The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-30
FIFTEEN THOUSAND IN THE PoT.
n Dig Poker Game That Was PLAYED
on the Great Lakes.

%" the Great Lakes.
From the Chicago Post.
iou missed the greatest treat Of vo,r
me oy not being here to so on the excur-
SION 10 Duluth on the big steamer North
west the other day." exclaimed a No.,
.ent Cleveland iron king" millionaire to-
uay as ne met an equally wealthy can't
"a S', ~, rom s.. Louis in the smoking room
OI tAe Auditorium annex
Low that?'' inquired the friend
mere was the greatest polxer Gam.
played in the smoking room, ~ ~, D-s a.,le
49, mat day-and all that dav,-t,at hos
! 80 Deen played on the waters of ~
! SO. lakes, and It will stand as a recort
.eSAer Tor years to come. I Thought 7
30. seen poker game or two myself
| say. ~. am prepared to say that never
| -" out one. You've heard ,-arps 80.
the famous Mississippi river canes -,
eH you John, this takes the high coIor-
10 ilshI out OF the Mississippi steam
| - u IONS and puts fringe of Ian
S anu palms all around our great north
. IL axes II will 90 down in history
H. as soon as | stepped aboard the
! IS SilP ana saw a score of multi-rofl
iUHdIles hned up against the deck railins
an IN the best Of spirits. and bent an
HaNlhs thoroughly good time I mic
| trusted mat the chips would f1v before W..
sot 70 Duluth. Before the boat was fair-
| ~ out OF the harbor mere a railroad rrsei-
- 80 suggested to the president Of a half
uozen mining companies that tbev 49,,
up little party of select friends 90 6n,',s
INTO the smoking room. and have n T,,tat
H social game. They picked their
| Irlehds, TO the number Of about half a do
~ anu none or them was able to smell
ms fortune with less than eight figures
several other groups followed their ex
nHvaaaN
/ mission, but all interest centered in the
game of the king bees"
Chips were bought and were taken IN
the hrst game at s. for whites. S25 for reds
ana 80 for blues. There was plent1, ~
champagne, and everybody at the table
| was IN the best Of good nature. If If had
peeh game of penny ante, they could not
la1e piayeu WIN more careless indiffer-
! ence as regards the stakes involved
| Those who did not play were scattered
ABOUT the BOAT watching the various games
/ OF taxing In the scenery. I went on declr
ana had forgotten all about the game IN
| said: ois"i
Beg a'hdn, Sab; but dey's playin' de
bigges' game down dab in de smok'n room
dat as mean lake cher had on her watahs
sab! Yes. Sab; OATS right. Sab Reckon
/ ed mebbe you might want to come in
/ wen, 1 went down and found that the
| darby had not put a particle of colortng
! INTO MS account of the game The circle
/ had grown 10 eight and the price of chips
| had taken a modest advance. the quota
| lions being sl5 for whites, SIS for reds, and
| $50 for blues.
! Champagne glasses were neglected and
! everybody was paying rather close atten-
ton to business, while the crowd about the
tables had increased to nearly a score of
| spectators.
The game then ran along at an even
stretch for full hour The railroad pres-
ident seemed TO be getting the worst OF
1t and the mine owner had enough chips
to build few business blocks and churches
stacked up at his left hand
Just at that moment one of the biggest
iron kings in the country came up and
stood for a moment looking at the table.
Well boys, what are you wasting your
| time for? If you are going to play, why
not have enough up to make it interest
ing?"
! Perhaps you'd like to sit in suggest
| ed the railroad president, appearing to be
trifle disturbed by the remark
! Don't mind If l do take a hand as
never play for anything but recreation.
| But shall insist on a raise Of quotations.
Very we'll returned the railroad pres
| ident, who had been put to his mettle
| Suppose we put the blues at $500, reds 500
and whites $40
THE railroad president laid aside his
coat. the mine owner bit off the tip of a
fresh cigar. The iron king bought a stack
of chips that almost made one of the sery-
ants faint, and the fun began again. AT
the end of another half hour the railroad
president was deeper in the hole than ever
Just as we were rounding keeweenaw
Point and the iron man was dealing for
fresh game, the railroad president very
quietly suggested.
" If there are no objections, I wouldn't
mind pushing the price up again. They
stand at even figures now, and I'm rather
partial to having it at odd figures for a
portion of the time
Make the blue chips $3.50 then, the reds
$125, and whites SIS, responded the mine
owner.
Good! Good! came the chorus from
every one at the table. The news travelled
throughout the boat, and millionaires and
servants stood shoulder to shoulder cram
ing their necks to get a good view of the
table. 1t was still for the space of a few
minutes until the jackpot was made up.
The mine owner opened the pot the rail
road president staid in. Then the iron
king raised the bet to a dizzy figure, and
then the showdown came. The iron king
held a full house, but the whole table went
wild when the railroad president threw
down four aces and raked in a pot Of chips
representing an even $4,000
THE iron king used some language that
was more forcible than elegant, but he
wasn't scared out of the game. No, indeed,
He called for another big stack and went
right on and we all applauded his pluck
and wished him better luck in the next
big pot
One of the Chicagoans who was in the |
party, but whose fortune is so modest that |
it doesn't quite reach seven figures, said |
to-day: THAT was the steepest game / |
ever expect to see. Did l play? Well, l |
should say not! Why, by the time the |
boys got warmed up 1 found that l had |
about enough money to buy one white chip. |
Every excuse for raising the size of the /
ante and limit was eagerly seized. If |
flush or better was shown, it called for a |
round Of jackpots with the ante and limit |
doubled When four of kind was exhib- |
tied, the ante and limit were quadruple for |
a round And those fellows were so reck- !
less that they would pay $50 to $50. or |
even more to draw to nothing better than
one ace. No, I didn't play. 1t was lit
tie too swift for me-"
The game, is is said, lasted all the way |
up TO Duluth and was almost uninterrupt-
ed. for whenever one player dropped out
to take nap or get bite to eat another
was ready to take his place. The smaller
games. which would have been considered
recklessly large in any but company of
HaN md