The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-08-21
PIUTE POKER.

He was tGll, slender, mild hammered,
almost clerical looking soberly dressed in
black broadcloth, and wore white, full
dress tie, beneath which, in. the center of
the considerable expanse Of snowy linen
exposed by a low cut vest, CLEANED dia
mond, attractive from its size and purity.
That he was man of importance be
yond the locale of his western home was
shown by tho serious attention he was re-
cciving from the group of men of lis ago
all stouter, graycr and more fashionably
fresscd than he-who were seated with
linn in that Union square cafe much fire.
quented by prosperous veteran frcmcn.
They started him talking about his life in
the Mines and he told, among others, this
story:
81 always stuck to one game faro, ex
cept once. It's 60 years ago now that
there was u big excitement over new
camp in California, called Bodie. You
heard Of it perhaps. started there from
Carson, where I'd been dealing II game
but stopped at II town called Aurora, in
Esmeralda county, New, only ten miles
from Bodic. The two towns were away
up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, each
about five miles from the state lire.
"In Aurora | met an old dealing part
ner who'd started n faro bank there and
was doing good business. He was short u
dealer and let me into the game on equal
shares | putting my pile into the bank
with him. 1t was an old town-Murk
Twain had lived there when he was out
on the slupg--had gone burst and was now
booming again because of some new dis
coverics. Money was plenty and easy,
and the bank won about $500 or $500 u
day, running "a hours day, seven days
in the week.
''When was off watch in the afternoon,
l used to wander about Il bit to get the
smoke and bad air out of me, and in one
of these walks | came across party of In
dians playing Piute poker, us it was
called. Now, of course, I'd heard of PiutC
poker, and seen it played by the bucks
over on the Comstuck, where l dealt be
fore going to Carson, and, like every other
man in CUR business, I'd heard that no
white man had ever been able to learn the
game
"Well, 1 got interested, and used to
hang around the group of bucks, squatted
on the ground around blanket, in va
cant lot between the printing Office and
express office, and stand there as quiet as
the squaws, with their papooses on their
backs, studying the game. TO tell the
truth, 1T was pretty puzzling game,
without much rule according TO our way
of thinking, but gradually got IL notion
of what made the points and how to play
for them.
"In those days the bucks had pretty
good showing of money. They would
bring rabbits and quail and sometimes a
deer into camp and get good money for
them, and the squaws made good wages
saving wood. washing and that sort of
work for the whites, so sometimes the pots
got up to real money. But 1t wasn't that
made me want to take a hand; it was just
a natural hankering, as you might say, to
try my hand at "a new game, and one trey
said a white could not learn. So one DAY
l said to IL Luck knew, a chap we called
Captain Sam, that I'd sit in if he didn t
mind. Sam never said n word, but the
players hunched around the blanket, made
an opening for me, and Sam gruntcd ard
nodded for me to sit in. 1t turned out tc
be easier than / thought. Perhaps i,
wouldn't be easy for a man who hadn't
made cards the study of his life; but, as
say, it wasn't long before had the run OF
tricks SO that | stood even at the first sit.
ting. The next day l won little-not
caring to, you know, but just for the fun
of it, intending to make good to the bucks
in some other way Whit won.
"We were playing with pack so old
idisfgurcd that l knew every one 10y
LIS back in half n dozen deals, so l told
Sam to deal new deck. Sam grunted
and didn't want to; said the storekeepei
was heap big thief and charged 81 {
pack Thinking he was a little close,
gave him n couple of four bit pieces ant
told him to send for II pack, and he passed
the money over to u squaw and told her Il
go and buy pack.
"When it came, broke the seal ant
took the wrapper off myself. lost will
that pack from tho start l kept losing
too, till they had the last case l had abou
me, and l sent the squaw down to IN,
partner with an order for $50. l told he
to buy couple of more packs too.
"Well, that $50 didn't last long, and
felt pretty foolish. 1t wouldn't do to lie
the story get out that the bucks had dom
me, for I'd told the story to the boys, jus
as joke, you know, how I'd beat Captain
Sam and The other bucks at their owl
game.
II went down to the bank and got $500
and stopped in at the store and Dough
ten new packs of cards, which happene
to be all they had left. went back AM
sat in again. In just one hour we'd use
up all the cards and was broke.
~ did IA heap of bedrock thinking, bu
couldn't strike any kind of explanation
nohow.
"That night the storekeeper says to me
Bill, says he, since you bought thos
cards this morning, l can't help thinkin
about what happened in the store las
evening. A squaw came in and asked ho'
many packs had, and l showed up Il
She planked down $l4 and took the LOT
i thought it was kind of funny, but Ii
dams are queer folks anyhow. This morI
ing she came back crying, and asked III
to take back 3 packs. She said she'd bee
big fool. Sam had told her to buy on
pack and she had not understood. II
had beat her and would kill her sure if
| didn't take the cards back and return I'll
money. Well, I'd rather have the card
than be clean out of them, and us the
hadn't been opened l took them back