New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-11-15
POKER TALK.
A SCIENTIFIC DIVERSION.
(Ol,uriOht. 1888.

rule Of life said Bishop Butler but in poker propa
biltv is less concerned than III life assurance lor eA
ample: and there IS really no comparison 10 Oe
made between it and any other game OF cards. Inc
nro,ortion of luck 20 skill i'll winning at whist for
instance is almost exactly reversed III poker; the
cards are oute 10 ner centum of the game at whist.
but in poker they are not %. The most skiifui
PLAYER at whist has not % per centum advantage
over the most unsklful but ut poker he has nearer
10 70 per centum advantage. And character tells
almost as much in playing poker as skill. At its
highest poker approaches the experiment III pure
science; it IS study in comparative psychology.
know a gentleman who says he will allow no man
To marry his daughter until lac has tested his temper
and gained an insight into his character by playing
poker with him.
And this is the game which Mr. Richard A. Proc
tor speaking as one having authority ana wriths
in the pages of LORgmdn's Magazine, dcnounces with
a yebemence akin to vituperatlOn. Inc existence
and still more the fOurishing condition OF such a
game as poker, outside mere gambling denS' is one
of the most portentiOus phenomena oil American
civilization " Mr.. Proctor declares. because tnc
art which chiefly avals to help the gambler in play
ing this gano is nothing more nor less than that ART
Of which the enemy OF man is prOyerhaiy SAID to
lie the father
There need he no lying IN poker and no deceit
Tae essence OF lie is tho intent to deceive. Now, IN
noker there is no intent to deceive. there rs an effort
to conceal W hich is n very different thing. Even
the bluff which to Mr. Proctor is lneNprcssibIy
wicked is LOT an attempt to deceive, IL Is an attempt
10 drive the othor player oft the field, not by DC
ceiving him. bat 10y so raising the stakes that ne
will not think the chance of winning worth the
nr;ce il would cost In his later paper. ne intmates
that certain frank Americans told him that it he
ever attempted tho game he would be " eyerast-
inolx beaten" know that when his earlier PAL er
anneared there was wild longing on the part OF
every poker player met to face Mr.. Proctor across
the green cloth did what could to allay this i'll
tense desire for knew that such feeling was not
scientific.
Mr. Proctor is much exercised in his mind as to the
nosS,bil,ty of cheating at poker and apparently he
thinks that it is frequent. Just how much false
play there may be at poker no one can declare pre-
cisely All that one can say with certainty u.s. that
poker does not give any greater privileges to the
blackleg than any other game OF cards.
incline to the belief that poker gives
the cheat perhaps fewor chances than either
whist or Gcarte: there are generally more
PLAYERS. for one thing. and for another,
there is less to distract their attention from the
dealer But the opportunities for trickery ATE
abundant enough in any game We had best Dc
ware of any player whose luck is undnlypersiStcnt;
In course Of time the Atheuians tired OF hcarin.
Aristides ALWAYS called tho Just. However acttc-
able or liberal lac may be. refrain from playing with
him. fear the Greek even bearing gifts
The man who plays poker with the Joker
10. and who revcls in jaek-pots and who likcs
to start bucks. is heing quite as lost to
all sense Of shame as the who trunps his par
ner,s ace OF refuses 10 return his partners trump
Jack are most lntolcrabc aud not TO lac ell
dured because they are wholly contrary 10 the true
sairit of poker he principle of poke: IS the oicF
ing Of an opien at any moment: at every change III
the game a player has three courses open before
him-he may raise. he may call. he may pass our.
For this free-will the jackpot substitutes predeS-
nation the theory of the jackpot is that all tho
players must come IN again aud again until the pot
ia opened IL player is forced iuto tue hastIlc oil
a jackpot his liberty is restrained; and he canuot
rlay the true game of poker And when the JACK
not 10 opened there is little opportunity Tor
the fno points of play the victory is always to The
heavy battalons So We see that the JACKPOT IS an
uIoaical excroscence on poker; il is concession to
tue gambling spirit and substitution OF the brute
torce Of mere chance for the delicate lngenutcs vi
skill La its place the game of iaclpOts may be Il
good enough game for those who like 1t; but 1t Is
not poker and it has nothing to do with poker.
The buck is an illegal monstrOsity .tO.ho abhorred
Of all good men, 1t is twin to the jack pot 1t is to
be avoided for the same reasons, because ii is CO.
srcve and because it is gambling and IN the gent
inc game of pOkor. liberty and skill 20 hand III
hand No man who takes pleasure i'll tho sorry pas
time known as driving the bucks home" Is capa-
ble of understanding the beauties of poker. Ear
worse than he, however, is the man who plays
poker with the Joker III. A man who does that,
will do anything
OF the more obvious types of pokcr-players three
demand and deserve consideration. These arc the
thatterer. the silent man, and the coroner. The
thatterer is the player who is persistent IN talking,
who is gwen to the spinning of yarns. wiose tongue
runs Oh and rattcs along in the presence OF death OF
of four aces But the chattorer is not always bad
Dlayer: there is often method in his iIadhcss; and
now and again he Is not swept away ny the i'Ood OF
his own words. There may be Keen eye and Il
quick brain above tho rapid tongue ana not un-
freBuenty the chatterer has prtsccnce OF Inc best
time for passing out Tho silent man rarely opens
his month save to put cigar into IT; hc lets his
money talk for hun no is Away ready witn his
rhips; ho rarely bluffs. and he never shows his
hand unnecessarily or reveals cart IN II. More
frequently than not he IS winNcr. lie 9ileh taxes
piain soda or a glass OF sherry when Others accept
tho fragrant juIep Oh the seductive cOcAtalL When
conversation becomes general ana the game ildBs,
while the chattercr Is coming TO tie lot OF good
story, he Is wont to rap On the taOic impatlchtly
and 10 ask "Oh. let's play poker What are we
more for. anyhowY hen everybody comes I'll SC,
datcly and sOITOwfnlly ana 1t raises the ahlc ana
they stand the ralso and he stands pat with fall
The coroner is the player who insists ON hOding a
nost.,uorteIn over every departed hand. We are
Ield that talking over as the la hes call H. night
ing ones battles O'cr, IL one OF the boSt WAYS oil
learning whist; but in poker the habit OF hod ne
an inquest dead aud gone play Is insuiiorabie.
The coroner IS also given to cOngratdlatmg him
self on hypothetical victories on suPpOsltit0us
draws lis and anGs we're pots and pans he'd
always have the best If hands. When ho il the
dealer the coroner Proue T. look Mt the cards he
might have drawn had he como IN; thus lac gives
himself the 10Y Of winning many Barinecldo pots.
General Schenck held that tho main elnncnts OF
success IA the games are: good luck good cards
pIenfy OF cheek and good temper OF these good
luck IS by far the most important Go0d luck Is th'
prime requisite OF the good player. Now sood 'nch
cannot he acquired by taking thought; III IS con
genital The lucky man IS born 81, Tor no one eve
achieved luck or had luck thrust upon INN
have hoatd it asserted that the great
house of che Rothsciuld's never employs
an .unlucky man. 1t il not that they are super
stitivus; It Is that tney Keen enough
to see behind tho vulgar superstition a solid srcn