The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-07-04
LONDON CLUBS.
How Gambling Is Made'0 Bualness Of 81
/ These Places.

These Places.
One who has evidently acquired con-
siderable knowledge of club gambling
and card sharping from rueful expert
ence writes: To listen to the CONVERSE
don of 3 gambler you would
think no never won. This
be the kind of thing: Eyes,
bust my luck, here I am losing again;
but it serves me right, for / swore after
my loss on Tuesday night I'd never
touch card again. It's simply too
awfuli I mover win Other fellows
have turn Of bad luck, and then the
tickle goddess shines on themi but
with me never. Upon my honor, last
year I lost more than six thousand
pounds; dare say you won't believe it,
but did,
Then, to any one replying, "Oh!
come now, I heard of your winning
aast night two or three hundred" he
will reioin, "By jove! 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 be-
fore. do win sometimes, / admit;
but it is invariably when I'm playing
for comparatively nothing; when l
have piled up the agony and am play
ing fairly high, I lose.
That is pretty faithful report Of the
usual conversation of professional
gambler. There is one man of this
sort whose income, to my certain
knowledge, is exactly two thousand
pounds year; and he has q fine house,
carriages, horses-everything simply
perfect. He entertains magnif-
Gently, lives at the rate of four
teen thousand pounds q year and has
no debts. How does he do itP The
reply is, this man-who wishes you to
believe he is SO desperately unlucky-
is card player. He will begin play
ing ecarte pony a game. and pony
on the rub-not a bad stake for an in
come of two thousand pounds year!
Later on he will get into big figures; it
will be a hundred pounds game and a
hundred pounds the rub; and then the
best out of three games for thou, and
we STOP" Lastly 1t 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 announces that
he must go home early; his wife is i'll,
and he has promised to be home soon.
If he is winner at two 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 q chance, he replies:
moi really can't tonight; I'll give
you your revenge any other night, old
fellow; but tonight must go home.
warned you before we began that
win or lose must stop, as my wife il
ILL.,"
All this looks straight enough; but is
It SOP No. For If at two clock this
man is loser he not only sticks ON till
he has got back his losings. but waits
till he has put on few hundreds tc
the good. It may be thought this game
could only be played few times.
myself have seen it successfully per
formed fifty times.
Quite the prince of sharpers is 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 fifty
thousand pounds sterling at the least.
He is assisted by more or less attrac-
tive wife, and it was chiefly through
falling in love with her that one poor
fellow, some five years ago, lost more
than five thousand pounds 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 three thousand pounds year.
His wife has an income of a few hun
dreds, 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 Le Boulevard,
GU Bias and similar papers. He has
made various paying trips to gambling
places abroad, where when he has
picked up men who won at the tables,
his wife would invite them in ''to sup
per and smokes" and then he and his
eonfederates skinned them.-St. James
Gazette.