The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-05
FAME AND AN Aos FULL.
A Gamblers Clumsy Attempt a. Cheat
ing and What Came OF 1t.

| FTOfh Lhc IL Lout& hepEOttC.
"Do you wait q new poker storyP said q
well-known man about town 20 q Republic
reporter. Now. q new poker story. II it is a
good one, is always welcome 10 a newspaper
man. It seems Is though every one either
plays poker, used TO play poker. or wishes
that be dared to play. At any rate, poker
stories are eagerly sought after by newspa-
per readers and eagerly read, and so the re-
porter said yea" TO his euestioner, pricked
up bis ears aud this il what be heard:
well, I'll tell you how little game
gave me great reputation, and made me
at least temporarily a hero, all through the
fact that |, by the merest accident, got the
| best hand and was just smart enough-or
! foolish enough, as you choose to call ito
stay with it as long as my money lasted.
| First, let me tell you that, while like TO
play poker a little occasionally, / know
| nothing about manipulating cards or play =
| lug tricks with them. l know only in a
4 general sort of a way the relative value Of
| but the science of the game Is a sealed book
to me, and | am absolutely ignorant Of the
| first rudiments OF the education of
card sharp. But to my story: l
have just returned from a trip 10 the
Paclho coast. On my travels found my
self one afternoon in a good big town,
| where everything was run wide Open
am not going to tell you what town 1t was,
| but this is what happened 10 me. / ssrolled
into large gambling room, one Of those
| places where sport can get almost anything
| be calls for. l watched the faro game for
while, glanced at the roulette game, and
then fioRted naturally up 70 poker table.
| Five or six men were playing. 1t was
| table stakes, and II you wanted to play you
| called one Of the men behind the bar and
he brought you $40 worth Of chips Then
you made the usual complimentary remark:
J If no gentleman objects, I'll sit in for an
! hour, and went att IT, | watched the game
carefully for twenty minutes and made
up my mind it was square
| one, and then sat IT, The cards came my
way, and soon had 500 to the good. OPP
| posite me sat fair-faced young man who,
| learned, was one Of the proprtetors OF the
house. The other players joked with him
| occasionally when he had made a winning
by declaring that ii was no use trying to
buck against the house. That's the way |
| knew who he was. Well the house wasn't
In It after sat down. II be held threes |
showed down q straight; IL he held straight
skinned out flush. and If he held flush
my hand frightened up. Then the other
| players grew fsoetiOus and joshed the
house. but still the cards came my way until
| / stayed out OF jack pot which had
| about $3.50 in IL, and which the house
rAked 10 with the remark that he could
only win when the ST. Louis man kept out.
The game went on for q few rounds, and
| then won again, but this time the house
stayed out. he still had big stack Of
chips in front Of him, and / was surprised
to see him draw out Of the game and cash
| in at the bar. wondered why he drew out
He evidently had 1t in for me, aud as he
| was winner l oouldn't understand his re-
treat watched him and saw him 60 over
to the faro table and speak 20 one Of the
| players. The two mep glanced over toward
| the poker table, and then l caught on.
| The house, had called for reinforce-
ments, and l said to myself that
| IL my fair-faoed friend and tho faro
| player came into the game ! would cash In
and quit. A moment later two losers left
| the table, aud the vacant chairs, side by
side. were taken by the faro player and my
former antagonist. It wouldn't do to draw
out at onoe. OF courae; and 50 let the deal
proceed. The game progressed. After a
few deals the faro player picked his hand
and remarked in careless kind OF a way:
I've got tens up" He had no occasion TO
make such q remark at that stage OF the
game, but when / saw the other man pass
him a card knew what was going on. Il
was clumsily done, and / couldn't help
smiling inwardly at the orudeness OF
the cheating: The faro player had
simply called for a ten spot 10 fill
bis hand and his partner had given 1t to
him. / stayed GUS OF that hand and was re-
warded for doing so by seeing ten full on
| fours shown down. In the next hand big
listed miner dealt the cards, and knew,that
it was an honest deal bad an ace full pat,
30 when the faro player picked up his hand
and murmured, I've got jacks up nad i
again saw a card passed which was willing
TO bet something handsome was a jack, /
felt pretty easy. l believed that he had a
jack full. l stayed In, but left him to do
the raising. Before it got around
to him another player raised Il. The faro
player saw the raise and showed in his
pile with the words, 4 tap you.' He
wasn't after me, and expected me to drop
| out. l studied for moment, made up my
| mind that the first raiser had threes and
then showed in my pile, which was just
about big enough to see the second raise
The first raiser stayed and the others fed
We drew cards. It was my first say, and
bad to exposel my hand by standing pat.
The first raiser took two cards, the faro
player stood pat. All our money was up
and it was a showdown. The first raiser
had three kings to 60 with, and didn't help
in the draw. The faro player, as suspected,
had jack full. l had an nos full. wish
you could have seen that mans Jaw fall.
His fair-fsoed partner. the man who bad
passed him the jack, leaned back In his chair
and roarod with laughter.
81 could see that be had sized me up for q
card sharp. and that he was amused beyond
measure at the smooth way had done him
up. An ace fully be Shouted. Well, III
be -. An ace fullr raked In che pot,
raked it Off into my hat and said: Yes, an
ace full, amt iti I'm going to quit you,
gentlemen and l did quit, too
And here comes a funny feature of the
adventure. / was attending to little bust
ness for Uncle Sam. and in accomplishing
my mission it was necessary for me to be
just little bit quiet and circumspsct in my
movements.
but the story Of the poker game was
told, and although my winning was purely
a piece Of luck was pointed out probably
twenty times day for the thress days / re-
manned in the town as the slickest card
sharp in the country, which. while it was
little bit amusing, was anything but a de
sirable reputation for me. 1t is by just
such little accidents that great regulations
are often made, and since this experience l
have come to the conclusion that true great
ness lies in being ready Co profit by these
accidents; or. in other words, TO play the
cards when they come your way and you
know you have the winning hand. II you
print the story don't tell my name"
NO GRANDMOrHE NOW.
The Old Lady We All Knew a Gen