The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-30
A DOG THAT KNEW POKER.
TIPPED IT'S OWNER OFF TO HIS or
POHENTs' HANDS.

Ite Master Falae tbs Once IN heNonbS'
-For a fox terrier. that dog don't seem to
know q whole lot" said one OF the men In the
back room OF an uptown cafe.
The old fox terrier was buryinR his gray
muzzle IN the lap OF his master and waRginR
his stump OF q tail foolishly. His master was
n squat. thin faced man OF the all-agod classi
that IL. he might have been anywhere from 30
TO So years Of age. Running away from the
corners Of his shrewd eyes were many tiny
wrinkles. In his Ret-up he looked like ready
money. He Tapped tho doG's clipped ears one
over the other and looked reminiscent.
well" said he. replying to the other man's
remark. II can't say that he docs look dead
Wise and smooth to the naked eye. He's not
one OF these here fresh sooner dogs that wants
10 put you next to all no knows the FIRST clat-
ter out O. the box. He's no trick matt any
how. 1 raised him from q pup. and 1 never
taught him any OF the jay tricks that these
pillow-raised. dog-cracker NUTS 20 through.
whath he don't know about standing up in q cor
ner and hopping over n cane and speaking for
grub and waltzlnR on his front feet and play
nR 'possum. and all that kind o. dinky work.
would Oil a book. But II any OF you people
think you oan give him any points on the value
OF hands In a game Of poker, then you need a
new dope cook. and that's which,"
'Pokerp" said another Of the party. In
eredulously. say. shoot IL In nRnt- TOUR
yen-hook's oyerworked."
''That's what / said-poker." replied the fox
terriers owner. firmly. I'm putting you
next now, because I don't make It a business
10 do pals in a poker game. He's the best
poker dog on the American continent, that
mutt. Can't begin to figure on how many
times he's won me out. and for how much.
He's sulked on me two or three times at ortiz
cal junctures in games OF draw. and given me
the wrong tips, just to get square with me for
something or other. but that was when he
was young and sassy and disposed to work
his edge on me. He's been tipping me of
right now for seven straight years. and-well.
I've got a dollar or two scattered around" and
the owner OF the poker dog slowly pulled the
tInfoil of n Decent cigar.
Didn't have o bit o. trouble teaching him
che game. l suppose?" asked one of the men
at the table.
well" replied the fox terriers owner, strik-
ing q match on his diamond-incrustrd match
safe. II can't say that teaching him the hands
was altogether a snap. At first he used to
get the kings and the jacks mixed once In a
while, and then he had o habit, when he was
learning the game. OF getting the Fights and
tens twisted. too. But 1 broke him OF those
defects after a while. 1t wasn't so much trou-
BILE teaching him the value OF the hands In
poker as it was to fix up q sign manual by
which he could express himself and tip me of
on the hands held by the other fellows. But
patience was my long suit in teaching that
dog the game OF poker. and in less than a year
after / showed him the first pack Of cards he
ever saw. he was able to put me onto the
worth Of every hand around a table without
any. of the marks falling to the scheme. His
method of communicating such information
to me during the progress OF a game Is q bit
involved and intricate. and we've got a lot Of
little code signs that would require too much
elaboration in the explaining. but I'll just give
you a little idea Of the way the thing works.
Suppose I'm sitting in a four-handed game.
Tho dog Is nosinR around the room. not in any
ostentatious kind Of way and not getting him
self noticed at all by the other three In the
game. A hand is dished out. The dog noise
lessly rubbernecks behind the chair Of the
FIRST player on his route. The first player.
we'll say. has got a pair OF sevens. and I've got
my eye on the dog. The dog quietly gapes
twice. to indicate that player No. 1 has q pair.
and then blinks both OF his eyes seven times
IN rapid succession. Seer OF course 1 know
sevens. l pretend to scan my hand. while the
dog quietly gets behind the chair Of player No.
psss Ss1 lis say yis NSt : pa HAS d tnTef hGis ue eisht EYE Ths sh aes
times; Il It's three kings. lett paw oyer his
Pubo AAo o O. ~ hio ASo0 dLid tiDAbo y
at his nose. savyy2, And so on; He's got the
stretch finish. II No, 3 has got a pat flush he
closes his left eye and keeps it closed until he
sees Pm noticing him. II No. 3 has got o pat
full house he shuts up his right eye in the
This, Of course. is only preliminary and it
the table have got in their hands before the
draw. II they're too we'll fixed for me before
the draw. Of course l drop out of it there and
then. But, il I've got a pretty good fist full
myself and am as good as any OF 'em before
Just as QUICK as all the follows that stay in pick
up the cards they've drawn the dog. does his
little act all oyer again and TIPS me off on those
dead easy, don't it, II, 1 wanted &c. play the
scheme to its limit. which would be q fool trick
self stuffed and mounted by some loser get
ting next to his gag. I'd have too much money.
good things take coin off me so fast that / al
most got and me knowing all the
time lust what they had in their hands. The
too, OF course I'd only play of on 'em for a
while. Just long enough to make them look on
me as something, easy. and then me and the
dog'd waltz in and chew their names Off close
Yes. Stree. that dogs been a sure enough
meal ticket for me for a long while. But. as
told you a while back, he sulked on me two or
Ehh a SD times yo1 and a gnye D me the sn T%rSSo 0t 6 steer when N
thing or other. and | got hurt on these occa-
ssiIOns; f. for I,, a fact: f Ri enaD one o. those
itliCo pNl SuinA ~ OCOh -pluS lhB " . v
eral nights in succession with three young
letting EN- take slathers OF It off me Just to get
them Interested. All three of 'em had gobs OF
the green and ] figured on making EN- all
move gu, to Seattle or somewhere by the time
mutt was only a two-year-old then. but he was
playing mighty, fine poker, and these three
Minneapolis ducks looked like q fine cleanup.
On the afternoon, of the fourth night that We
got together In the game I'd got hot over
the mutt chewing one of my hats all to pieces
fox terriers are worse than goats for chew
ing things up-and I'd given him three or four
good raps over he SIDE Of the, head. He didn't
like. this. a little bit-I could see that. He
wouldn't have much to do with me for the re-
painder OF the afternoon, and | couldn't con
Just looked at me out of the tau OF his eye. as
much as to say. I'm gong to throw, you the
first chance ! get but Of course | couldn't fig
ure that he'd carry his sulkiness into the game
OF draw that night. when / intended to begin
on my three good things and crimp up their
wallets.
That night ! took the mutt with me. as
usual. to the house OF one OF the good things.
where we played, 1 couldn't get tho dog to be-
very ehummy with me; though. even after
TO soft soap him, The licking l had given him