St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-17
OLD-TIME GAMBLING
The Game of Poker as Once
Played in Kansas
City.
An Ancient Rounder Tells Of
Big Games He Has
Seen.
a 1000 Freeze-Out With $40
Gold Pieces for
Chips.
How Sam Took in a Big Pot
on His Naked
Nerve.


playing INDUCED in now in now in
Kansas City?" asked q journal reporter
Last night of the Old-Timer, as they both
sat at the counter of an all-night restau-
rant eating their midnight lunch. A
shadow of regret for the good old times
when men were flush fitted over the
face of the Old-Timer. "Oh, no, my
boy" he said. "Times amt like they
used to be, when everything ran wide
open here and all the sports had money
and were willing to bet Oh the turn Of
card or the throw of die. The palm
fest days Of gambling in Kansas City
were just after the first railioad had
been completed here, and the town was
full of railroad men, stockmen, and peo-
pie fitting out for trip across the plains.
This was a gamblers paradise then,
and nothing was barred. | believe that
at one time l could have counted fifty
first-claSS poker and faro rooms in Kan
saS City, and plenty Of money in every
one of them. Now L don't believe
there is one game in Kansas City that
gets play enough to run all the time.
All OF the old regulars have either left
the town or else quit the business. All
the poker playing that is done now is in
these little snap games. when if a man
wins $40 Or $40 he is thought to have
made 4 big winning. Itain't because men
don't want to play. but because the
money amt here to play with any more.
The biggest patrons of the rooms in
Kansas City used to be the cattlemen
from Kansas and Texas, who always
came to town with pocket full of gold.
1t was the customary thing with stock
man as soon as he had disposed of his
cattle TO hunt poker game, and he gen
orally had no trouble in finding one as
big as he wanted. IL amt that way now,
though. Cattlemen are hard up. like
sports, and haven't got the money to
play poker.
Did you ever see a game of poker
where they used $50 gold pieces for
chips? No. didn't suppose you ever
had, and you never will again in Kansas
City very likely. l suppose sat in one
of the biggest poker games ever played
in Kansas City. and if you've got time
I'll tell you about it. 1t was in the fall
Of 1879. think, when q select party of
high rollers gathered in IS
room on Missouri avenue. There
but can't tell you the names, for two
of them-a distinguished lawyer and a
stockman-live here yet, and wouldn't
like to have their names made public.
Besides these two, there were MeXi-
can railroad contractor, Harper coun-
u. Kan. cattleman and myself.
There wasn's man in the
party who could not produce 500
COO in cash Oh fifteen minutes notice.
We started 10 play about IL o'clock
i'll the evening and played with
i1,r- fp1.FT1 nj = n,aInci- hn
morning. The railroad man was then
loser to the tune of $4,000 and both the
Cattlemen had lost in the neighborhoOd
OF $1,000 apiece. The lawyer and my
self were the only winners, and we were
ready to quit the game any time the
Others were. The railroad man had
enough Of 1t, but the Kansas stockman
was dead game and wanted
q chance to get even. He pro-
posed that each man should
take out 81 900 worth Of checks at $40
lost his checks he must buy another
81 900 worth to come in. We all agreed,
and when the proprietor of the room
wanted to know where the checks for
the rake-off were going to come
from, va agreed that for every
81 600 worth of checks he sold he
should retain one $50 check. giving
1orty-nine to the buyer. To give you
an idea of what the room got out of that
game need only tell you that $4,000
worth of checks were sold before the
game closed. One thousand dollars
didn't last long in that game. and we
finally got to betting $50 gold pieces
on the side. There was enough
gold stacked on that table to
start a small national bank.
We kept up that game until TO
O'Clock the next morning, with an oc-
caSional pause to eat q sandwich and
crack bottle of wine. 1t wound up,
finally, when the contractor and the
Harper county man got together on big
hands in a jackpot. The rail
road man had opened the pot
on aces up and in the draw
had caught his third ace. giving him
him a big full hand. The stoekman
had staid on three tours and had caught
the other one. They raised each other
At thousand a clip several times.
Then the contractor paused and counted
up the money that was in front of him.
He had $1,000. He heSitated moment,
then showed il all to the center. say
ing: Just bet you that and the stock
man saw the bet, laid down his fouTS.
and raked in the pot.
THAT breaks me- said the contract
or, without the culver of a muscle. He
had lost $4,000 since he sat down.
Il can tell you of another circum-
stance that occurred in poker game
mere, when there was big money in it,
that almost ended in a tragedy. The
affair was kept very quiet. and there are
not half a dozen people who ever heard
of it. Every sporting man who was
in Kansas City between 1870 and 1876
knows Sam -. one of the nervieSt
men who ever dealt card Sam was
always flush, always ready for game,
and you couldn't play them too high for
him. There was q pretty tough gang
hanging out in Kansas City about that
time, and the man who won at cards
had TO be pretty slick.
Zone night Sam got into stiff game
IN C--'s room on Main street. with
three of the slickest professional card
players in the West. 1t was give and
take there, every man expecting his
neighhor to rob him il he could. The
party played along for two or three
hours. and Sam was about 81, 900 ahead,
when big Jackpot came up. c., the
owner of the room, was in the game.
lie sat at Sans right, and the pot had
been sweetened several times when the
deal came TO him. Sam had the first
say. and sklnning out his cards discov-
cred that he had three queens to go.
lie didn't want to scare anybody out,
so he opened the pot with light
bet. To his great surprise, each
of the other three staid and
raised the betsuccesSively. Sam didn't
raise, but only Staid, Again each of the
others raised as it came to him. This
set Sam to studying. He knew the men
lie was playing with, and knew that
they had fixed trap for him. It didn't
take him minute to make up his mind
what TO do.
~ pass he said. laying down his
cards and at the same time whipping
outa brace of Smith & Nelson's. but I
think [ win the pot
Behind SANS back stood Buck -.
we'll known Kansan and a tough man.
Buck, said Sam, gather these chips
for me-
.Bmclz ral.ed everv checl, on thefahle