The record-union., 1899-03-21
GREAT POKER GAMES.
STORIES ABOUT SOME FAMOUS
HANDS IN CARDS.
How the Senator Bluffed the For
eign Minister at John
Chamberlin's.

It was in the days when the only
John Chamberlin was catering Tor the
public. says the Philadelphia 'I1mes,
his public, on this side OF the otyx,
that rare company dined one evening
at his famous club house. 1t was
rare little circle, for the reason that all
had pa, esd the three-score WIRE, can
tering through most of that time at
very fast mace but all of that peculiar
material composition that never seems
to succumb to high living and hard
work that would long before have
killed ninety nine men of a hundred.
Two were white haired Senators who
:. had won both financial and polltlcal
success-men of millions, and excep-
tional characters among Millions Ihree
were members of the House, standing
at the forefront of the Representatives
of that day-three men who had played
a tremendous game in more ways than
one in building up the frontier IN the
'4Os and sos. Another was an ola
forty-niner who made his pile IN legit-
innate mining, added to it by keen spec
ulation, and piled up yet more by build
ing and wrecking railroads and Things.
Last. to make up the golden number
seven. was a great editor, yet great IN
journalism. but in the medieval days OF
the nineteenth century man VINO
swayed the country at that time with
his pen. making and unmalSing exalted
officials, and, as he put it himself,
playing the deuce generally" Cham
berlin hovered on the outskirts of the
~, 4ia;, Io fiOn Occa-
sionaIly-the conversation naturally,
in such presence, turning upon the
mysteriously fascinating subject of
games of chance, which have played
havoc with the human race ever since
the Gaboon apes began to toss up for
cocoanuts.
john said one of the Senator'S
after the telling of a number of thrill
ing tales of gambling on the green.
John, tell us of the most remarkable
game of poker that ever came within
your observation"
That's mighty hard to do" said
Chamberlin, "as you know I have seen
so many great games that it is hard to
say which was the most exciting. I'll
tell you of one. however, that seems to
me at this distance to have been the
strangest of all the games l ever Wit
messed. 1t was in the old clubhouse in
New York avenue, near Fifteenth
street which was occupied for years
by the Young Mems Christian Associa-
tion until it was burned. l dare say
there was never a game in the house
after my departure. 1t was in that pc
riod following the war when money
was more in evidence than it is at this
time, and that rscklessIess was in vogue
which was the result, I suppose, of the
devil-may-c spirit engendered by the
war Politics and play ran high. There
were political and other adventurers
here from all parts of the country, and
from all countries. Foreign Ministers
and the wealthier attaches of the Lega-
tions Were among the most reckless
bettors. and it was between a foreign
Minister and young and ridiculously
wealthy Senator of the United States
that the episode occurred to which I
reeer
There was bad blood between the
two men, and it was whispered there
was a lady in the case. At any rate,
made note of the fact that when the
other hands were laid down in the big
game of poker that was on one evening,
the two men raked each other savagely
before either would lay down. l felt
sure that in the chances of the play
these TWO would come against each
other with disastrous hands for some
body before the game ended. The ex-
pected happened. The ante was 50, and
q big jack pot was on. The deal had
passed several times, and each time it
was fattened. Finally it was opened
by a member of the House who was
noted for being high player. He had
started as stoker on a Mississippi River
steamboat and was then owner of
line of steamers. He opened the pot
for the downs The Minister sat next,
and swelled it $500 The next man
passed. and the next. The Senator
came up with another $500 raise, and
the player next to the dealer dropped
out The opener studied his hand for
a moment, and then laid down, as he
had but a pair of jacks, and the SEN
ator and the Minister acted as though
they We're out for blood
THE two men looked each other in
the eyes for a moment, and there was
deadly challenge in the penetrating
glare of both 1t was the Minister'S
BFSt GU ne quickly saw tHe RAISE, ara
each took a card.
II will bet you one cent said he,
With a sneer.
There We're no chips of value less
than s. and the foreigner fished cop
per from his purse. Each player
caught his breath quickly expressive of
their surprise. with the exception of the
Senator who seemed to have expected
some such play.
II will raise you > cents said he
quietly.
1T then dawned upon the others that
there was more in this than poker, and
they We're at once absorbed in the ex-
traordinary performance.
The minister put up three coppers,
thus seeing the raise and raising one
more.
"'And l raise you 81 was the re-
sponse of the Senator.
..'And I raise you So declared the
envoy.
" Five hundred remarked the Sena-
tor in a tone of Indifference, as though
wearying of the apparent nonsense.
One thousand better than you,'
said the other
One thousand and one dollars is
my bet' remarked the Senator, but I
could see glitter in his eyes that
boded no good for the foreigner. The
latter met the backward step of the
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