The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-01-05
CAPRIcIoUs MISS FORTUNE.
The Great Majority of Gamblers are
Unfortunate

Unfortunate.
"The caprices of chance or fortune, which
ever you may call it, are singular, to saw
the least" remarked well-known gambler
to Denver Ne,oS man, in recounting his
many ups and downs at roulette, faro.
poker and various other games. ''Not long
ago | made nice little winning at faro.
and was cashing my checks, when rather
seedy-looklng fellow, with a gaunt, hungry
face, asked me to give him 25 cents. I
didn't know him from a crow, but having
won out pretty well, tossed him white
check and told him to go and make win
nlng, what do you suppose that duck
didf He cashed the check, took the quar-
ter, strobe over to the tub dice game. placed
it on the six rattle and won $45 the first
turn of the wheel, Give me the money ~
he exclaimed, and away he went to get the
first square meal he had probably eaten in a
week. He might have made that same
play hundred times again and lost every
bot, but some people can fall into the river
and they'll come up with fish In both
hands,
That reminds me, said another knight
OF the cloth, ''of an incident that came nm
der my observation last week at a gambling
house on Sixteenth street.. A fly tender
foot from the East, who, it is said had won
wheel and asked the dealer the limit ON the
| colors
the reply.
"'All right; there's SIS, OOo,' said the snort
putting ten $500 bills on the black. tJuss
MP the ball and see what she'll do coolly
chirruped the fellow
The dealer, who had picked the ball out
OF the pockets, stayed his hand. He looked
at the money, sized up the player to see if he
was bluf1ng and had cable tied to it, and
] seeing the fellow meant business and had a
big wad left, wilted and refused to roll. Nv
this time fifty people had gathered around
the table, those on the outside craninp
their necks oyer the shoulders of those in
front OF the daring stranger, who, with the
utmost sang trOjd, drew a cigar from his
pocket, asked the dealer for a match. cara
lessly scratched it on his pants, lighted the
cigar and looking impatiently at the dealer.
| remarked:
| GO ahead; win or lose. Give US a roll
and SEQ what my luck is to-day
The dealer still refused to turn, and the
fellow was about to take up his money and
| leave when the proprietor came over and
after little meditation told the dealer to
| roll the ball and he would pay tie bet if he
lost. The little ivory ball was sent spin
nlng around, and after making ten or twelye
| circuits struck the pockets, skipped over
the metal edges, and finally after bobbine
hrst into one and then another, dropped in
three in the odd red. The house had won
| the money. The stranger shook the game.
bought 81 200 worth of chips and tackled
| faro with Indifferent SUCCESS.
| Another well-known gambler borrowed
$lOO OF friend, and sat in game of faro on
| Holiday street. Before / o'clock he had
won 81, 400, broke the bank, and would have
won the proprietor and dealer had they not
closed up and jumped the game. Two DAYS
later this same gambler didn't have a dol
iar, but the following night he borrowed
$50 and won So, 100."
THE funniest play ever witnessed came
up the other night" Clipped in a third par
| W. "A young fellow whose appearance
was suggestive of railroad fireman or
brakeman bought $40 worth of chips and
tackled the wheel. In half hour he had
lost 500. He was considerably discouraged.
ana was about to leave when he turned to
the dealer and said: You can beat me for
| 50 on the colors. He had so cents worth of
| chips left from previous deals, and, throw
| ing vedollar gold piece on the red, he
straddled the double and single Os with the
chips in order to protect himself against
the percentage. The ball went spinning
around and had made several
| the gold piece to the single
Q and transferred the chips to the red. In
the ten seconds the ball dropped and
caught the single o. He lost SO cents in
chips and won $l75 off tho S.. He exer-
cised whole lot of sense then, for he cashed
in and got away with the money!"
However," soliloquized the sport, gam
bling don't pay. In the instances stated the
parties won by scratch, but fifty others
lost These rare winnings remind me of
the freaks of fortune in the gold mines of
California. Everybody had heard
of the Floods, O'Briens, Mackeys,
and few more fortunates.
but the world never stopped to think
of the thousands upon thousands who lost.
Most Of the money which supports the ten
or fifteen gambling houses in Denver is won
from poor laborers, who take $40 or SIS.
the earnings of a whole week, and try to win
fortune. The amount they draw is not
enough to protect them. They simply play
their money against the thousands Of the
bank, and they ars bound to lose in the end.
Occasionally some fellow makes a winning.
but, If he stays long enough, il will break
him. The only ones who make money out
Of gambling are the proprietors of the
houses. 1t is a costly amusement for the
players. They rustic around for week or
month, earn $15 or S75. as the case may be,
and lose it. They may as well march up
and hand it over to the dealer, for he is sure
to gobble it in few hours"
Writing with the Left Hand
From the Chicago Times.