St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-25
The Greatest Gamester in the
Country Says Gamblers
Are Fools. -
How Horse Racing Has Un-
favorably Affected the ii
Faro Banks. ID
Crooked Games Are Not Us
ually Encouraged by Pro- 3
fessionaI Gamblers. s
Square Gamblers and Their
Misunderstanding at the q
Clubs. 4

Clubs.
no
ssA professional gambler is fool; ii
he wasn't fool he wouldn't be gam
bIer.n
The speaker was Pat Sheedy. Now.
it will be universally admitted that ii
there is in this country one man more
than another who knows about gam
bling, that man is Sheedy. He is known
from New York to San Francisco, and
from New Orleans to Minneapolis, not
only as a square sporting man, whose
word would be, and often has been, ac-
cepted as quickly as spot cash
in any gambling house in the
United States, but as one of
the s'highest rollers" and most ter.
rife bettoTs in North America. The ire
mendouS winnings which he has made
at faro can be numbered by the score.
Many faro bank has been forced to
suspend business. having lost Its entire
capital to Sheedy in a nights play.
Whenever he enters gambling house
OH business the proprietors know that
there is strong likelihood that before
many hours their pet tiger will have had
his tail pulled out, and that they will be
obliged to turn over the dealing box
which is one way OF announcing tina
the bank is broken.
In appearance Sheedy might well be
taken for shrewd, quiet business man
by those not familiar with his looks,
and if dressed in gown and caSS0ck
might easily pass for priest. His
clothing, made by the most expensive
tailor in New York, is of the quietest
and most subdued pattern, while in his
speech and general address he'is quiet,
but forcibfe, unobtrusive, yet with a
certain magnetism which attracts men
and enforces their attention, for when
he speaks he always has something to
say.
Unpopular idea exists that gamblers
are smart or 'tiy1 men," continued
Sheedy. sPeeples see Pat Sheedy and
another gambler walking down the
street and say. tThere goes couple of
and -1y.., Nonsense. DO you see any
gamblers owning business blocks, large
buildings or other solid evidences of
prosperity? It's the suckers who own
them. The suckers are in reality the
shreWd and smart people. There's been
mighty few gamblers, no matter how
wealthy in their lifetime, who didn't
have to 5be buried e;by subscriptions
raised among their friends when they
died. Did they prove themselves SMART
men? No man is shrewd and clever
Who enters, and follows a pursuit In
which everything is against him-the
law, society, aud the hand of the rest of
mankind. : A gambler, of course, for-5
feitS all chances OF ever getting into
society. although there are many gam
IixyiYI 20 au w
Of an ornament to society than some of
those among its shining lights.
Real Gamblers Scarce.
81 have never met more than fifteen
gamblers in my life-all the others werea
'wodld-be's..'s As soon as they get a I
clean collar. diamond and mistress
thew. call themselves gamblers. Theme
their laIh bition is satisfied; they never
look higher than the roof of a house of
ill-repute. Lots of this sort of fellows
become gamblers through playing the
races and making books. Why, they
haven't the first idea of gambling,
Many such people who call themselves
sporting men were a short time ago
selling suspenders and jack-knives on
Broadway, but in the eyes of the gen.
eral public they are gamblers. These
gamblers are like a cork, they're light,
and need weights to hold them down.
Ninety nine out of every hundred OF
them are elevated to their positions;
they. used to be walters or door-mat
thieves. and now they think they're
full-fedged sports and know 1t all.
'.To show you the ignorance which
exists among large part of the uniniti-
ated public about gambling generally,
let me refer to the belief that all gam
blers are crooked, land that such thing
as a square game of faro does not exist.
That idea is the. greatest nonsense.
Does a wise man kill the goose that
lays the golden. egg? Do you suppose
that square gambler would counter
ance crooked game in his house for
the purpose of winning a few
hundred or even thousand dollars,
after which the nature OF the
game would become publicly known
to players, and they would avoid it as
they would a smallpox hospital, when,.
by conducting only an honest game, the
patronage of players can be retained for
an indefinite length of time? Why
should a. game be run crooked for few
weeks when by conducting it fairly the
patronage of players can be held for
years, and when, under the latter Cir
cumstances, even the profits are SO
tremendous. There is no legitimate
necessity for crooked work. Play
erS do not stop to think
what a great percentage is against
them. For instance, a man will sit
down to play faro with a capital OF 500
and try to win, say, 81, 900, and often
much more; or take correspondingly
smaller sums. Now, there he is trying
to increase his capital with ten chances
against him, even if he confines him
olxr RI 1aIa in
| stead of playing doubles, as we'll, where
he runs the chance of getting split
making the chances of his winning
more difficult still.
LAS far as New York is concerned,
there are no crooked games running
here, for two reasons, one being that
the square gamblers would quickly take
| means to have them closed up. we'll
| knowing how their existence would
hurt the business standing of the square
| games. while another and stronger rea-
| son is. that the. police won't let them
| run; and, for the matter Of that,
| the square games are mighty few
| in New York now. OF course,
bank is dealt in this city all the year
| round, for it will be on house
it is so difficult for players to gain ac-i
cess to game here now that the amount
of faro-bank playing is trif1ing. The
police department of this city, firmly
believe, is the best in the world
| Byrnes' men are the shrewdest and
| cleyerest lot Of detectives living, in my
| opinion, and they have the measure of
every gamblerin town. As soon as a.
| gambler shows up in New York they
| get on to his gait at once, particularly
| if he is crooked I
MY judgment is that gamuling shouIdj
be regulated by law, where it can be
| easily controlled, instead of driving it to
| Secluded places where the opportunity
for robbery is increased. Gambling does
| b,,,f - -