The herald., 1897-02-02
1t Is a Rare Thing to See Six
Gentlemen at the Board
TENDENCY OF THE GAME
Is TO Let Loose Many Pent Ul
Vices
Old Players Occasionally Learn Much Of
the Weakness of Human Nature.
Tactics OF the Tll-Tempered Man.

| A wise man, noted for his gentleness Of
feeling and force of speech remarked to
several poker playing friends that six
gentlemen never sat down to game of
poker, and companion added: You
may summer and winter a man, but
you never really know him until you
| sit with him in a poker game"
Both of these statements are extrav-
agant, but they contain more truth
| than most people would suspect, and
| anyone who plays am occasional game Of
poker would do we'll to ponder over these
statements; for If he does he will be sure
to find some fault in himself and his
neighbors he did not know existed And
| if he will take the lesson home to himself
he will be wiser and better man for
| having played poker in a studious frame
| of mind.
| There are lot of little vices locked UP
| in q man somewhere which the ordinary
affairs of life do not seem fitted to bring
| out But the game of poker is the key
| that will let them loose, and they come
sometimes with rush. All sorts of
petty vices and larger sins flow out of a
man onto the poker table with a rush
that is painful to everyone around the
| board. And then the man himself goes
| home to suffer the reaction of his own
| Viciousness veXed at himself for his un-
gentlemanly conduct and surprised at
the shortcomings of the others. He did
not know how mean and small and
abusive his friends were until he played
| poker with them and he never knew be-
| fore that he could be tempted into like
exhibition himself.
| If there be any good in the game of
| poker it is that it compels man to know
himself and 2luch Of human nature he
never dreamed of before. Poker is very
1ar roraIN n ora mo Of hunan n n a tllre and the
greatest students with an aptitude for
that kind of learning are the succe ssful
players.
COURSE OF CHRONIC LOSERS.
The chronic losers, on the other hand
are those who will not learn this truth,
but go on charging their misfortune to
luck and. perhaps, acting on supersti-
tions instead of reason. 1t does not
seem to matter much whether it is a
25-cent limit or a table stake game, the
temptation to make themselves and 9TH
ers miserable is bound to possess the
majority of men.
There is the man who sings and whis-
ties, tells funny stories and tries to
cheer up his companions when he wins.
| When he loses he has a genius for do
ing and saying mean things that is little
short of marvellous. The settled rules
of the game are violated maliciously
and the plain laws of decency are set at
naught, regardless of the effect on the
| rest of the players. When he begins to
lose he will be sure to call for a new deck
of cards, and he will not consent to the
use of the old deck until the new one
arrives. He will insist on his right, as
! loser, to delay the game until the new
| pack is brought. When it comes, If 1t
| HAPPENS to be red deck, he will de-
mand blue one, and another delay re-
| suits from his whim. He will stand on
Ii ..-~l.% z.l,, H. l. L..
and he will be so long about 1T, and he
| will give the man on his left signif-
| cant look, as if to throw doubt on his
honesty. The pot Is opened and the
disagreeable man has three aces His
face lights up, then the lines grow hard,
and he flirts a handful Of chips into the
| pot. saying
Il raise YOU"
How much?" says the opener.
Cant you see?" says the disagree
| able man. Count EN-
COUNTING THE POT.
But there is no way of counting them
! except to calculate the amount known
| to have been put in. This means count
ing out the original pot, the amount it
has been "sweetened," and the amounts
| properly put in by the men who stayed
| The disagreeable man insists he raised
| the pot SO, and when count shows he
| only raised it 81, he declares he is getting
| the worst of it in all possible ways, and
| then he viciously tosses in another dol
| lar.
Whats that for?" says the man who
opened the pot.
II raised it SO, but you say am 81
| short and I am aking it good"
You simply raised it," says the opener,
"and a count of the chips shows you
raised it 81. You are not permitted un-
der the rules to raise 1t again until an
| other bet is made
"Well, 1 meant to raise it SO, and if
was 81 shy in the pot ] ought to be al
| lowed to put it in now
When he is told the rules of poker
take no account of what he intended
TO do. but rather what he does Go, ne
simply says, "All right, let it go. II
there is a tough end of any proposition
1 am sure to get it,
The first bet the disagreeable man
makes after the draw is called; ne
reaches out scoops in the pot, and then
laying his hand down says in merry
mood, Three aces"
But" says the man who called him.
wouldn't it be just as we'll for you to
| show your hand before you rake in the
pot?
| gruffiy. You can't beat 'em. II you can
| take the pot"
| you have upset your own chips in
| the pot. and if ] could beat your hand
| don't know how you could separate
| the pot from your own chips. Mean
| while I'll ask you to show me your
| hand"
LOSES BY A FOUL HAND.
! The disagreeable man finally spreads
| out his hand. There are the three aces,
| but the mar who opened the pot dis
| covers the hand contains six cards. he
| shows down a pair of kings in proper
| hand and demands the pot.
There were Only five CARDS in tnat
| hand when / threw 1t down.
But there are six now, ana you
| alone are the keeper of your own hand.
| well. / had three aces before the
| draw. and everybody heard me call
| two cards. If the dealer gave me three,
| it's his fault, not mine. Besides the
cards | drew did not help my hand any
! TIE pot is mine by all the rules of COM
mon sense"
"And it's mine by the most elementary
rule of poker" quietly says the other
"a foul hand has no value whatever
and it makes no difference how it be-
| came foul Every man must pick up
| five cards only or lose his rights in the
| the pot No matter how many cards
| are dealt him. he must rot nick up any
more than the proper number"
| Before the olsd2reeaDle mai Will yield
| every other man at the board has to
insist on his giving up the pot. But the