The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1891-06-25
ROYAL BACCARAT.
THE GAME PLAYED BY PRINCE
OF WALES.
What it is and How it is Played
Gambling in English High
Life-It Produces
Great Scandal.

Lllc-1J fuOuuceS
Great Scandal.
!. !. ]: !. !. ! ]. ] ] ] !. !. ].
E R Y much has
IN ~" been said recently
I'M MI about baccarat the
M IN game which has
tG,E N~W~- caused such scan
|. "a CM1N del in "high So
-A M ciety" in England,
- -3-A and in which the
ETST Prince OF Wales
=rTI(Cta has been placed
-er~-i<rL'H in a very unen-
81 M viable light as a
common gambler. That our readers
may understand what it is more fully
we publish the following from the
New York Press:
Baccarat is one of the simplest of
all games of chance and ranks on a
level with vingt- gt-et-un and rouge-et-
noir, which are conceded to be child
like in their simplicity. Yet in that
very simplicity rests the danger. A
novice at card playing, who can add
a few simple figures together, can COM
pete with the Oldest gambler who
haunts the card tables. The game is
pre-eminently an English one, being
played in all the gambling establish
ments OF the United Kingdom, and as
shown by the present scandal growing
out OF Sir Williams libel suit at MANY
quiet game among England's aris-
tocrats. 1t is also fayorte, but not
to such an extent, in the Partisan cafes.
At Monte Carlo the baccarat tables
are never deserted and the fascination
the game has upon those who once
engage in it has been the cause of
many suicide. At Tranby Croft the
select circle which engaged in it,
being so sure of one another's honesty,
did not take the trouble of procuring
a regulation green baize covered table
upon which to play, but simply placed
three small tables side by side and
covered them with paper. Had a
proper one been used Sir Williams
alleged cheating could not have been
carried On.
When a small party engages in the
play table three feet square is used.
At one end sits the dealer. In front
of him slit is cut into the table large
enough to allow of the passage of chips
into a drawer underneath. To the
right and left of the dealer sits the
players. Chalk lines are drawn on
the table from the dealers end on
both sides to the opposite end OF the
table, and several inches from the
edges where the players are sitting.
Chips representing the bets made by
the players are placed outside these
lines.
At Tranby Crof. the position of the
players was left to their choice, as it was
but ''a family party" Any number
of packs of cards are used, and the
game may be played by any number
Of people, all of whom bet against
the dealer. Outsiders are even at
liberty to bet on player against the
bank. The paste boards are dealt from
a box resembling in shape a faro box,
or the more familiar cigar box. This
is supposed to guard against any temp
tation on the part OF the banker to
"llft' or charge card which he would
ordinarily deal and which he knew
would be to his disadvantage to give
out. Figure cards-kings, queens
and knaves-count ten, the others
according to the spots on their faces.
The object of the players is to make
9, I9 or 29, when, if they hold such
a combination, they have what is called
"natural' hand. But two cards are
dealt out to each player by the dealer,
who, of course, serves himself last
Prior to the dealing bets are made
with chips purchased before the game.
1t may SO happen that in the first hand
a player gets face card and nine
spot. In that event he holds 'snatural'
hand and wins. He announces that
fact, and the banker pays all who hold
superior hands to his own, their stake
and an equal amount in addition, and
''rakes" in the stakes of all who hold
lower hand than his,
Frequently a player will "stand"
with cards counting eight, eighteen or
twenty-eight, and take the chances of
holding better hand than the dealer.
If he does he wins. If he is not satisfied
with his hand and believes that he
can better it, he is entitled to two
more cards. In doing so he risks ex-
ceedlng twenty-nine, in which case
he forfeits his stakes to the dealer. A
spectator standing behind a playsr's
chair and seeing that he has a good
chance of winning may place bet on
his hand, and the dealer is compelled
to accept it. In such an event the
better must not move around the table
until the play has been decided. This
would be manifestly unfair even under
the singularly elastic rules under which
the game was played at Tranby Croft,
At the opening of the game the
banker announces the limit of the
bank. Albert Edward ran one Of
f1oo, and in that now famous series
of games the stakes varied from five
to ten shillings. Gordon Cumming
proved himself to be somewhat of a
plunger, and frequently bet as high as
f15 and never less than IS. Another
feature of the game which seems to
have been INDUCED in by those brought
into such unpleasant notoriety was the
acceptance OF bet without the money
having been actually placed on the
table. That method of placing q