The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-01-02

Also His Bad Poker Playing, Likewise His
Presence of Mind.

AAc 1Ab a HOhcE ldyluEs LthcNtso hts
Presence of Mind.
baltimore Herald
Eyes, cir; that's the very same table on
which Mr.. Clay used to lose the greater part
of his Congressional salary. As / said, Clay
and Bright sat down TO play at 8 o'clock.
Now, Dick said Mr.. Clay, as the game be-
gan. understand / can not play later than
IL o'clock. ! promised to attend church at
AIexandria tomorrow morning, and I don't
want TO 60 there looking a. IL / had been up
all night
'The blind was half q dollar, ST to come
ID, and no limit to bets. In those days there
was no limit, 80 there generally is now. All
. man could demand was q sight for his
money. The cards were cut, and Clay got
the first deal. He was a noted card shufler.
He could hold his bands four feet apart and
fly the cards from one to the other without a
single card falling. His favorite style was
to mix the cards from the end and not from
the sides. holding a half deck in each hand,
flirting the ends with his thumbs, and mix
ing them into q perfect pack with one move
meIt. He usually dealt with one hand.
of the arm, his long, muscular fingers
enabling him to throw each card to
its proper place. But Clay was not q goou
poker player. Like most intellectual men,
he played for the excitement, not for gain,
and, as a rule, he was SO careless about his
bets that he came out loser. He had q
passion for big bets, and he rarely failed TO
stra6die the blind or raise the bet after the
game got fairly started. So, if the luck came
his way be would win heavily as long as it
lasted. But he was a great bluffer, and bet
high whether be had a card or not. The men
he played with found this out. OF course, and
be never came out Of q prolonged game with
out being fleeced.
For nearly two hours that night Clay
had overuthino hIa NUN Uav with RriOhf
If be didn't hold a king-fnll four times
hand-runniDg, followed by s jack-full, then
] hope L may be shot for lying. Bright
tried his best TO catch Clay in a bluff. but it
was no use, Clay came to the IRON every
time with q hand that nothing but fours
could phase. A 1870 Blight had lost
81, SEQ, and had borrosed $500 from John
Hancock. After that Clay's luck deserted
him and he failed to recognizs 1t. He CON-
tipued to bet as high on q pair. OF deuces
as be bad been betting on 81 ace full. BY
midnight he bad lost all bis winnings
and 81. coo besides-all the cash he had with
him.
az guess we'd better quit, said Bright, as
you want to 90 to church o-morrow.'
"'Oh, blow the church" replied Clay. DO
you suppose / wan to hear a man preach
right on top of losing 81 COO ut poker? Not
much. You just lend me $500, and let the
game go on
CO II kH1c ptOtrcOru, " . uotAASut
Clay WAS in debt to Bright to the amount of
81, SEQ, and that is the way it stood when
The game ended. 1 heard after ward from
Hancock hat Clay liquidsted that debt by
giving Bright a deed of $50 acres of Ken
lucky land, and transferring to him six
shares of stock in q Louisville bank.
'Clsy went to bis room that Sunday morn
ing, shortly after daylight. to go to bed. but
he took q sudden resolution 10 go TO Alex
andria anyhow, and Keep his church engage
ment. He went in the carriage of a friend.
Quite a crowd followed him when he went
out to get in tbs carriage. There 8 number
of people were presented to Mr.. Clay, among
them The rector Of the church. The story
was that while he was talking TO the reverend
gentleman Clay put his hand in hIs pocket to
pull out his handkerchief, ard in doing this
a pack of cards YVES suddenly spilled on the
ground. Clay was not the least absshed, but
deliberately gathered up the cards, replaced
them in his pocket, and remarked to the
minister and others who were standing there
that q friend had put the cards in his pocket
as s practical Joke