The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1886-04-16
A POPULAR PAsTTME.
How a western Member OF COncrs -
Won on the sSDead Mans KlRne-'

TEeF n Western Mem Der OF COncrs-
Won on the sSDead VI ms Eane-'
There Is a man." said a well-known
Congressional attache, to a Western mem
Der. .swho has won $40, OO0 at poker in q
few weeks. II he keeps on In good luck
he win have over 100000 in a little
while and when he goes home his con-
stituents win say he has been bribed. He
came here worth nothing and, Of course,
when he Cets back. buys fine house, and
begins to drive fast horses, II viii
look suspicious. But I happen 10 know
that DE- won his money nj poker. I was
present az game Iu "a Senator's house
one night and saw him win 50, ,OOe
uu one huud. IL was the dead mans hand
What j the dead mans HANDY Why, u
II three jacks and a pair oi tens. II Is
called the dead mans hand because about
forty years ago in q town in Illinois,
celebrated Judge bet hfs house and lot on
three jHcks and a palr Of tens. II was the
last piece OF property ne had in the world
When his opponent showed up he hadthree
queens and pair OF tens Upon seeing
the queens the judge fell back dead,
clutohing the jacks and tens in his hand,
and thut's why jack-fun on tens is called
the dead mans hand. Well l saw the
member we are talking about now win
$1,000 on this hand. There were six
gentlemen playing and all were in, and
and ali had big hands One had a nine
aces, another three kings, and another
seyen-fuu, 1t was a $40 ante and $50 to
come in; but the first man straddled the
blind, making it forty dollars TO come
in As all took cards, there were $240
in the pot to begin with. The
first man bet 500. The man to his left
simply called it, but the next man raised
it $500. This put the bet TO $500, and the
next man called it. When it got to the
Western member, who dealt he raised it
to 81 600 This scared everybody out
except another Western man, q diStln-
guished railroad lawyer. The lawyer saw
the Congressman's $1,000 and went $1,000
better stopping to take check book from
his coat-pOcket and draw a sight draft
for the amount The Congressman saw
this and went 81, 500 better. The lawyer
then began to think He looked at the
Congressman sharply and long, studying
his countenauce to see If he could form an
idea of the hand he sat upon. Then he
fell to studying his own hand and to rub
bing his forehead in a meditative way.
Then he laid his cards down, coOlly took
out his cheCk-bOok, wrote a check for
81, 500 and called the Congressman. The
Congressman held the dead mans hand
and the lawyer three mines and pair OF
skies. Subtracting the $40 he had put
into the blind and the bets be had made
himself, there was exactly SO, 100 in the
winnings on that hand. Did the game
90 ony Oh! yes; but the railroad lawyer
had a very dry cough the balance of the
evening, and his apparent melancholy had
a depressing effect Oh the balance of the
company. So, after an hour, or there
abouts, the game broke up. This railroad
lawyer, who Is exceedingly wel-knOWn
West and East went TO New York the
next day. and l afterward heard that he
lost $2O,OOO one night at poker in room
in the Hoffman House"
A Southern Congressman was credited
during the 18th Congress with winning
enough money at poker TO pay of a $50, 600
mortgage with interest on his plantation,
and to replace his old mules, plows, wag-
ons and farm implements generally with
new ones. He would not play except at
unlimited games, and he played with IA
dash and boldness that dismayed his Oppo-
nents. Luck attended him until the very
shank end OF the session. Finally it
turned but too late for the losers to get
much OF their money back. The South
! erner went home 500, 600 better of than he
came. The next session 1t was the other
way. The Southernor hunted up the same
old set and for fey days played with his
! magical luck. Then uuEIud fortune began
TO vOuchsafe to him only small pairs
which he could never strengthen by q
/ draw, or eyasperating DuJCn rulls or tam
/ Ia4lAiLS DODttlI lluSiieS' % tiie 9outHeTIlti
/ took to blufHng, and IN time ran up
! against a successive series Of three aces,
king-fuus, fOurs-Of-a-kind, straight fiushes
and the IKE with disastrous results To
save his life he couldn't make small pair
/ evolute into threes and to -four hearts he
/ invariably drew an off-suit, like a decep-
/ tive diamond or ANONYMOUS and gTuesome
spade. So he continued to bluff and to
get caught Now there is another mort
/ gage on his plantation. In the old Slavery
days. when n Southern Congressman
/ wanted to raise q poker stake he would
/ sell Niger" but now he must sell few
mules or mortgage his plantation and, OF
7 course, the latter is much the simplest
: