The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-04-27
ALL THE TOWN GAMBLING.
TyfE POkER. PLAYING Epidemic TAKES
IN THE WOMEN TOO

IN THE WOMEN TOO.
| Green Tables IN snux H."uss Round Madison
Square Matching for ricLied Pigs Feet
| Isroker and Bootbinck Gar RoWiettc.
| There is craze for gambling In New York
! lust ut present which has not before bocn
! eauolled In the history Of tho city. Tho on
cias say that II Ia tho direct result OF closing
| tho public gambling houses. The men who
wore formerly content to play faro. bnccarat.
or roulette once or twice month have been
| debarred from this amusement by the suspcn.
sion OF the gambling houses. and in order to
| crafty their tastes they have organized 'auict
| little games" among themselves.
Poker playing in New York to- day Is actually
an endemic. No dinner pnrty Is considered
complete unless u little draw" follows 1t. and
every boarding house In town has Its little CO.
terio Of players. Wherever half dozen young
men get together. the suggestion to indulge in
a little ganio IL eusily seconded. and the game
is speedily begun.
Professional gamblers are not idle. They
have taken to the business OF keeping poker
rooms Thore arc probably twenty establish
ments within radius OF half u mile OF Madison
square whore poker playing con DO INDUCED In
with every accessory at u moderate cost. These
rooms are all OF the same general character.
Sometimes whole house IL devoted to poker
playing. Ono establishment In Twenty-hrst
street has q well-stocked wine cellar an
elaborate kitchen. and Is run good deal on
the Same principle ~ u first cass hotel. Tho
rooms are let on u percentage; that Is. q small
chip is dropped through holo In the table into
n box below for every pot played. In return for
this the players have oil the attendants they
want. an elaborate luncheon at o'clock. and
plenty Of vino. Occasionally. to crafty a fow
friends who can DO trusted. the proprietor will
1nal n 1ittla IN On ha ton Npn Of ha
Very many restaurants find It lucrative to
furnish three or four rooms on the top floors OF
their houses with green tnbles and armc hairs.
They charge from 81 to 81 n night for the priv
ilege OF these rooms. and make good deal OF
money for the bar by supplying the drink Be-
a h?os S
streets and Sixth avenue which do u regular
business Of letting poker rooms for 50 night:
They usually charge dollar for PACK OF
cards and so conts night for tho use OF un-
| limited chips.
As u rule. ..pnes of small limit are played.
Ten dollars limit Is by no means rs frequent
as So. and dollar limit usually finds enthu;
popularity Of poker has been to Ak the rules Of
| the game Livery ono now plays 'straights
sm anS tsG sn sa Sft
tnboood. aud man will play high hand for
Women poker PLAYERS have increased In num-
Der very rapidly OF lato. II is quite customary
for ladies' u. indulge in draw poker but it Is
chary of paying when outsiders are present:
Asa RUG they ALWAYS play for amusement. and
ment will thus probably be less than $40 tor an
evening sitting. even If the luck runs very hard
&YG Gr them ,n hrrS are ieT women in New
Of them lack judgment, and arc too fond of
6niline ever to make skiful players. In the
first place. IT seems impossible for woman to
remember for two minutes what the ante il.
Again. they can never remember when II is their
turn, and you can meyer learn their game.
IulS. | SunDDsN.' said gambler, with
perrlnNed frown.. is because they really have
no game. Very fcw people know that do i
The sriencc Of Eok"r and has Watched he game
vcrs. havn come to the conclusion that tho
wonnn's game is because she hasn't any game.
At one limo she vii bet two pairs higher than
and you can never tell what she is drawing to.
OF course. these are advantages in one way, but
they ar" only ndvantnG"s when worked by a
not the ability. as rule. to play poker skiiully."
:. Are they paying faro much now"
40: Ditccarat is the rage. 1t can DO played
without tools. and it is as fair to the player AS
any ether table game that was ever invented.
There are no splits' in favor Of the bank. Very
many gentlemen deal buccalrat in their own
houses; They sell the bank for 800 or so. have
without rlskin. much money. Up town in the
clubs the bank sells very often for Thousand
dollars. and the play is still But on the whole
This propensity to gamble is seen in many
different parts. OF tha city. Az almost any ros-
tee a little quiet gnmbiinG going on at all hours
IN the day. Last FRIDAY night M Demonicos
there MGTe no less than !, two groups of men who
| done very quietly and unostentatiously; but
| the fun went ON Just the same. At ono table
| ed. overfed. and red-faced club men, who had
been dining together. After dinner tho cloth
was removed. and they sar, smoking heavily.
with their chins on their breasts and their hands
in their pockets. Two friends strolied in. One
WS Gr1kE , anI the rh ,her Wa Iawn %eEnowa
sides Of the table. drank some brandy together,
and fhntttd Iansuidiy TOR few minutrs. Ihen
| pulled silver dollar ont OF his pocket. and Ms
he leaned Comfortably over the taG1e. began TO
for II moment with stolih inditlerence. Iis
would place the coin on tho edge and hold i
hand then he would strike it With the index
finger Of his right hand and then try to stop it
while IT was spinning by putting his iorniaEar
! He did this twice. and sncceeded both times in
s,opplns il before it tlorLed oyer on tho side.
His friend across tho table had been watching
Bis.a he said. lazily. ''betcher $40 you
III taks you.n, said Billy" calmly. and
r e n,y YOU SGnin for s25 he said yakins
tempt. Tho other one nodded his head nHily.
, and BiI,y; very much to his own satisfaction.
linn fl5 ahead Of his friend. Thea tie two
| friends who had Just arrived leaned over and
made an outside bet q $40 that Billy would
her once moro. Just to show tho perfect condi-
tion OF his nerve for s25 His friend hcsitatod
tow minutes. snid that $40 would suit bin.
they started in quietly Mt IS spin. aud kept ut
| II during ths whole evening.
a another tabs near Tie door Of tho ,lcf,
| side OF the cafe Eat three young men who had
! Just eaton an elaborate dinner. One was Il lit
| tle dude who wore blue goggles, u high hat. n
| light top cont and several rings: lie smoked
cigarettes constantly, and was In mn advanced
cocktail and two glasses of sherry. They had
eaten very heartily and were smoking comfort
ABLY when tho waiter presented thu, .chc'k.
| soy" ga.ped tho little dude. let's match
| for the blOOmin' dinner"
| His two companions who looked like well to-
do men Of the world. SIN led careessy and drew