The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-04

ThssfollowinR Notes on poker were wri
Ten Nv the late ". j. Florence, who WI
very fond Of the game and an excellei
n player:
d u game TX poker has become popula
during the last two decades, and is mo-
knowr III almost every civilized land.
SS have Heen il played by the donkey boys i
tho streets Of Cairo and BY the Pluto In
dams on the plains Of Nevada. / was pres
ant on one occasion when a poker part
was made up Of . reiGnine monarch,
future king and three princes imperia
That might we'll bs called a ''rcyal flush.
That tho game which could hold sue
competitors must be q fascinating ono can
not NJ denied. It 10 indeed held by som
to hs She most dangerous of all games o
cards, sincs il can only be played for stakes
but IL must be remembered that this is tru'
of I'LL games In which the player conceal
Tho value of tho cards he holds. To tn
objection that poker Ia an unsociabls game
since ii admits OF no partners, each partici
pant striving for himself alone. it is to b.
said that for this very reason poker absorb
its players with q deep fascination.
Since ono object Of the game is to mys
tify your adversaries as to the value OF
your hand, and all sorts of chaf and badin'
ago is permitted, it cannot after all be
termed an unsociablo amusement. Nom
sense may fly from tongue to tongue fast
and furious, to any extent, providing it
does not delay the game. Here. where a
hand shown down detects its owners futile
attempt to mislead the table, a rousing
laugh usually follows, SO that the fun is al
ways kept up. OF course. one may have a
bad-tempered or q churlish companion at
the table, but such a one usually gets the
worst OF it when he betrays his pesvish-
usss.
As in any game of chance or speculation,
these are in poker opportunities to cheat.
Long before poker, however. was even in
vented cheating at chance games was prac-
ticed BY the ~unprincipled. | have seen
loaded dice taken from the ruins OF Pom
peii and H~erculancum, and now preserve d
In the government museum at Naples. so
poker is not responsible for all the charges
brought against it.
Is il we'll, however, to be careful about
going into q game of poker on an ocean
steamer, in a railway carriage or a western
hotel without some knowledge OF your COM
panious.
Whatever its origin, poker is now CON
ceded to be ono Of the most intellectual, as
it ID doubtless the most fascinating, of card
games. Attack and defense are in it deyel-
oped to an amazing perfection. the oppor-
tunitiaa of seizing strategic advantage be-
ing wonderful. Thore never was such a
combination Of Logic and luck, calculation
aud speculation. 1t has by some bosn de-
clarea tho offspring of the famous and
" q ...lA Jy--t.at+ - ~Ao L 20 ks.1n-1r - .yLs,L
I'VE know to be 500 years old, while others
describe it as a direct development from the
English game of .'brag.' Thu derivation
OF the name from the old English spot and
Eair'' seems fanciful, but the striking anal
ogY between the use of the poker terms
'~sesing" and ''seeing you again." or rails
ing, and the svyine" and "re-vying,". or
seeing and rs-sssing referred to by Ben
in Every Man in His Humor," is
and suggsstive.
II would seem by all odds, therefore. to
By rung, like 80 much Of what is best in
.merioa-from 'the right little, tight little
Sir Walter Raleigh may have
brought it over, and Capt. John Smith may,
in defiance of the legend. have won his life
Poeahontas' hand by blufing her old
ed father!
Baron Rothschild advised spectators:
short your Losses. let your profits run"
Poker is so admirable an exposition of
human nature that it is fruitful of maxims.
Play literally with liberal players and
with close players.
Cahle says: IA man who can play de-
liGhtfully on a guitar and keep a knife in
his boot would make an excellent poker
n it Is just as well to remem-
Der that it is not at all necessary to talk.
making bets the simple pushing up of
chips registers a bet. The father of Amer
lean poker, Gen. Bob Schenck, said: 1.-The
main elements Of success are good luck,
good cards and plenty of cheek and good
Richard Guerndale, in his
Poker Book adds: "And plenty Of pm
add this: Push your luck when win
ming. stay out when losing, until a little
better than the average comes to you.'
There ia 3 slang saving that the game of
poker is tall in the draw" While this is
an exaggsration, it is not SO very far from
the truth. And, in tbs FIST place, it should
borne in mind that it is q duty each
to discard quickly and dsoorously.
1t should be concluded as soon as possible
after every one has come in or passed out.
The practice Of porting over the cards
should be deprecated; it often prevents
other player from acting on an i'm
pulse suggested by the trst view of his own
hand, and, by delaying further procedure,
~ shO SpACi PlAJG4b IL EClCldls
AS to tho method of discarding, one
should throw his discards in front of the
next dealer. This discarding should be
done quickly and unhesitatingly. The
dealer must his draw in an audi
Bile voice; the other players of course must
Rsk for their cards SO as to be heard by the
dealer and other players as we'll. When
have once spoken and have received
their cards they cannot be required to an
questions about them or to reannouncc
many they drew.
Iha chances of having banda az dealt on
Ego in" are as follows;
Straight flush, once in CT, 1000 deals.
Fours, onoe in AGA deals.
Full hand, once if 693 deals.
Flush, once in 507 deals.
Straight, once.in 25A' deals.
Threcs, once III rs deals.
Two pal, S. oncs in 20 deals.
One pair. ten times in - deals.
Two cards should not be- drawn to q pair
nnlesa the ace or king can bs retained with
then, except for the purpose of q 'bluf."
most of the other players are Sin" the
not quite 20 good as those of drawing u
card, because the other PLAYERS are
more likely to be staying in on high than
on low cards. The probabilities of
being tho case are of course quite inn
possible to dstermine, but they are very
Slight n are more than compensated for
by tho chances of increasing tho
tive value Of the hand by making aces or
mp" instead OF two small pairs.
Thus, while il has been we'll said that the
actuai mathematical expectations of im-
proving snch a hand are greater by drawing
thres cards, yet il cannot be denied that
thep practical value OF the hand ia much en-
HANGED by q successful two card draw. The
odd card should only be retained with a
ntani1 rlair-thnt ia m ha narito 80 .-b;,l