The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-01
LOST AND WON A FORTUNE.
HOW 4 FAMOUS GAMBLER BROKE
THE FARO BANK.

Dropped St2O,OOO in Limit Game
Then He Insisted That the Limit
should BE Taken on. After which
He Won S2;sS 900 and the HANK
Went BroISe-A Game Vouchcd for
by Many old Gamblers as the Larry
est known.
From the Philadelphia Times.
Time was, within the memory OF men
still living, when gambling was carried on
In New York with hardly any more score
cy than liquor selling in forbidden hours
is carried on to-day, since Mayor Strong's
reform administration gave the way TO
Tammany Halls less stringent rule. There
were gambling houses galore, known of
all men, and it was a matter of no dim
Guilty whatever to obtain entrance. Now
it is different, of course, for the most com
PLEASANT police captain is really afraid
to take chances on letting the tiger chew
up even his most willing victims Where
fore there are comparatively few profess
sIonal gamblers in the big city, ana none
of these are getting rich.
1t may be Wen that this Is So but there
are men who sigh for the good old DAYS"
and spend much of their time behind the
barred doors of such policy shops as man
age somehow or other TO continue business
despite the frequent assertions of the po-
lice that policy playing 10 stamped out
Between the morning and afternoon draw
lngs they tell wild and improbable stories
to one another Of things they have seen,
and curse the laws they dare not openly
defy.
one of the Oldest and most picturesque
sports" who sim linger spun yarns for
over an hour of games he had seen and of
some in which he had played. Perhaps the
most interesting of these was his account
prominent politician who is
still alive, won $23SOOO. after
first losing $4,000 at faro thus making
total winning of $l1S,OOO in a single sit
! ting. 1t is certainly a true story, for there
| are a dozen men still living who saw the
game, but the details have never 1t is
| thought, been told In print.
This politician, now an Old man, was In
his youth a bold and successful card play
er, understanding all games, and notably
skillful al short cards, but preferring faro
| to any other game. He was curiously
enough utterly Indifferent to the percent
| age which the split is claimed to give
| the bank and played doubles as freely
| as he did case cards, claiming that the
| split gave him as much advantage as il
| did tho bank, if not more IF a card
splits.' he used 20 say, Il win and lose
on the same turn and get half my money
back. As l figure ii. / am so much
| ahead 1t was queer figuring, to say the
least and Leigh, who is certainly good
! authority on such matters, declares that
he never heard anybody else reason in
! the same way. However" he adds, the
old politician was a dead game sport, and
| was mighty lucky at faro. Whether his
| peculiar figuring had anything TO do with
| his success, is more than I can say.
That particular game of faro which
| still holds the record was played in John
Morrissey's famous house in Twenty
fourth street, which was for a number OF
! years as well known as the big burIy
! congressman himself was known. There
was many gallant struggle with the
! pasteboaTds there, but was never a one
! there, or anywhere else, so far as / ever
| heard, In which any man ever won 1923
! O0 straight off the reel playing against
! bank, and In which there was single bet
of $5, 90 settled by the turn Of one card
Billy Meade was Morrissey's partner at
the time, and they were well used to bic
| games. but even they had not the nerve
TO hold the bank alone against this man as
| he wanted to play. I'll tell you how IL
! was; He came in one night loaded for
| bear and began playing the limit alnost
! from the first That Of itself was a
notable thing. for the limit at that house
was something to brighten the average
man Morrissey would take 5000 bets
right along from any man who had tho
nerve to make them, but higher than that
| he would not go and even that was a
good deal heavier than anybody had ever
played right along for a steady game
so, when this man began making sEoo
the regular bet in his play, there was
| good deal of excitement In the room. No
body else thought of playing. and he bad
| the center of the stage as we used To cav
! when | was an actor myself at the ola
! Bowery. Everybody crowded up 10 ,vat,b
the play, thinking, Of course, that il would
last only for deal or two. Even that
would have been something worth seeing
| and talking about But deal after deal
! went on, and still he kept IL up, now win
ming and now losing, but slowly and grad
! uaily getting behind without for a mo-
| ment losing his nerve or hesitatIng In his
| play.
You Know, or, perhaps, you don't know.
| how the news of such things travels among
| sporting men. II Is fairly wonderful end
/ never could explain It, but 1 do know
that before the game had gone on for an
| hour 1t was known in every gambling
house uptown that somebody was plav-
ing limit game at Morrissey's, and near
ly all the best known gamblers in the citv
came to see 1t.
"Bill Walton, who afterward kept The
| old house at II Ann street, was there He
| was Providence man originally. but he
| cut wide swath in New York John Nc
! Cormick Of SIS Broadway, was there. too.
and so were George Gage and 10 Abel
! Abel was the man who never played on
| either side of the table himself at any
game Of cards, but who got rich by back
! ing other mems games. He would ,tlr-
nish the money for any gambler whom he
| knew to be straight to run a bank ard
would take a percentage of the winnings
! for his profits. II was a good game of itself.
and he played it for all it was worth for
a long time. Then there were Jim Stuart.
! of Boston; Hollis Hollenbrook, John Wor-
! den, John bennett and Petrie, whose real
! name was Peterson, but who was never
! called by any but his nickname and nov,