Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-07-25
CLEVER HOLD OUT DEVICES IN THE
POKER LINE
Raking in The Wealth Of a Country TOwn-StaP;
and SpringS-A Recent Case Where Eat-Em-
UD Thomas Came to Grief
Chicago Tribune.

| ing ntrOuuceu lntO INC CIuu, thCiS "
fleece the suckers who never suspect
they are playing against 'croSs-roader.' l
have known a card-sharper of good address
to start business in a country town and
Join church that he might be able in the
course of six months to get in with quiet
little game in which the best merchants OF
the town and several of the church deacons
were interested"
''Iow did he come out?"
ooh, he skinned the party out of cool
$4,000 in the course of few days, and then
he quietly disappeared, while the. losers
gave Hail Columbia to the unsuspecting
old duffer who had been the means of his
introduction to the party. At the same
| time the old man was innocent, for he had
been completely deceived by the gambler,
who was posing as a well-tO-dO merchant
with love for q quiet little game draw.
And very clever, 'sure-thing' man he
was, too.
Surprising you cnlighten ME little on
this 'sure-thing' business. How Is 1t
wOrked?'
There are any number of devices for
enabling clever man to win ut poker,
which is, of course, the tavOrite short card
game: but it has TO be Il clever man with
lots of nerve to play without detection In
party of poker lovers, among whom there
are usually at least two old heads who are
on the lookout for anything of crooked
nature"
"Am to understand that mechanical
devices arc used by these gentlemen to
whom you dclicatcly refer as 'sure-thing
men,"
Certainly. They are
KNOWN To THE PROFESSION As HOLD
OUTS
and there any number of forms in which
| they are made. Only the other day He
brew sport came to me and showed me
what | consider the most ingenious thing
! i'm this line / ever SAW. 1t consists of a
combination OF levers made of thin band
steel and terminating i'll an arrangement
! looking like pair Of SCISSOR handles, to
which is attached lattice work Of steel so
arranged thOt whe the handles are brought
| together the lattice work extends for twelve
or fifteen inches. 1t is a good deal like the
| laZv-sciSSOTS some ladies u3C, and very like
| the wooden toy sold on the street that may
lie elongated several feet, andiscarries, on
| the extreme end amOuSc. Well, this hold
out is adjusted with system OF straps, and
| is put on under ones clothes. The scissors
| like extension arrangement lies along the
] / l., 81 ,,.lila Tho lnn,r flax
| bic levels are made TO fit closely to the left
side of the body down to the thigh. Here
rubber hand is fixed to be placed about
the legs Spreading the knees slightly
acts through the levers to the extension
device, which is thrust down the sleeve,
and carries ut its lower end Il pair Of small
clips.
"Now surprising that the wearer of this
| is sitting in game and gets his hand on
any desirable card. lie spreads his legs
! slightly and down come the little clips:
| Into one OF these he cautiously tuckS the
desired cards, and then, letting his legs
move together, the arrangcmentdi disappears
with the cards mp his sleeve. Let us sup
pose that he has held out pair of kings.
Presently he gets a hand containing two
kings. He discards the other three cards
and calls for three in the draw When he
gets them he makes the clips appear, takes
| from them the kings he has been holding
out and puts in their place two of the
cards ne dTcw, which are pulled out of sight
up the sleeve Oh, it's a great scheme, |
tell YOU, and he will sell it dirt cheap
5000 cash. Why,
ICOULD MAKE $4,000
if were in that business now, but | ain't'
and here he sighed as hc let his fancy run
back over the days when he was in that
sort of thing.
What else is there in 'hOld-Out de-
vices" queried the reporter, us the old
sport ended his reyCrie with a snort
"Well, there's an arrangement on some
what the same principle as this one, that
works out from beneath the lapel of 4 vest
and is intended to he used in playing in
shirt sleeves. That is worked by pressure
on the sides with the elbows. Then there
is what is known rs the cuff hold-Out.
The operators wears large cuffs, the right
one being lined with soft material that pre-
vents the cards rustling Us they are slipped
up until wanted. ; The most daring man
| | ever, knew who used this style of hold
out was known as Cuff Simms. He had
more nerve than is usually allotted to card
players, and he made fortune out OF his
trickery which was promptly played inte
the bank-flrO, you know
'He used to work it slick continued
the veteran, rs his eyes sparklcd At the
recollection: ''he would always sit with his
chips TO his left, pretty well to one side.
He could hold his cards in his left hand,
which would careleSSly drop into his lap
Then lie would slide his right hand across
in front of him toward the pile of chips on
the left, and, rs he musingly remarked,
Well, | guess I'll go that about fifty bet
ter, he would rapidly and deXtrOusly eX-
change cards of low value from his hand
for those of a higher value that he had put
away in his cuff, and then he came pretty
ncarhOlding a winning hand. He always
had some one in with him at the table to
help him ont in case q new pack was sud-
denly called for In that case the confed-
crate would say to the man who called for
a new pack: Just let me look at them a
minute, and after running through he
would remark: Il would have filled that
time sure or something like that, and
then
THROW THE CARDS DOWN IN FRONT
of Simms, who would thus obtain the de-
sired opportunity to get rid of any he
might have been holding ont at that mo-
ment. He was a very neryy fellow, and
the entrance of n stranger into the game
never caused him to let up for q minute,
as one would expect q cautious man TO do
He worked it right along, and to this total
indifference and boldneSs much of his sue
cess was due"
'Are they ever caught at it?"
Sometimes, but not when they are real
clever. Then there is the bug by which
cards are held out under the edge of the
table, and some of the boys simply hold
out in their laps. Then, too, there are
any number of tricks for dealing oneself
desirable cards. 1t is a comparatively
easy matter to mark all the higher cards
with the nail, or with small steel point
carried under the nail of the first finger.
This marking will indicate the value of
the card, but the suit, and while practi
cally invisible to the average player, can
be read across the table by an expert