The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-02-26
WESTERN POKER GAMES.
Instances Where Mines and Houses We
Nagered ON smaII Hands.


at him with aces Kings and aces are
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
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 Colorado game. It is only
excelled in popularity by 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 a 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 a
grocery store. Overhead were offices,
J 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 then prominent Denver man.
DO tn were 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 dwinded 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 OPP
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
worth fifty thousand dollars. and was
informed that it was Thereupon he
over and the game went on He lost
| the block and it changed hands, it is
said, as conse quence, 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-five thousand dollars ahead. OF
course none of the hands held in this
memorable game are on record now,
b ut it is known that not one was re-
markable.
This instance is paralleled by one that
co mes 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 a little
money at the time and mine III 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 pr opposed to stay with, and
everything went up--money, two gold
watches and indispe nsable bank checks
1t was only a matter. of time when they
would get to the mine. Finally there
was quite a pause.
Have you got anything else,
Charley?"
How much is the mine worth?"
Your interest about ten thousand
! dollars, guess"
i've got that, and raise you"
So the other interest went in.
''Charles's" wi ming hand showed three
1euces, three and four His Wis. avis
held two kings, two aces and three
neither of them sensational hands, yet
| considered good enough to hold out with
mine at stake. This mine is now pro-
| iucing ore valued at about as much per
month as the en- tire property was worth
At the time of the poker game
| In poker game played in Denver
one July day in 1884 there were four
diamond rings two W atches, 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-known
| ,melter man, an eastern congressman
and California miner. The man from
The east scooped in the pot and won by
straight"
Six thousand dollars worth of gold in
aug -ets was won by lucky poker
player in Denver in 1871. They came
from Clear Creek county, and were
brought here for the purpose of being
placed in bank. 1t was strictly
miners game, with all sorts of bluffing,
and it lasted all night, with the result
that the man with the nuggets did not
place them in a bank for the reason
that he had too much confidence in a
paralyzing hand in which three tens
were conspicuous, while his opponent
mad something worth photographing-
three jacks, two mines.
In Santa Fe. n. NJ, there is record
of prominent business man giving a
bill of sale for his stock of dry goods,
{ groceries, etc, amounting to eighty
Thousand dollars. The bill of sale went
! into little. quiet game, played as long
ago as 1858, and was not lost, for the
reason that no one could show up any
thing excelling king full, which the