Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-09-23

Lack at Cards How Poker Hand Was changed.
t'And yet i must confess that ] am
believer In luck, pure and simple.
Certainly there's a difference between
luck and superstition, and youneedn't
smile, either: There's fool luck, and
drunken luck, and Chinese luck and
niger luck, and I've seen examples OF
every one at q faro table. ] must tell
you a little incident OF the latter that
occurred in Omaha several years ago.
/ had been in hard rows for some time
and opened up a little snap for the
benefit OF the coops down at old Dick
Curry's dive, opposite where the re-
publican building now stands. You
see ! wanted, by association,to change
my luck. had roll OF about $500,
and those Internal niggers won right
along, Until found something desper-
ate had to be done There was keen
eyed coon right at the end OF the
table, and as | shufiied the cards |
flashed jack just below the soda.
In less than n second every darky
round the table knew that jack was
the second card, and the manner in
which they piled up checks and cash
on the jack and coppered them was a
caution to white folks. Then it hap
pened, strangely enough, that the
third card was a jack, too, and /
didn't dare look up for FIVE minutes
after J had taken half their stuff on
that split Their eyes bunged out,
their teeth glistened, and it was only
regard for my personal safety that
kept me from rolling on the floor and
bowling The gang braced up the
next deal, however, but their luck
had been broken, and in half an hour
/ had every dollar in the room.
Those cooEs are a bad lot when things
are coming their way"
81 remember case of drunken
luck" Clipped in one OF tkefraternity,
that occurred IN room owned
by John Morrisseyj IN Harris.
burg, Pa. just after the close
of the war, the game being
without limit. One night great big
drover, with the smell OF cattle yards
boxing from every pore, came in,
brought a $50 stack and put it on the
jack Then he dropped his head en-
the table and went off in a drunken
sleep almost instantly. The jack won
through two deals, when the dealer
announced the game closed, shook the
drever up and paid him $12, 800. No
sober man, or probably drunken man
off hn nGin
ever have allowed his money to re-
main in that way"
al don't know much about faro, but
/ had n very peculiar experience in
poker-playing a couple OF years ago,
interiected a rising young attorney OF
Douglas county, who had joined the
party which had now reached the bar.
"When / first struck Omaha several
years before, | didn't know the jack
of diamonds from the ace of spades"
he continued, "but my associations
in the Gate City soon taught me the
difference and | became at once the
devotee OF every game ofcards played.
The one which most fascinated me,
however, was thegreat American game.
was making a nice little income from
ly at sittings we had i'll one OF the
private rooms Of a leading hotel.
Our game is USUALLY made up OF five,
two of whom were professionals and
one, ostensibly a business man from
the city, was really a capper. Every
Sunday morning | would leave the ho-
tel with an empty purse, having lost
from $50 to $40 during the night. |
don't think ever left that house but
once winner, and how that came
about is what will now tell, sat
in my usual hard luck that night UNI
til it was the capper's turn to deal.
When picked up my hand saw
that had six cards, all OF them dia-
monds. This hand must have been
the gift of providence, as by gettingrid
ofmy six-spot | could make n royal
flush, jack high. Everybody stayed,
even after the dealer had raised the
ante five dollars. | managed to shed
that six spot, stood pat -ot course,
and the dealer drew one card. chip
ped in SIC, the dealer raised my bet
S25, which saw and raised him $50,
he coming back With like amount.
After the pot had been swelled to over
S7O0 he called me and what do you
think he had-four aces-and started
to rake in the money when | showed
my flush. A more discounted man
you never saw. He had given himself
the hand he intended, but mine was
mistake. That was the first and last
time ever cheated at cards, and |
still play at irregular intervals. Iun-
derstand that the game at the hotel
still goes on, but my straight flush
was the last hand ever held around
that board Detroit Republican.