The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-12
HE DIDN'T KNOwTHEG GAME.
THE DRUMMER'B COSTLY LESSONS
Nv PACIFIC OOAST ER.
Surprising stunts MAY ne Performed In n
Region whore the Jotor Counts na Any
OLD ThtnE, gtrniGhtn Don't go. JaoLs Al
WAYS Progress. ana Fiushea Must rie Pat.

WASHINGTON, Dec. H." Before sitting into q
gamo of pokcr anywhere near t~idcwatcr out on
tho Pacific coast you'll always find 1t n pretty
good scheme TO make a few little preliminary in
quiries Of your fellow players as to the kind OF
poker you're expected TO mix up with" said n
travelling man who had recently returned to
tho East after n tour on tho slope. "Bccauso
l neglected to do this myself on several occa-
sions I rot into all sorts OF embarrass-
ing situations and all colors of poker
trouble all the way from Portland, Or, to San
Diego, CAL, and the follows with whom 1 did
little stunts Mt Travail good people. business
mon 1 met with through lcttcrs-put mo
down as tho worst jay in a game of cards that
over crossed the Rocky Mountains. The folks
out there think we're all jays back here, any.
how, IL for no other reason than that we haven't
enough brains to migrate in II body to the Pacific
slope. but they complacently told mo that I was
the worst of the species they had ever seen.
simply because I couldn't seem to get the hang
OF tho queer old game they call poker out In
that country. .
"The game they dub poker out there isn't
poker Mt all, In my opinion. It's a hybrid sort
of affair. full OF fancy moves that must havo
been chucked into tho original game by early
California vaQueros with such a taste for en-
Enlistment that they had to tack gilt fringe on
to their pants and to oncirclc their hats with
silver cable. Whatever they call 1t, it's not
American draw poker by n darned sight. Tho
kind of poker that l was raised on-tho real
thing. the article of draw that we play on this
side Of the Alleghanies-doesn't take any more
account Of the Joker. for instance, than 1t does
of the card case; but out in California they
think q mans plumb blind crazy If he ~rogistc's
n kick over having the joker in the deck. I'd
as lief play old maid or grab for corn-silk ciga.
rettes ms play draw poker with the joker mixed
M in 1t; but out there l had to take tho game as
it was served up. and, rs between poker with II
joker and no poker at all, l. of course, accepted
the lesser of the two evils and played. But l
got dumped on the game for about 1000 miles
of coast line, and that, too. by people who didn't
have to count themselves because they were so
many Mt the game. The trouble was that 1
played the game OF draw that 1 was brought up
on and they played their cross-bred game. and
the result was just about as queer as It would
be to see a baseball pitcher chucking up a Rugby
football 10 a cricket batsman with a fence picket
in his hands.
no nin not y forget rss TRY mny arst m TuG mir, wit, With 70 this his
vaguely that young 'uns, playing. draw for
beans or tin tags. once in a while showed the
joker into the pack for the fun of the thing, !.
OF course, never dreamed that rational adult
human beings in any quarter Of the earth
outrage upon the noble game Of draw as to
slap the Joker into a poker deck. But l FOUND
| OuU ulHtT6nI INC NeTV HTbJR KANE Oh draw Iunl L
sat into out in San Francisco.
1T vas a four.handed game. and was the
Ghrs E felIows w msn b IN ses D msn Who 1b bslo 9tne i6
the Native Sons organization. which accounts
for the weird brand Of poker they played. They
there; didn't know any better. and thought, and
no doubt still think. that their game is right.
1t was % cents ante and So limit. gave my
self two rat.ling, good pairs, kings up on tens.
my right made 1t q cOuDle OF dollars more TO
draw cards. This let two of EN- out OF 1t, hut l
drew one card, and so, OF course. did l. 1t was
his bet. and he came at me on the double with
the limit. I'd caught another king, and had as
ncat-looking q full house as a man needs to have
in any kind of q game.
about $50 in the pot. Said i to myself. i've got
game ' IS way %y against SNSi IS Your srf 10 l EHrssf fonTs a as INST
my full hand, especially on the first c%lntter out
pairs Of ~yours-which you probably haven't, for
the percentage is plumb against yon-yon GER
good poker reasoning, tho kind OF reasoning that
has kept INC necktio and peanut money ahead Of
anG s" him aH iEs fyai hSr 5%Snt }u sea as o of so' as anI he Z
Finally. said he. we are getting out OF
our depth and beyond the breaker line, ain,t
pers from the East never can feel the bunch
when you are licked, and so I'll skate in my
we each had about $50 in the pot then.
ping he pair Of tens. and was Just itiEs"t ITO TO
make some gOOd.natured crack about getting u
hoe to SCOOP in my WINNINGS on the first hand,
pot with a smile. His band consisted of a pair
of ae sSI up on T. p,iE Of SKIES amt the joker . ,
asked him when he rakcd in the pot. Can't you
sec its a misdeal l forgot to take the joker
You had q good hand all right, but aces beat
Kings, you know, anywhere from Tuolume to
'Yes said I, hut you've only got aces up.
and I've got a full, hand, kings up. and it's a
We'll: the, all looked at me like they thought
%TMisdeaill' said my, friead Who had swiped
the pot. What the deuce arc you giving us.
h !, in : TIIcd caught mv hsn the }Gksr o on the sed d y nsiS and I'd
skies. Don't an ace.full beat a king-full in that
desolgte Atlantic coast region YOU hail fromf
You mean you call the joker nm ace = said
/. the thing beginning TO dawn upon me.
The three fellows gSazed at me as If they
".'Nyhy, do you mean to sny.' said the man 1
had played With, that you don't know that in
maze it-that,, when you get il, either on tho
deal or on The draw. you can call it anything
SSS Sas %' or to Sn ss I IN 70 s Sks 0" To i ? yon W Njash. f old
man, You need sleep. You've beGn working too
h" af co THnH II ns sRd b h%y isae long night of it,
,ohs W Ds said hdk ]; 'Egoq, pS oshow may u 4 call this i
sSIEsSdi6s B III sef Is ih aiPPiEne sG Gaw 1l,''G to o'F mc .i" #Ryy
in mind the d Ssdt s Hop' It. you S"no Play lyiyD Poker co with y a
and Wen build card houses, or what's the
matter with playing casino for chalk or pin.
wheels 4
why; don't you benighted people back
Yes soid l, We do, We always give tho
joker in Q new deck to babies In arms to cut
their teeth on
Another queer kink in the slope game OF
draw is that straights don't go. I've been catch
ing occasional pat s~lraights and drawing to EN-
all my life. and ! think The gtraight is one Of the
p%rettiest plays in poker. In playing straights,
II the chop across the, table draws one card,
you've got the fun oftrying to figure out whether
he's drawing to a couple of pairs or bobbing to u
straight or a flush. and it's interesting work. IL
he stands pat, it's up 10 you to determine by tho
undertaking process whether he's simply bluff.
Ing, or actually has u pat straight or full hand
or fnsh In his pawe.
well, out on tho coast they've heard occa-
sional rumors OF such things ms straights being
played somewhere or another in the game OF
draw, but you won't meet one coast man in a
hundred that knows precisely what the straight
consists OF and what the CHANCES arc of u mans
getting n nat straight or OF filing a one-ended
or homble-endod slrniRhl. As for plaNlnC