods of recognition with others right and
| left.
THAT man is one of the heaviest mer-
chants in Chicago, and a congressman
! also. He is successful in everything he
undertakes, and in every way is remark
able man. He plays game of poker that
is very hard to beat, and has introduced
many new points. Probably in the last
fifteen years he has won $150,000 at the
game. 1t is the fruit of genuine skill, not
luck"
Arresting the dissertation at this point,
the reporter repeated his question as to
heavy games.
|'Well," the sporting gentleman answered,
"as / said, Pve heard of large games, and
I've seen a few. The game in Newburg,
n. Y, last fall, in which the loser, Il for
get his name; he was young millionaire
dropped 100000 and paid it, was the
biggest. In the flush mining days in Cali
fornia, Ralston, Baldwin, Sharon and other
big men used to play for big pots. In their
game one night, prominent business
man, Hebrew, lost $4,000. Then, not
long ago, some railroad dictators played
in Philadelphia. One of them was cleaned
out of his ready cash early. They had
agreed to give no checks. So he staked
his hand. He lost that one
splendid engines are now drawing trains
in
t Wall street brokers stack up pretty high
and so do the Board of Trade fellows IL
Chicago, for that matter. In 8 friendly
boat at q hotel down town q week age
$4,000 changed hands between two corr
scaIpers in an hour. It's populaG notion
that members of the house and senate in
Washington play a great deal. They do
r but the stakes are not high; they haven't
, the money-at least not until they have
served more than one term, most of them
3 ''The palmy days of poker, so far as big
) money is concerned, were during the war
The officers and privates, in fact the whole
army devoted their hours of peace to its
warfare. The soldiers were paid only
few times a year. Many of them would
) get their money, lose it within day after
{ the paymaster had left the camp and theI
y go broke for three months. The bes
officers were, of course, the best players
Joe Hooker told President Lincoln tha
l no good general was poor poker player
When money became scarce they would
stake other things. They would put uI
their rations and personal property gained
2 in 'foraging.' I've seen the option of pc
culiar privileges in a pot in camp. The
right to the biggest find in the next house
they destroyed on their march, and so on
When lot of Confederate currency wai
captured the game was high. 1t was nc
rare thing for private to capture a bale
of it and bet $4,000 or $4,000 of it OF
his hand. It was worthless stuff, but i
made the game enlivening.
; II saw United States paymaster,' con
= tinued the narrator, "lose $4,000 in golC
. belonging to the government, in game
with a professional gambler, on Mlssis.
sippi river boat There was majority o.
Union men aboard, and the gambler haC
to give up his earnings, which were wor
q on the square. l remember the paymas
ter's white face when he saw his last golc
eagle disappear. He almost felt halter
: around his neck, for the penalty Tor breach
q of trust was pretty severe.
THE river Immediately before the war;
; the speaker continued, "was a great gam.
bling house. The splendid steamers ply
! ing between New Orleans and the North
, were loaded with men whose interest was
deep in games of chance. The planters
!, were the most reckless gamesters. They
seldom had any ready money, but would
lose their cotton and live stock and niggeIs
with equanimity. Invent down on the Belle
Key in 1859, from Memphis to New Or
leans. At Natchez a great planter got
aboard with fifty slaves. He Clipped into
{ game with Northern Judge, New York
merchant, and an army officer. The stakes
mounted up to fine roportions-some
, thing like $4,000 in one pot which saw
I the judge win. He held the best hand, and
before we reached the Crescent city owned
forty of the planters niggers, valued at
from 81 900 to 81 ,500 each.
!, ''But by all odds the most interesting
!, game ever saw was played on the Belle
Lamar, in 81. There were circumstances
connected with it which made it an all.
absorbing event to the few people who un.
derstood what it really meant. The play.
, ers were two only. They are both dead
, and probably all their descendants have
followed them to the grave, so 1 may men.
ton their names and tell you about the