The herald., 1896-09-01
BREAKING THE BANK.
AN OLD FARO DEALER ON A pELuslogo
OF GAMBLING.
Men Who Make One Good winning Mr.
get All About Their Many Lossss-xAe
Merry and Lucky Play Of Dlnk Oavlns
A Cool Harvard Youth.

get All About 1heir many AooeooxA
Merry and Lucky Play Of Dlnk DaS1n,
A Cool Harvard Youth.
Eyes" remarked the old faro dealer =
he indulged in a quiet retrospective amtle,
"a great many of 'em used to labor under
that same delusion-come in with Shoe
string and go out with the bank roll. That
was their overmastering ambition, and II
cost them barrel of money humoring II,
but they never lost hope, and they dipped
away their salaries and incomes in dimes
and quarters with never murmur. It
was the old, old some day we'n hit yUu'
that lured 'em on, and we always used to
encourage them in that pleasant and to us
profitable fallacy.
"Why, when was dealing bank in that
Sixth avenue shop above Honest John
Kelleys, our biggest play used to come
from those same cheap, would be bank
breakers. On Saturday night especially
the place was full Of them, and 1t kept
eight of us on the jump from until the
next morning raking in their little two for
cent plunges.
ga great many Of them were bankers
and brokers' clerks, and they were the
sons of rich men, who purposcly kept
them on small allowances in the hope that
they were learning to rough it, as they had
done when they were boys. These young
chaps would watch their employers shoot
ing dice and playing poker after tho ex-
change had closed, and by Saturday night
they were ready to plunge their last bone
And let me tell you now that of all men
have seen around roulette or faro layout
mono of 'em could touch those brokers'
clerks and college boys for pure, raw nerve.
'Your 81 900 plunger is all right, but
the S25 and $50, which was all these fell
lows had, meant just as much to them,
and they would watch their car fare home
wiped away without vince or change Of
expression. When you get man reduced
to playing his car fare on the turn Of the
card or the spin of the wheel, and he loses
it with ease and grace, you have got man
who some day will make Wall street
squirm or else will wind up in Sing Sing.
1.-THE little faro box and the old roulette
wheel are faithful servants, and they never
betray their masters in the long run, but
sometimes they will get thoughtless for .
spell, and I have seen some marvellous
winnings made off of elmost nothing
The cases are few and far between, though,
and when you hear a man discoursing on
how he broke the town on plugged 10
conU piece you CstH Stiupio plino 0iitso AAA4
is heavyweight liar
"You can't beat the little box II you
stay with it, and the wild winnings that
you hear about are made mostly by the
novices and the amount of the winnings
increases in the same ratio that the story
grows.
"Dink Davis is one of the few old gam
blers who ever really made a big winning
and did not go and lose it the next day or
the next week.
"There was method in his madness He
is the only man that 1 know who know
enough to leave the game alone after he
had beaten it.
"For two straight nights he played II,
and he played it hard and fast, but they
were coming his way and while they
came he stuck to it. Those two nights
have gone down into history now. No one
before or since has bucked the tiger with
such indomitable courage, backed up with
such marvellous luck. He couldn't miss O
bet, and he called the turn with an ease
that paralyzed them all
"No one will ever forget the night Dink
began his wild plunge. He was such .
quiet, unassuming chap. That same little
skullcap that he wears now was pulled
down over his eyes, and he placed his bets
with such modesty that the harsh words
that were on every ones lips failed them,
and they could only cash his winnings
without grumble AL night long he
played in the same way. He seemed to
have the little silver box hypnotized, and
all the dealers in town could not break the
spell.
"They tried them all, too; called them
In from different houses, and in his quiet;
unpretentious way he laughed at them all.
If he played the ten spot to win, it was .
dead open and shut that the ten spot was
going to win. Every play was punctuated
by quiet emphasis that made the usual
gibes and comments ridiculous and COM
monplace.
"He was playing the old system, double
out'-that is, two cards were played to win
and the other two to lose. In the ten spot
only he failed on the first two plays Each
time the number lost when he was playing
1t to win, and on the third one he tripled
the bet, and the dealer almost had nervous
prostration.
"His winnings that night have been cs-
timated at all the way from $25, 600 to
$50, 900, but know that all he pulled out
of the game was somewhere between
$40, 900 and 5000. Dink's was the best
winning that have ever known of, and 1T
has become q unit of measure but have
seen equally as good money pulled out on
the capital invested.
Zone night young Harvard chap came
into Davis place in Twenty street.
He had just 10 cents to pay his car fare to
the Grand Central station, and he left his
hotel with the firm resolve of keeping it.
He had two hours however, before his
train left, and he decided to play his sur
plus with Dink and get good dinner
along with his plunge.
"He came into the room without any at
tempt at concealing his FREQ lunch scheme
and announced frankly that he was going
to play 10 cents worth and then go down
and eat up the dinner. He put his dime
on No. II on the roulette table, and we
gave him stack of quarter chips.
"He had sand and on the next spin he
scattered his quarter chips oil over tho
board and caught a flat foot That gave
him good start, and he followed it up.
Before either he or we knew it he had won
$50, and then he decided to cash in and go
down to dinner.
"After dinner he found that he could
catch later train to Boston, and he gave
$50 to friend and spent the remaining
$40 in stack of blues. 1 never saw luck
run the way it did for him that night. He
couldn't miss fiat foot if he tried.
"Once he left SO uncovered, and just b.
fore twirled the ball he dropped the last
four chips he had on it and it jumped up
u