The morning news., 1894-08-19
sARAToaA's BIG GAMBLING.
Prinoely Sums Lost and Won Every
Day in the Club Houses.
From the New York Herald

From the New York Herald.
Saratoga Springs, N. Y, Aug. IL
Money, the root of all evil, is the subject
of the greater part of the conversation
! one hears on the hotel piazzas here.
Many of the New Workers who leave the
! madding race for wealth in the city for
rest and recreation in Saratoga devote
more hours day than they usually give
! to their business to betting on the horses
and games of chance The mining fever
never ragged more violently in the west
than does the gambling fever here to-day
1t is epidemic among all classes. Men,
women and children, who lead lives of
staid respectability in their homes, fall
easy prey to the prevailing disease here.
! Club houses, as they are called by
| courtesy, abound and flourish Faro
| tables are kept running night and day.
| and there are games to vile the tips from
! the cOlOred walters pocket, games for the
| clerks and games where wealthy men
| may drop many thousands of dollars in an
! evenings session.
One hears stories of phenomenal losses
on every side, and now ana then one
learns that money has been taken from
the gambling houses, but the gam blers
are not in business for the fun of the
thing and they are reaping an excellent
harvest this year.
After the races the chips begin to rat
/ tie, and right merrily do the ivory and
celluloid dishes jingle to the ear at the
outset. The roulette ball spins round and
| round, and the men line up around the
| table. Women so to the Saratoga club
! house to dine and drink in the evening
| after their excitement Of the afternoon,
| and they commission their escorts to win
n inn fr,Ysf hft
or between the bottles On the track
they may send their bets direct by uni
| formed commissioners, but in the club
| they must depend on their male friends,
| for they may not enter the brilliantly
| lighted gambling rooms themselves.
When men desert them at night their
| only resort is TO "hen" parties in the
| hotel rooms, where they have a chance to
! indulge their passion for gambling in
| poker, hearts or baccarat.
! HARD LUCK STORIES.
"What did you do2" is a conventional
! inquiry for one of the speculative sisters,
and then comes usually a food of hard
| luck stories.
! The races naturally absorb a large por-
| tion of the general attention One de-
! lighted bud tells how she won $50 ca
short" horse, while a distracted wife
/ says she has lost every dollar her hus-
! band gave her to pay her board aud the
| expenses of her trip. She had lost a
| tribe, and then squandered everything in
vain effort to recoup. Ev rybody is in
terested in every other body's gambling
! experience, and accounts pass from mouth
to mouth.
Baccarat is the great attraction for
| many of the heavy gam Dlers 1t has one
| of the fascinating features of roulette
| each turn decides the fate OF every bet on
the table. One does not have to wait for
any one card to come out, as in faro The
| systems of decreasing and increasing bets
! after successfully winning or losing are
! amusing, il not often profitable, to fol
/ low There is always the shadOwy possi-
bility of phenomenal luck, even though
the extraordinarily good drawing of some
| of the dealers has become byword.
ONE HEAVY LOSER.
The greatest loss that has been the
| topic OF gossip was made by champagne
/ agent, noted for his snowy equipages
He sat down to play quite early in the
evening, and rose when the game broke
up, after aybreak, poorer by more than
! $l7 1000. His only system was to bet the
! limit-S150-on each side of the board,
and a cheval between the two for each
turn of the cards. He vainly appealed to
! have the limit raised, but the owner OF
| OF the house, luckily for the audaciods
! player as events proved, persistently re-
fused
Other players at the table also lost
heavily, and the profits Of tine game Tor
the evening are estimated at $50, 900
enough TO buy very many packs of the
plain, ivory backed cards used by the
dealer for one shuttle. and then thrown
away The only man who sat down at
the oaccarat table that evening and got
up ahead of the game was George Work
and his winnings were comparatively
trihing Billy Perzel lost exactly 81 900
on his system.
The limit in the games is occasionally
increased to suit heavy players es specially
/ those who are known TO remain but
short time at the tables. Pierre Lorillard
/ is said TO be allowed a special limit at the
Sara ,oga Club house
| The longest session of any one man that
/ has been Ia ked Of this year was that of
/ a man, who, by the way, is reputed to
/ hold the record for heavy losse at the
, Springs. He lost in one sitting a year or
/ two ago about 500 600. Although he mas
! had long experience, the faro gamblers
/ allege that he gives the house" a greater
/ percentage than any other heavy player,
/ as he does not stick TO ease cards" He
sat down the other evening, ana when the
| crowd started for the races the following
afternoon he was still at the table. When
/ Gottried Walbaum, president of the Sara
/ tOga Racing Association, returned 10 the
village the player in question was SO
/ tired that he could scarcely pass stacks
] OF chips from one caru to another Mr.
Walbaum took his place, and when the
chips were finally cashed in the man was
$4,000 out, less than one-half of the amount
Of his loss AT one time.
TIE FORTY THIEVES.
The mention of Mr.. Walbaum recalls
to my mind one Of Lawyer A. II. Hum
mel's bons mots. Mr.. Walbaum invited
! Mr.. Hummel TO a stag dinner at Morris
4 hotel, Saratoga Lake, that he was giving
10 forty hOrs men.
Who will play the part Of Ali Babagn
asked the little lawyer.
Mr. Walbaum looked puzzled.
81 see where the Forty Thieves come
/ in, but where will Ali Baba be-" per
/ sisted MIR Hummel
/ MIR. Walbaum then smiled The law
yer attended the spread, but the horse