The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-01-28

THE DRUMMER's COSTLY LESSONS IN
PACIFIC COAST POKER.
HDEFORE sitting into a game of
:ssssssvsSsssseSsvsssesos

IF OhE sittihs iHto game VI
n poker anywhere near tidewater
ouf On the Pacific coast you'll always
find it a pretty good scheme to make
few preliminary inquiries of your fell
low PLAYERS as to the kind of poker
you're expected to mix up WITH" said
a travelling man who had recently re-
turned to the east after tour on the
slope because ! neglected to do this
myself on several occasions, got into
all sorts of embarrassing situations, and
all coors of poker trouble all the way
from Portland. Ore, to San Diego, CAL.
and the fellows with whom did little
stunts at draw-all good people, bust
less men | met with through letters
Put me down as the worst jay in a game
Of cards that ever crossed the Rocky
mountains The folks out there think
we're all jays back here, anyhow, if for no
other reason than that we haven't brains
enough to migrate in body TO the Pa
cifc slope, but they complacently told
me that / was the worst of the species
they had ever seen, simply because
roul[n't seem to get the hang of the
queer Old game they call poker out ia
that country.
The game they dub poker out there
isn't poker at all, in my opinion. Its
hybrid sort of affair, full of fancy
/ moves that must have been chucke1
into the original game by early Cali
| .ognia vaqueros with such a taste for
establishment that they had to tack
gilt fringe on to their pants and encir-
Gle their hats with silver cable. What
ever they call it, it's not American draw
. poker by darned sight. The kind of
. poker that | was raised on-the real
/ thing, the article of draw that we play
on this side of the Alleghenies-doesnt
take any more account of the joker. for
Instance, than il does of the card case;
but out in California they think mans
plumb blind crazy if he registers kick
over having the joker in the deck. Id
as lief play old maid or grab for corn
silk cigarettes as to play draw poker
with the joker mixed up in it; but out
there ! had to take the game as ii was
served up. and, as between poker with
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
Inc, and that, too, by people who didn't
have 10 count themselves because they
were so many at a game. The trouble
was that played the game OF draw that
was brought up on. and they played
'helr cross-bred game, and the result
was about as queer as it would be to
see a baseball pitcher chucking up
Rugby football to cricket batsman
with fence picket in his hands.
Illnot forget my first run-in with this
poker Joker idea. This was my first visit
2 the slope, you know, and, although
.doften heard vaguely that young 'uns,
paying draw for beans or tin tags once
y awhile showed the joker into the pack
ior the fun of the thing, l, of course,
never dreamed that rational adult hui
nan beings in any quarter Of the earth
senld have the nerve to infiict such a
asmal outrage upon the noble game
q draw as to slap the joker into poker
Deck But found out different the
very first game of draw that sat into
~ in San Francisco.
IT was four-handed game, and !
was the only easterner in the bunch.
me other three fellows were business
men who belong to the Native Sons
organization, which accounts for the
weird brand Of poker they played.
ihey played what was taught 'em in
,heir youth out there; didn't know any
better, and thought, and no doubt still
"'nk that their game il right.
was banker, and dished up the first
hend. 1t was rs cents ante and Ave dol
iars limit. l gave myself two rafting
good pairs, kings up on tens. All of the
o'her fellows stayed, and the man on
my right made it q couple Of dollars
more to draw cards. This let two Of
en- out Of 1t, but thought my two
PAIRS were good enough for two-dollar
muse and SO played with the raiser.
,'c Drew one card, and 30, of course, did
" was his bet, and he came at me on
'he double with the limit. I'd caught
another king. and had AZ nea t-loolxing
'ull house as man needs to have In
a'lN Kind of a game.
rive more'n you,' said I. and we
'nu''ied the limit back and forth until
III each had about $50 in the pot. Said
NJ myself: I've got you beat, my
I'VE Tor the percentage of the game is
my against your holding tours
s1'hst my full hand, especially on the
-. CATER out Of the box, and, even II
'ouN hlled thone two nairs NJ vou ra