St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-26
AT POKER.
How a Fifty-Thousand-Doilar
Business Block Came in
the Pot.
A Valuable Silver Mine Wins
Out on Three Modest Lit
tie DeueeS.
Something About Players
Who Carried Their Nerve
Along With Them.
A Santa Fee Merchant Puts Up
All His Stock in Trade on
Good Hand.

HCle dIS SlOlfcS VI lIt tIldil MilO utlU
four kings and of the man who came
back at him with aces. Kings and aces
are the leading features of the poker
tOry-tellerS' repertoire, but, as a Den
yer expert at this sort of thing SAID re-
Gently, there is more downright devil
ment in a small hand than in aces out
of two packs"
There have been some good poker
hands held in Colorado, but very few of
the phenomenal sort. 1.-Two pair" have
created wide spread CONSERVATION On
several occasions.
Poker is a Colorado game. 1t is only
eXcelled in popularity by that favOrite
of the mining camp, faro, but those
who play poker do not always play faro,
and 10 these there is nothing like a
''Quiet little ante up stairS.''
The amount of stakes has cut a
greater figure in poker games in the
Centennial state than the hand held.
There are instances ranging from the
man who bet his sleeve buttons to the
man vino put up his mine, and all OF
these occurred.
Played Poker for Building.
Down on Sixteenth street, at the
southwest conner OF Blake. there now
stands tw0-stOry brick business block,
bearing some evidence of the flight of
time, yet still sound and solid, and capa-
bic of use for years. In 1870 part of the
ground floor of this building was used
by the First National bank. and another
part by Wolfe LOndOner as grocery
store. Overhead were Offices, and iii
one of these offices there occurred one
evening in April OF that year poker
game. The owner of the building sat
at this game, and opposite him was q
then prominent Denver man. Both
were prominent in fact. for one held a
high executive Office i'll the territory at
the time.
There were five at this game origi-
nally, but somehow it dwindled down
to two, and at 1880 at night a large
amount of money had changed hands,
and things were going bad for the
owner of the building. There was no
+ limit, His opponent had been going
him" for quite a time. and he was
about at the end of the rope. There
were already four bank checks up, but
the owner of the block, believing he
had good thing. wanted to know if
his building wasn't worth $4,000, and
was informed that it was. ThereupOn
he made written agreement to sign it
over, and the game went on. He lost
said, as consequence, and the only re-
cOvery he made from the person who
won it was at another sitting at poker
the following night, when he came out
$4,000 ahead. OF course none OF the
hands held in this memorable game are
on record now. but it is known that
neither were remarkable.
Betting a Mime on Three Deuces.
This instance Is paralleled by one
that comes from Leadville, credited
with having occurred there i'm the win
ter of 1882 This game. whiOh occurred
in one of the rooms of the Clarendon no.
tel. was participated in by two gentle
men who are still residents of Colorado
and who ale now wealthy. They had
a little money at that time and a mine
in which they held an equal interest.
The money was not much, perhaps, as
fortunes 20 nowadays, but it was enough
to make poker game exciting.
And 1T was exciting.
Finally each got hand which they
evidently proposed to stay with, and ev-
erything went up-mOney, two gold
watches and the Indispensable bank
checks. 1t was only a matter of time
when they would get TO the mine. FL
nally there was quite pause.
Charlie?"
'How much is the mine worth?''
Your interest about $4,000;
guessn"
''Pve got that and raise you.''
So the other interest went in.
CHARLES" winning hand showed three
deuceS. three and four. His VISA
Wis held two kings, two aces and three.
neither Of them sensational hands, yet
considered good enough to hold out,
with mine atstake. This mine is now
producing ore valued at about as much
per month as the entire property was
worth at the time of the poker game.
Infinite Variety.
In poker game played in Denver one
July day in 1884 there were four dia-
mond rings, two watches, So, OO0in money,
two pairs of handsome and costly
sleeve buttons and a number of scarf
pins. In this game sat an ex-governor.
a well-knOwn Smelter man, an Eastern
congressman and California miner
who was stopping in the city. The man
from the East scooped in the pot and
won bv straight"
Six thousand dollars worth of gold in
nuggets were won by a lucky poker
player in Denver in 1871. They came
from Clear Greek county, and were
brought here for the purpose of being
pldCcu III q Udllh- IL WAS STRICTLY
miners game, with all sorts of bluffing,
and it lasted all night, with the result
that the man who had the nuggets did
not place them in the bank, for the rea-
| son that he had too much confidence in
| paralvZing hand, in which three tens
were conspicuous. while his opponent
had something worth photographing-
three jacks, two mines.
Put Up His Merchandise Store.
In Santa Fe, n NJ. there is record
of prominent business man giving a
bill of sale for his stock of dry goods,
groceries, ETC., amounting to $4,000.
This bill of sale went into little, quiet
game. played as long ago as 1864, was
not lost, for the reason that no one
could show up anything eXcelling a
king full, which the merchant consid-
cred a good thing to cling 10.
A rather singular poker game was one
played in Denver about two years ago,
and one which is remembered by a num-
Der of prominent people who witnessed
| il. There were five sitting in the game,
! and all staid in. One gentleman drew
one card, another two cards and the
three others three apiece. The man
who drew three cards raised, and was
| followed until there was $4,000 at stake
on the game. The first gentleman, it
loP'ANNs hoo ming OSNubil VI
bluff Oh two pairs, while the man who
had drawn two cards laid down all ace
full, and those who had drawn three
each laid down, in turn, four queens,
four tens and four jacks. 1t is said that
this is the only instance of the kind
where cards run in such way in Colo
RADIO. The game was played at the
Windsor. and there was railroad
man, an ex-mayor, lawyer and two
prominent business men in it.
How He Disposed of His Steers.
An amusing instance is reported hav-
ing occurred on a stock train coming
from point in New Mexico to Colo
RADIO. A large shipment of steers was
being made to this point, and the own
ers Of the cattle travelled in a caboose.
They were four of them.
Now, there Is only one natural result