Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-05

0iCtc0 70 Iue kaIu0 ~
WH)E\.an.. period, spending
ANS6N\ all my spare time and
| (N&T ' more too in pursuing
- W. its varying chances. The
vice gets wonderful hold upon q man,so that
have known more than one good fellow who
became SO devoted to it as to be unable to get
enjoyment out of anything else. Business and
all other employments were neglected for the
fascinating occupation Of sitting behind Eve
cards
| THAT is pretty much the way II was with
me. was employed in q commercial estab-
lishment, occupying position of some respon-
sibiiity. but during the day my mind was con-
stantiy taking flight from my work and always
felt feverish longing for the hour. 8 in the
evening, when play regularly began in a club
TO which belonged The organization, though
nominally for social purposes, had no other
| OBJECT than poker, though the members OF it
| were men OF excellent social standing. Many
OF them had large means. But have never
| known poker-playing club which was not
| proken up sooner or later by disputes Of q Sc
rious nature. The one l speak of was no ex-
ception to the rule, and from first to last there
| were not less than half dozen fellows in it
who became demoralized by the gambling
| FEVER and procured money to crafty the NOR
| bid taste by Legitimate means, the inevitable
| result pelng exposure and ruin.
| REMARKABLE OCCURRENCE.
| Il don't know what my own fate might have
been but for the remarkable occurrence which
l am about to relate to you. NY salary was all
| 1 had to live upon and was not over careful
In my expenditures generally, being a single
| man. My impression is that l PLAYED rather
more skillfuliy than the average of nv oppo-
nents. The only reason / have for thinking
80 Is that ! won pretty constantly. / have
rarely met poker player who did not
imagine that he rather expert at
the game, so that ! hesitate to claim any
| superiority for myself in that regard. How
ever. was SO far successful that came to
count upon my winnings as a reasonably sure
| source OF money supply. This went on for
nearly two years, but finally l struck a very
bad streak of luck and lost largely. gave sew
eral notes of hand for cash due and got myself
| 80 snarled up In various ways financially that
could not see my way out Of trouble at al.
| I'm this situation I found myself very un-
happy, OF course. Naturally, sought distrac-
ton at the poker table. twasastonishing how
my unlucky streak continued. The only su-
perstition which indulge. so far as am aware,
| relates to the apparent tendency of fortune to
| run In streaks. If you have ever gambled You
must have observed how, if you are winning,
| everything runs your way. and otherwise con-
trariwise. At all events, contin ued to lose
and found myself at length In SO desperate
plight that goodness only knows what might
have happened in the end. You will remember
that, as have told you. occupied position
| of trust. Large funds in cash belonging to
others were placed in my hands.
| TOOK FUNDS NOT BELONGING TO HIM.
"Did say that it was doubtful what might
have happened? That was not putting it truly
But for an accident my fate would have been
only too certain. In a moment of desperation
| took q large sum from the funds in nv
| charge, with the intention Of using it for play
| My situation was SO bad that. AS reasoned to
| myself, could not afford to refrain from throw
| ing everything upon single cast At that time
| the play at the club l speak Of had risen
very high. We had begun with Q modest limit
| established by regulation, but it 10 the expe-
rience OF every one who has played poker that
| the stakes are subject to an almost inevitable
| law Of increase. The loser demands this op-
portunity in order that he may recover his
| losses. and the winner can hardly refuse, being
confident besides that his good fortune w.l
continue.
$50 it happened that the game in which
had been accustomed to play, where two or
three tables were occupied nightly. had been
| shorn of its limit entirely. 1t was evident that
many Of the members we're gambling altogether
beyond their means. but they would have
| taken it as an insult if the winners had
suggested such an idea to them In the
| long run when certain coterie OF men
play poker with each other nearly all Of
| them lose, while perhaps only two or three
win the money. There were three PLAYERS in
the club l belonged to who were believed
to have scooped in the greater part
of the wealth. One Of them was a highly re-
| spectacle merchant, while the other two were
persons of nominally good repute who toilsd
| not at other occupations save poker. NY be-
lief had even then come to be that they de-
pended chiefly for o livelihood upon their sue
cess in the game.
LOST FROM THE START.
ION the night speak of, when had taken
for purposes Of play the money which was not
my own, encountered at the same table those
three men. There were two other PLAYERS.
both Of indifferent quality, besides. As usual,
l began losing from the very start and con-
tinued to do SO right along. This made me
reckless and thus the game rose very high. As
| l subsequently ascertained the two men of
whom have particularly spoken were cheats.
They played into each others hands and
one of them at all events understood
the difficult art Of putting up the
cards in whatever fashion he desired.
| They were both expelled from the club three
months later. There is the best possible rea-
son for believing that at a certain period when
| big jack pot was in dispute, something wrong
was done in the shuttle. Any way, one Of these
| fellows got four aces and the other drew
fourth king. OF course, did not know that
until afterward.
| II had four Of a straight flush to start with.
| 1t was . small one-only deuce, tray four
| spot and Blk spot of spades-but it afforded
| great possibilities. l drew for it in the middle
| and when glanced at the card drawn my heart
| gave bound. The pot had been opened and
raised twice, while had simply stayed in. After
| the draw the betting became tremendous Three
| of my opponents dropped out. leaving only my
self and the two men have spoken OF. Each OF
us raised the others until there being no limit
| on the game, there was $4,000 in the pot--not
| In promises to pay, mind you, but in actual
gold and notes. At length the fellow who had
| the four kings, as subsequently appeared,
| dropped out, presumably because he knew that
| his partner held four aces.
| MOST ASTONISHING BLUFF.
| HE and I raised each other twice more,
$500 at clip. You can imagine how excited /
was, playing as was with money that belonged
to other people. The stakes from my point of
view were a small fortune on the one hand and
| the penitentiary on the other. was almost
crazy for the moment and that was the reason
| why when my adversary suddenly laid his
cards face downward on the table supposed
| that he had thrown up his hand. At once
| shouted i have a straight fushr
| my opponents face blanched Without
seeing my last raise he threw his hand with an
oath into the middle of the pack and rose 10 his
feet I raked in the gold and bank notes
| eagerly and exultantly displayed nv cards
/ upon the table. There was q general roar of
| astonishment, had not . straight dush al ali.
Ny hand was simply two, three, four, six and
| seven Of spades. I can only account for tbe
l rnsu h. 4 h>A A. ~ r..