Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1892-09-14
LUCK STOOD BY HIM.
How n Square PLAYER Won a Repu.
talon Among Poker Sharps.
IErnrn fha

tation Among Poker Sharps,
tFrom the st. Louis Republic
DO you want new poker storyF" sait
a well-known man. "we,;, I'll Won how
little game gave me great reputation
and made me at least temporarily a hero
all through the fact that 1, by the meres
accident. got the best hand, and was jus
smart enough-or foolish enough, as yor
choose to look at ito stay with 1t as lops
as my money lasted. First let me tell yor
that while I like to play poker little oc
casionally, know nothing about manipu
lating cards or playing tricks with them
/ know only in a general sort of a way th.
relative value of pairs, threes, fulls, flush
es, straights, &C., but the 'ecience of the
game is sealed book to me, and 1 am alb
solutely ignorant of the first rudiments OF
the education of card sharp.
81 have just returned from a trip to the
Pacific coast. On my travels found my
self one afternoon in good big town
where everything was run wide open.' !
am not going to tell you what town 1t was,
but this is what happened to me. 1
strolled into large gambling room, one
of those places where sport can get al
most anything that he calls for. Iwatched
the faro game for a while, glanced at the
roulette game, and then hoated naturally
up to poker game. Five or six men were
playing. 1t was table stakes, and lie you
wanted to play you called one of the men
behind the bar and he brought you ten
dollars worth of chips. Then you made
the usual conciliatory remark, IF no gen.
tleman objects I'll sit in for an hour and
went at it. watched the game carefully
for twenty minutes and made up my mind
1t was square, and then 'sst in
"The cards came my way and / soon
had one hundred dollars TO the good. OPP
posite me sat fair faced young man, who,
I learned, WAS one of the proprietors of
the house. The other players joked with
him occasionally when he made q winning
by declaring it was no use trying to buck
against the house-that's the way I knew
who he was. Well, the house wasn't In 1t
showed down a straight; If he held
straight skinned out a flush, and IL he
held a flush my hand frightened up. Then
the other players grew fscetious and joshed
the house. but still the cards came my
way, until stayed out of jack pot which
had about one hundred and fifty dollars in
it, and which the house raked in with the
remark that he could only win when the
st. Louis man kept out. The game went
on for a few rounds, and then I won
again, but this time the house stayed out
He still had big stack of chips in front
of him, and I was surprised to see him
draw out of the game and cash in at the
bar. 1 wondered why he drew out. He
evidently had it in for me, and as he was
winner couldn't understand his retreat.
1 watched him and saw him go over to the
faro table and speak to one of the players.
The two men glanced over toward the po-
ker table and then caught on. The house
had called for re enforcements. and said
to myself that if my fair-faced friend and
the faro player came into the game would
cash in and quit.
"a moment later two losers left the ta-
BILE, and the vacant chairs, side by side,
we're taken by the faro player and my for
ner antagonist 1t wouldn't do to draw
out at once, of course, and 80 / let the
leal proceed. Tho game progressed. AZ
Ter few deals the faro player picked up
MS hand and remarked In a careless kind
of a way. pve got tens up He had no
occasion to make such a remark at that
stage of the game, but when saw tho 9TH
.r man pass him a card 1 knew what was
going on. 1t was clumsily done, and
,rudeness of the cheating. The faro play
sr had simply called for ten spot to fill
his hand, and his partner had given 1t to
him. / stayed out at that hand and was
rewarded for doing 30 by seeing ten full
on fours shown down.
"In the next hand a big-fisted miner
dealt the cards, and / knew that it was an
honest deal / had an ace full pat, so
when the faro player picked up his hand
and murmured, I've eot jacks up and
again saw q card passed which 1 was will
ing to bet something handsome was q
Jack, 1 felt pretty easy l believed that
ne had jack full. / stayed in, but let
him do the raising. Before it got around
player ssw the raise, showed in bis pile
with the words, Il tap you He wasn't
after me and expected me to drop out. 1
studied for a moment, made up my mind
hat the first raiser had threes, and then
showed in my pile, which was just about
big enough to meet the second raise. The
irst raiser stayed and the others fed We
irew cards. 1t was my first say, and /
,sd to expose my hand by standing pat
The first raiser took two cards, the faro
player stood pat. All our money was up
and 1t was a show down. The first raiser
,ad three kings to go with and didn't help
III ihc eieW" Aho hoto PtofNAr 90 0un-
,ected, had jack full / had an ace full.
wish. you could have seen that mans Jaw
'sll. His fair-faced partner, the man who
mad passed him the jack, leaned back and
roared with laughter. could see that he
mad sized me up for card sharp, and that
he was amused beyond measure at the
smooth way had done him up AN ace
fullr he shouted. We'll, I'll be -. An
ace fullI' 1 raked in the pot, rsked it off
into my hat and said: Yes, an ace full;
good, amt iti Pm going to quit you, gen
tlemen,' and did quit, too.
"And here comes funny feature of the
adventure. / was attending to a little
burfness for Uncle Sam, snd in accom-
plishing my mission 1t was necessary for
me to be just little bit quiet and circum-
spect in my movements. But the story of
the poker game was told, and although my
winning was purely a piece of luck. was
pointed ont probably twenty times day
for the three days remained in town as
the slickest card sharp in the country,
which, while it was a little bit amusing,
was anything but desirable reputation
for me-"