Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1885-05-02
LONDON CLUB GAMBLING.
Sharp Practices Which May BE Duplicated
on This Side of the Atlantic
ISt. James Gazette. ]

81 James GuEette.
One who has evidently acquired CON
siderable knowledge of club gambling
and card sharping from rueful expert
ence writes: To listen to the converse
ton Of gambler you would think he
never won. This is the kind of thing:
Eyes, Just my luck here | am losing
again. but it serves me right, for /
swore after my loss on Tuesday night
I'd nayer touch card again. It's sim
ply too awful. | never will Other fell
lows have turn of bad luck and then
the tickle goddess shines on them; but
with me, never. Upon my honor, last
year lost more than 5000 pounds ster-
ling; | dare say you won't believe it,
but did.
Then, to any one replying, "Ohl come
now, | heard OF your winning last night
two Or three hundre )" he will reioin
"By Joye it's too bad. Of course that's
got all over the place. Yes, certainly,
did win that; but of course you never
heard of my losing eleven hundred only
three nights before. do win some
times, / admit, but it is invariably when
I'm playing for comparatively nothing;
when have piled up the agony and am
playing fairly high, | lose.
That is pretty faithful report of the
usual conversation of professional
gambler There is one man of this sort
whose income, to my knowledge, is
1900 pounds sterling.a year; and he has
a fine house, carriage, horses-every-
thing simply perfect. He entertains
magnifcently, lives at the rate of quite
1900 pounds sterling year, and he
has no debts How does he do it,
The reply is this man - who
wishes you to believe he's so des-
perately unlucky-is a card player. He
will begin playing ecarte pony game,
and a pony on the rub not bad stake
for an income of 2, 900 pounds sterling a
year, Later on he will get into big
figures; 1t will be 100 pounds sterling
. game and 100 pounds sterling the rub,
and then the best out of three games
for thou, and we stop" Lastly it is
double or quits, and he rises winner
on the night of some thousands. This
man has, too, splendid zero. 1t is
this. Early in the evening he an
nounces that he must go home early;
his wife is i'll, and he has promised to
be home soon If he is a winner at 3
O'Clock he rises looks at his watch, is
astounded to see the hour-he must go
at once. If the loser wishes him to
remain on and give him chance, he
replies, mo, | really can't tonight;
I'll give you your revenge any other
night, old fellow; but tonight | must
60 home. warned you before we
began that win or lose must stop, as
my wife is ILL.,"
All this looks straight enough; but is
it so' No. For if at o'clock this
man is loser he not only sticks on till
he has got back his loSngs, but waits
till he has put on few hundreds to the
good. 1t may be thought this game
could only be played few times. l
myself have seen it successfully per-
formed fifty times.
Quite the prince of sharpers is a man
who has been at the work for about
fifteen years, and is past master in
the art. He is a member of lots of
clubs, and / have heard it computed
that he must have landed over so, 900
pounds sterling at least. He is as
sisted by more or less attractive wife,
and it was chiefly through fall
ing in love with her that one
poor fellow, some five years ago, lost
more than 5000 pounds sterling at
ecarte at one sitting at his rooms at
Brighton. The lucky winner of this
sum began with no income at all; and
yet up to the time he married he lived
at the rate of quite 5000 pounds
sterling year. His wife has an in,
come of a few hundreds, and he now
manages to live quite en- millionaire
At Paris he is well known; his wife'S
arrival and her dresses are described in
LIE Boulevard, Gil Bias and similar
papers. He has made various paying
trips to gambling places abroad, where
when he has picked up men who won a
the tables, his wife would invite then
in 'to supper and smoke" and he ant
his confederates skinned them.