National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-08-14
THE STRONG POINT IN poKEl

HARVARD GRADUATE WHO is AsT0NlsH'
ING THE wEsT-BrG BETS LAID ON PooR
HANDS.
A year ago met n young man who
had come out west to grow up with the
country. He was graduate of Harvard
and had pleasant manners, but had evil
IDENTIFY left comfortable eastern home
with exaggerated notions of the west In
three weeks after his arrival he was
strapped and had all his best duds
pawned. / was somewhat interested in
his fate OF the time, but did not see him
again until few days ago. He had the
ear.marks of prosperity about him, and
was told later that he had graduated
from coal dealers clerk as crack
poker player and he had learned ii all
within few months. Some wonderful
stories we're told of this young fellows
nerve and it was said that he had
good fat bank account and
sat regularly in stockmen's game. The
tide in his fortune was turned by his grit
in playing two deuces in big game. He
had been drifting into gambling for some
time and knew great deal about deck
of cards. Three of the players had laid
down their hands after the draw, leaving
only two contestants. The hero of this
story had been winning and bet freely on
his hand. His opponent kept seeing
him and raising and finally, after the pot
had grown big enough TO be worth fight
ing for, raised him $4,000. The clerk in
the coal office put on his thinking cap.
He had two deuces unsupported and he
looked at them, then coolly eyed his an.
tagonst. This lasted two or three min.
utes and not facial muscle moved.
III call you, he said at last, throwing
his deuces down on the table. They
won the pot. The other mans hand
was not as good as ace high. am told
that this young Harvard graduate is one
of the best poker players hereabouts.
lie calls bluff instinctively. His luck
is charmed, and the Oldest and most
luck!ess players tremble when they 60
against him. The great art in poker is
to know when to call and when not to
call. With 800 in the pot and So bet
by his antagonist, | once saw the best
gambler in Missouri lay down three of a
kind. "Why did you not call him, il
would only have cost you sop said /.
"He had q better hand than did, and
would have been just So out" Men
are born gamblers, and it is this intuition
to call at the right time that makes them
successful. In a big game at hotel
here, not long ago, in which five or six
} friends took part, there was an exciting
illustration ofthis delirious sort Of doubt
Eycr- player had made good his ante
and aO.na of them had put in few hun
drcd dollars additional before dropping
} out. At length $40, 200 lay on the table
with two players fighting for it. stooc
: behind one of them. He had three
! queens, having drawn to them at thu
start. His opponent had drawn three
cards. The latter, Mt this juncture
} coolly announced n raise OF $4,000
The man with three queens was fairly
staggered His antagonist might be
, blulling. lie might have drawn to NJ
, ace and king and caught nothing, or he
might have caught another king aud tive
more aces, or he might have drawn to {
pair and caught full hand. Was HI
bluling? Tint was the question. Ate
. thinking the matter over lie did no
consider his queens worth that amount o
! money, go both hands went to the deck
and the man on the other side Of tn
table raked in the stakes. found on
0 aiterward that all this money was wol
!, on the following hand: Ace, jack, ten
/ and two skies. The three queens woul,
\ have won by large majority. -KdnSa
!, GIN Letter, Cincinnati Times.