The times., 1897-05-02
KING kALAKAUA At POKER
The Last Of the Hawaiian Mon
archs Was a Good Player.
THE STORY OF ONE GAME
He Rushed His Luck When He Had
Any and Took Big Chances When
Things We're Going Wrong-The
Tricks of the Card Sharps Well
known to HIN.

when his head was clear the late King
| Kalakaua. OF the Hawaiian Islands. was
| pretty hefty problem for the best Of
the Honolulu poker deyotees To stack up
against in a game of draw said an Oahu
| he was perfectly sober and not drinking
! that he did not make some of his op-
ponents smoke a pipe for while. But
| he invariably got into trouble when, ins
| big frame encompassing couple of bucket
fuIs OF dry wine, he would sally forth from
the palace with the intention OF making
| Il killing. Then he would pay eight IiisfiS
and three flushes with recklessness
| that was positively agonizing TO lockers
on. He would bluff the knobs off the table
| drawers, and his opponents, knowing his
| system of play when he was in condi-
tion of vinous mental exaltation, would
get his mortgages for the tax receipts
Of the Islands with unfailing regularity.
"But when Kalakaua found that he was
getting into very deep water over these
mortgaged tax receipts, he would embark
upon systematic sober tack for while,
and then, clear-headed. quickwitted,
and really first-rate master of all the
kinks in poker, with countenanee when
playing as expressionless as that OF his
Chinese chef, be would hardly ever fail
to recoup the great losses he suffered In
his Bacchic periods.
'WhenKalakaua was a mere boy, rlinning
around Honolulu with noidea that he would
ever be chosen King OF the isladns, he
learned all the tricks OF the game fom
itinerant card sharps and magicians, who
gave their exhibitions only to cloak their
real business OF wandering professional
gamblers.
In those riotous days, before the tri-
umph OF the missionary element, Honolulu
was a great stamping ground for those
men, who, after making their hauls, would
proceed ON their way to Australia. Japan
or China to work those equally rich fields
for short card players. Dave kaiakaua, as
he was then known to every man, woman
and child in Honolulu. was only a lad when
he had his first run-ins with this tribe, and
it cost him good many acres of his an
cestral lands before he discovered how
neatly he was being bilked. 1t was only
when he began TO meet the sharpers trifle
more than half way at their stuffed and
cold deck and frorn-the-bottoma and-niddle
trick that they decided he could be plum
dered no longer, and stopped playing with
him, leaving him, however, still pretty bad
Iy In the hole. After several years OF this
sort OF thing Kalakaua became an absolute
master OF the cards
"Hc could deal 'em any way he chose
with such dazzling rapidity that man
with the eyes OF a ferret couldn tell where
they were coming from. and he used to
take great pleasure in doing this at Jim
Dodd's saloon IN little exhibitions for his
friends, just to see them stare. butneither
as Dave Kalakaua nor asthe King Of Hawaii
did he ever play crooked game OF calds
with his friends. Kalakaua's conyivial
habits and his generally tumultuous manner
OF life never reduced him from he level Of
high-minded man, and don't know Of any
sort of man on earth Ike and respect more
| than do q square kanaka. l don't say
that Kalakaua never took measures 20 pro-
tect himself when, as very often happened,
American card sharps would land in Homo
lulu from San Francisco with almost the
announced intention of doing some slaugh-
tering at the palace.
IAN the sldughtering that any of these
| fellows ever did, so far as Kalakaua was
concerned, could put in my eye, as the
| tar says 1t was Kalaka ua's friends who
got his money in poker games, and then,
as 1 have said, they only got it when he
was having rummy fun with himself, and
none of US ever figured on hanging on 10
| it very long after he had sobered up, for
we always gave him chance to get back
| at us. I am certain that Kalakaua was
more than even with the game when he
| died.
II can easily recall my first poker game
| with the King as one of the players, for
| the circumstances connected with it were
| peculiar. 1t was in S79, not many months
| after had gone TO the islands to take
| hold of my sugar ranch in the eastern end
| OF Oahu. On this Sunday had driven over
| to Honolulu to visit some friends at Sans
| Souci, one of the eity's suburbs.
zone of these friends, an American, who
| now has very large hunk of the island OF
| Maui planted in sugar and coffee, was one
| os those poker players who would rather
| draw to cards than eat or sleep, and when
| / found him, he, with three of his chums,
| including an American naval officer, who
now has as many stripes TO his sleeve as
| you can count when he passes you, was
| sitting at table under a bamboo pavilion,
| shaded by cocoanut palms, in the middle OF
| red-hot jackpot. or course, / got in
| The pavilion, which was on the grounds
! Of my friends residence, was close to
| palm avenue used as a public road by people
/ bound in the direction of Diamond Head.
| We were getting along fairly well, each
| of US just 95out keeping his end up, AMI
| with few exciting plays, whena dark, heavy,
| good-looking man, plainly Kanaka oftbe
| higher sort, rode up TO the high fern hedge
| that separated us from the shady road
| His horse, as 1 very shortly found cut,
| was very beautiful blooded Kentucky
| hunter, black as night
| "An of us were pretty much interested
| in the game, but when the rider made his
| appearance I saw the rest of the fellows
| suddenly come to their feet and salute him.
| l didn't knew what it was all about, hav-
| ing never before seen the King but / fol-
! lowed suit on general principles and gave
| him as good salute as I knew how to
make. / was rather glad that had done
| this when I was introduced by my friend
| to His Majesty King Kalakaua,' for,
| though 1 didn't take much stock in the
! royalty business, had always heard what
rafting square fellow Kalakaua was.
"Kalakaua' was invited to the pavilion
| by my friend and, forcing his horse through
| the yielding fern hedge, he dismountcd and
| tied the animal to a nearby ralm When
| he dismounted we could all see that he
was Just little jagged, for he woDbled
i = IA 49, -