Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-08-28
WILES OF THE SHARP
THIS ONE PLAYS POOL AND NtPs THE
SELF CONFIDENT MAN.
Master In Bunko, He Offers Himself as an
Easy Mark At the Pool Table Till Bets
Are on the Game, and Then He Lets Him.
self Out and Fleeces His Lamb.

Are on the Game, and Then He Lets Him.
self Out and Fleeces His Lamb.
"See that man over there?" remarked
| the manager of an up town pool and bill
| lizard room to friend one night last week,
pointing to well dressed, apparently in
| toxicated, young man, who was idly knock
ing the balls around pool table. well,
he's what we call pool sharp. You may
notice that he is making frantic efforts tc
knock the balls into the pockets, and 1t
may also occur to you that he is very
| drunk, But he is not drunk, nor is he try
| ing to put the balls into the pockets He
is acting part, and if you watch him for
| a little while you'll see one of the clever
est bits of swindle you ever saw in your
| life."
Nine out of ten persons who saw the
young man would have wagered their lives
that he was drunk. He seemed scarcely
able to stand ON his feet, and every jab he
made at the balls with his cue seemed to
90 wild When he did manage to sink a
| ball, he would let out whoop of exulta-
ton, He would then begin to brag about
his ability to beat anything on two legs,
| and in other ways made it look as though
he were foolish young man waiting to
be robbed No one took up the mans
challenge to play, but he finally managed
| to get into game with two other young
men, who evidently thought they had an
easy thing of it.
'.Now you'll see the fun" remarked the
manager Just watch that fellow"
Two or three games were played, In
each of which the inebriated young man
was ANONYMOUSLY beaten. Defeat seemed
to enrage him, and pulling out a roll of
bills he offered with drunken enthusiasm
to play for any amount. For two or three
games the others ignored his offers, but
finally one of them became eXasperated at
the mans blatant remarks and said:
YOU'RE doing an awful lot of talking
Now, if you really want to gamble, We'll
make pool of So each, the winner Of the
game to take all"
A couple of onlookers protested that 1t
was not right to take advantage of a
drunken man, but the game went on. The
drunken mans game improved wonder
fully His position playing was magnifi-
cent, but somehow or other he didn't seem
to get any balls. Finally q point of the
game was reached when the Others had
five balls apiece, while he had but one. II
was the strangers shot, and he made a
wonderful combination. Then, without
| much effort, he got the other four balls
tying the game. So exultant did he be-
come that he would hear of nothing but
that each one should add IS more to his
stake.
This was done, and the game began
The drunken man Strengthened up consid
erably now and played like an expert
Before either of the others had a ball he
had eight and was still making them
when the manager of the house stepped up
| to him, touched him on the shoulder and
remarked, you git"
why, what do you mean?' demanded
| the man Indignantly. All the signs OF
| intoxication had disappeared, and the on
| lockers began to realize that they had been
| witnesses to an exceedingly clever bunko
| game.
The two victims began to look angry,
| and in another minute there would have
| been trouble, but the manager took the
stakes from the stakeholder gave each
man back his $40 and then marched the
| sharp to the door, through which the lat
| ter lost no time in disappearing.
That's q sample of the pool sharp, " re
| marked the manager when he came back,
''Thero are any number of them around
| New York, but Brooklyn is the place where
they flourish most. Some of them ought
| to make their fortunes on the stage, for
| the way they act their part would put
| many member of the profession to shame.
| They are men who have as complete con
| troll over pool balls as it is possible for a
man to have. They are almost masters of
| the game, and can win at any stage if they
want to.
1.-The rrlse you saw is only one of many
| that they employ. A favoritc method is to
| get into an open game of pool and then
| induce one or two of the other players to
| withdraw to some other table. Every bill
| lard room has one open game of pool.
| That is a game where any and everybody
| may play, be they strangers or friends.
| Sometimes there are as many as a dozen
playing at an open game. The sharp will
get into this game and will manage to
| lose in most systematic manner. Then
| when two or three games have been played
| he will approach one or two of the other
| players who have been losing and say:
| We haven't got chance in this game.
| Let's go to another table
mine times out of ten this will work,
and then the next step is to get to playing
| for money. They rarely fail to secure a
| bet, these fellows, and although they oc-
casionally run against snag they win 99
| times out of 1O0
There are probably few games which
bring a mans natural weaknesses to the
| front quicker than pool. A man learns to
play the game, and he Immediately thinks
| he is q world beater. When he makes q
poor shot, lie attributes it to hard luck. In
| fact, there arc almost as many hard luck
stories told about pool games as there are
about horse races. Every stranger that
you play pool with will insist that he
knows nothing about the game, and then,
| when he has demonstrated that fact, will
proceed to tell how much better he was
able to play at some time in the dim past.
The pool sharp is a student Of human ma
ture. He knows all these things and works
his knowledge to his advantage. A drunk.
en- man who has been beaten at pool al
ways wants to bet, and consequently is a
mark for the sharp. Why, I've seen some
of those fellows pick up 500 in less than
| two hours New York Sun.
| Cage blindness.