The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-02-27
WESTERN POKER GAMES.
InRtnncos Where Mines and Houses Were
Wngsrsd on small Hands

the leading features of the poker story
tellers' repertoire, but as Denver eX-
pert at this sort of things said recently,
there is more downright devilment in n
small hand than aces out of two packs"
There have been some very good poker
hands held in Colorado, but very few of
the phenomenal sort, 1.-Two pairs"
have created widespread CONSERVATION
several times
Poker is n Colorado game. 1t is only
excellcd in popularity 10y that favorite
of the mining camp, faro, but those who
play poker do not always play faro, and
to these there is nothing like a quiet
little ante upstairs" The amount of
stakes has cut a greater figure in poker
games in the Centennial State than the
hands held. There are instances rang
ing from the man who bet his sleeve
buttons to the man who put up his
mine
Down on Sixteenth street, at the
southwest corner of Blake there now
stands two-story brick business block
bearing some evidence of the fight of
time, yet still sound and solid, and ca
pable 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 in one of these Offices there oc-
Cured one evening in April of that
year poker game. The owner of the
building sat at this game, and opposite
him was a chen prominent Denver man.
Both werd prominent, in fact, for one
held high executive office in the terri
tory at the time.
There were five at this game origin
ally, but somehow it dwindled down to
two, and at 1880 at night large amount
of money had changed hands and things
were going bad for the owner of the
building There was no limit His op-
ponent had been going him" for quite
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 t
worth fifty thousand dollars, and was
informed that it was. Thereupon he
made written agreement to sign it
over and the game went on. He lost
the block and it changed hands, it is
said, as a 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
thirty-fve thousand dollars ahead. OF
course none of the hands held in this
memorable game are on record now,
but it is known that not one was re-
marlSable.
This instance is paralleled by one that
com IS from Leadville and credited with
having occurred there in the winter of
1882. This game, which occurred in one
of the rooms of the Clarendon hotel was
participated in by two gentlemen who
are still residents of Colorado and who
are now wealthy. They had little
money at the time and mine in which
they held an equal interest The money
was not much, perhaps, as fortunes go
nowadays, but it was enoug h to make a
poker game excit ing And it was excit-
ing.
Finally each got hand which they
evidently proposed to stay with and
everything went up-money, two gold
watches and indispe nsable bank checks.
1t was only matter of time when they
would get to the mine. Finally there
was quite pause.
Have you got anything else,
Charley?"
''How much is the mine worth?"
! Your interest about ten thousand
dollars, l guess"
1--WE got that, and raise you"
| So the other interest went in.
| "Charles's" wi inning hand showed three
deuces, three and four. His vis.a-vis
held two kings, two aces and three.
neither of them sensational hands, yet
considered good enough to hold out with
Il mine at stake This mine is now pro-
ducing ore valued at about as much per
month as the entire property was worth
! TT the time of the poker game.
In poker game played in Denver
one July day in 1884 there were four
diamond rings, two watches, five thou
sand dollars in money, two pairs OF
handsome and costly sleeve buttons
and number of scarf-pins. In this
game sat an ex-governor, a well-knowu
smelter man, an eastern congressman
: and California miner. Ths man from
the east scooped in the pot and won by
straight"
Six Shousand dollars worth of gold in
mug gets was won by lucky poker
player IL Denver in 1871 They came
from Clear Creek county, and were
brought here for the purpose of being
placed in a bank. 1t was strictly g
miners game with all sorts of bluffing
and it lasted AL night, with the result
that the man wiz the nuggets did moi
place them in a hank, for the reason
that he had too mach confidence in G
paralyzing hand in which three tens
were conspicuous, while his opponent
had something worth phpiographing-
three jacks, two mines.
In Santa Fe, n. NJ. there ls RECORD
of a prominent business man giving {
bill of sale for his stock of dry goods
groceries, etc, amounting to nighty
thousand dollars. The bill ofsale wen
into a little, quiet game, played as lonl
ago as 1868, and was not lost, for tn,
reason that no one could show up any
thing excelling king full, which tn,
merchant considered good thing t.
cling to-
A rather singular poker game wa
one played in Denver about two year
ago, and is remembered by number o
prominent people who witnessed it
There were five sitting in that gam,
and all stayed in. One gentleman drew
one card another two cards aud tb,