The sun., 1897-01-17
..riy and ia,e Thi. would h.v. be,u all rIsh.,f

early and late. This would have boon all rishtif
u hadn't come 70 be noticed by and by that they
short time smounted to thousands Of dollars.
They won 100000 AZ one time. This began to
maxi maxi sSmmen, conn, ' 10 the club and IL was whis
shnrpers who had peen introduced into the club.
The suspoions OF tho members proved to be cor
rect as TO the character OF the men.
While this might have been a money max
Ing scheme At the outset. IL ruined the club. II
H RGsss o
fair game at he Holland. and whet her that was
true or not II had IL. effect. Tho producers
players constituted the main part OF the game.
and that was the case for more than year pre-
SioIs u.s. 70 the closing up Of the club aud its sale
What are producerst Producers is the club
nnne n,ne, LOT r. men who are able TO produce money
others Of means who make up the membership
OF sI ;he hrst.cls:s poker shops. 4 man might 60
he had no more he wouldn't be a producer. and
10 not a desirable membe OF this kind. A pro.
have plenty more where that came from to pro.
arSpped ou. q ths Holland Club. and i had TO
that settled the whole business. The Hoi-
land Club was gone. Don't know what a
broken down card player-one who has seen
better daysIboen a poker club himself once.
manly appearing. and often distIneu sled look:
Ing person. but he has no money. You would
never SUSPECT that though. to look at him;
There are always plenty OF men at the beck OF
the owner Of the club, who supplies them with
the necessary chips. and who play In q game at
club, and Il has perpetual lien on their win.
ninEs, which are rretty certain. for they usually
play IN so%Sna.ion nns sl'hopsa "TPssssn'y sr
quite sure TO have strons hand, and the others
know II. They manage to drag skllfnlly along
against the outsider. Against n combination
like this 1t IL impossible for the outsider to win
in running a shop like the other her Club have re-.
ferred to II lie nothing like as large as WAS len
Oh. spoy ssgs n. he
political and other places, and business men
were making money rapidly. know the keeper
up magnificent block Of business buildings out
OF some of hi, profits from the kitty. and has
plenty OF dollars besides. Another man who
held q responsible and remunerative place in n
prominent bank resigned from II u few wears ago
a1 take an INTEREST," the greatest poker club ne
with fortune OF several hundred thousand
dollars, all made from the 'rake-ufr,' ana per-
pots now and then. On the other hand, know
good many mon who became club men OF his
up among the big figures in the thousands. and
have fed out every dollar Of IL In club dues To
eoae, his pos.r losses in one of thes. club. ON
the 1nfcrs OF one hand By calling each nnger
aud the thumb $4,000. And there are others.
or in close proximity to the Tenderloin district
| there are still n few left In the old downtown
| sporty district The principal one OF these
| left perhaps Ia in Nassau street. between Ann
| and Fulton streets. THIS 10 what they call a
| good game A good game 10 one that is com
| tinually going. with plenty OF players with
plenty OF money. The members OF this club are
| chtehy business men who get away from their
| from the many great ONCE buldings of that
| locality. This game 10 particularly well patron;
| lied BY Brooklyn men because II Is located
near the Bridge. and can be tackled
| by them both In going to and coming
from that city. number OF former well
| known bookmakers also form q conspicuous
| group that frequent this club. The owner
| Is n veteran in the business and has experienced
| all Its ups and downs. lie has had many clubs,
| but 10 credited with being looter-that Is after
| establishing q good run OF players lcoting the
| tricks and combinations against the business
men and other square players. frequent-r OF
| that downtown clu b SAWS that q well known card
| sharp has cold-decked TIE game there several
| times during the past few months Deftly ex'
changing the regular deck OF card. for one
stacked to give.ood hands to ali the players, but
| the winning one to the sharper. is cold-deckin
| y game.
THE hard times OF the past year or two ha.
| visibly affected the poker clubs. Former good
| producers have not been able to produce a:
freely as usual. and the game has languIshed
| percepttbly at the big clubs. While the run
| ming OF ono OF these clubs may he 80 highly
| profit able to the owners, II ts terribly wearing
| on their health. Long hours OF watchfu work
| and great nervous strain soon have their efec
| on them. 1t Is not go long ago that partner IL
one Of these pros pc rois clubs committed suicide
| at the Hotel Metropole."