Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-20
ISFERENcEs OF DRAW POKER.
A Keen Discipline and skill in Forcing Oppo-
ponents TO Make False Inferences
New York SIM

ponents 70 Make False lnteFences.
New York sun.
''The intellectual part of draw
poker, - said a veteran player, sis
comprised in the wide range of calcula-
ton on the possible strength " your OPP
ponent hand based on the number of
cards that he draws. If, for instance,
he draws three cards, you know for
certainty that he cannot hold more than
pair. If you hold high pair youhaye
an equal chance of getting as good a
hand as his If you aise draw three cards.
But suppose your opponent draws
only two cards Then you are at liberty
TO infer that he has three of kind. Very
often he wishes you to infer that when he
has not got them A bold player who
opens n jackpot when he has only one
pair of jacks will often hold another card
and draw but two for the purpose OF
leading his opponent to infer that he has
three OF kind. Timid players are often
caught by this subterfuge. If your op-
Ronent draws one card you have the
choice of a variety Of differences. You
may infer that he is trying to fill
straight, or n flush, or full. The fact
may be That he had nothing at all in his
hand, and draws only one card for the
purpose Of leading you TO infer that he is
drawing to something. He may have two
pairs or he may have three of a kind and
he may wish you TO think he is drawing to
two pairs. It is easy to be misled by ap-
parently logical differences. For in
stance, / once knew player who, after
he had opened a jack pot, said, q wish
TO lay down one card face down and
draw another, and at the CONCLUSION of
the playing will show you the card lay
down paired with one in my hand, TO
prove that ] had enough TO open the
pot. The inference from this was OBJ
viously that he wished to break his par
Tor the purpose Of drawing to something
"A straight or a flush. This inference
naturally led the opponent to believe that |
be only had to combat the probability Of |
a flush or a straight being filled on the |
draw. The fact was that the man who |
laid down the card did not break a pair |
at all, but still held four of a kind in his |
hand, and adopted this method of lead |
ing his opponent TO believe that he was |
playing desperate game.
lone evening some gentlemen were |
playing when one of them said I ad- |
wise You all not 10 bet, as / have four of |
Il kind The fact was lie held four aces
One of the party said: If YOU will let |
me draw the queen of clubs / will bet |
against You The man with the four
aces jumped at the inference that his OPP
opnent proposed to bet on four queens
The fact was that the man who got the
queen filled a royal flush which knocks
four aces higher than kite. Indeed the
beauty of the game of draw poker con-
sistS in the opportunities for misleading
your opponent into making these false
differences. 1t is a common trick to get
a reputation for bluffing by a number Of
small losses, because if your opponent
thinks you are buffer he will bet against
You at the very time when you want him
10 bet. If you get the reputation of be-
ing cautious player, who never bets ex-
cepr ON good hand, your opponent will
be likely to keep down your winnings by
seeing your bets without raising In or
de. to induce them 10 bet you must lead
them TO infer that your hand is inferior
Bold players will often stand pat
and draw no cards, in order to lead their
opponents TO infer that they hold high
hands. But a good player viii not act
on such an Inference if he holds anything
II is a common play when the Jack pot is
opened for one of the players to come III
and stand pat on a moderate hand,
and raise the bet to the highest
limit when the man who opens the pot
draws boIee cards. The man with the
pat hand hopes that the opener, if he
does not fiji, win be frightened off, and
sometimes he will be if he has not the
nerve to reject such an inference. Ere
queHtly bold player, who has hard
luck viii recoUp even when he holds a
poor hand, 10y betting high and standing
pat IN the hope that the other players
viii infer that his luck has changed, and
that he would not risk further loss on a
bluff
1.-The differences Of poker depend
largely on the players knowledge of
each other peculiar manner of playing. |
To the onlooker it is often surprising TO
see how often players who know each
Jther well win guess at each others
hands, detect each other in blufiing, or
drop out with ii big hand on the shrewd
and accurate conclusion that some other
hand is bigger. Such players find it very
difficult TO deceive one another with false
differences; but even they are often de-
ceived by the arts which the intelligent.
neTvy and diplomatic poker player knows
SO well how to practice.