The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-05-05
A KING OF GAMBLERS.
How On Ex-slavs Made q Fortune al Pcker
PlaIno.

In Los Angeles, says the san Francisco
Examiner. Barton Is one Of the few
really rich gamblers. He owns houses
and lots I'm Leadville. Col, that ren.
for about $50 month; he has stores
at Helena, Mont, that are worth fully
$4,000 and he has some property in
Denver, besides thousands of dollars
i'm gold and silver mining stocks I'm
Colorado and Montana, and some day
the blocks of this stock may be worth
a fortune.
Yes. / have been a gambler practi-
cally all my life said Mr.. Barton. Il
was born "a slave on the Hambill faria,
I'm Southern Missouri, about 1886, but
1 had an indulgent, kind master ana
mistress, who spoiled me by leniency.
1 was given an unusually good COM
mon-school education, probably tue
best tuition that any negro boy had
i'm that region of Missouri. My Mas
ter proposed making me his bookkeeper
or business manager among the colored
folks on the farm when he was away
selling his crops. But / was not taught
TO do hard work, and To know the value
OF patient toll. / knew how 10 play
cards when mere toddler. learned
poker from watching games that my
master and his planter friends used 10
play day after day for "a week at time
at the farm. / must have been about
IL years Old when had a fairly cor
rect idea of how poker is played.
when the Civil War broke out L
was about Is years old. and my master
having gone into the Confederate army,
and all that region where / lived haV-
ing been thrown into general civil dig
order, 4 ran away finally and got 70
Chicago. There 1 worked In saloon
and my talent for cards became known.
/ worked for 50 a week for just two
months. Then with a hacker who
agreed 20 give me $50 a week for year
and share half my profits, / became q
professional poker player. The fact
that / was black and had better edu-
cation than many of the cheap gam
blers whom i met about the green table
gave me "A reputation. That was what
Y wanted. / had clerks, bookkeepers
and small-fry gamblers hunt me up IN
those days and make dates with me
for a game. Before l was Is. although
lack of sleep and my exciting nervous
pursuit made me look several years old
er, / was playing in games in Chicago
jackpot frequently contained $500. The
very day that the Chicago evening
newspapers published the news that
Lincoln had signed the Emancipation
proclamation and I was a free man,
which were $4,000.
"The most wonderful days I ever
knew for poker playing generally ev-
erywhere were I'm the first ten years al
ter the war. The soldier boys came
home from army and camp life expert
poker players. and the game had an
extraordinary revival. believe it
was about 1870 that Gen. Robert G.
Schenck, Of Ohio. made the game ia
nous in Europe. The poker rooms in
Chicago and ST Louis multiplied fast.
and all did a smashing big business
just after the war The AlcaZar club,
on Madison street. i'm Chicago was run
by three eX-army officers. and | had
some stock i'm it. In 1861 and 1865 to-
tai investment of $4,000 there yielded
over $4,000 a year clean profit. The
Morrison club. on Polk street. was a
gorgeous affair. and i know personally
that its net annual prohts were over
600 per cent. on the investment
From Chicago l came West. | was
I'm Virginia City I'm the marvellous days
when men sprang from mining laborers
TO multimillionaires i'm year. Then
/ went TO San Francisco, and since 1875
| have played for weeks and months i'm
every town OF 10000 or more population
in the West. The fact that ] ann a black
man has been the greatest factor in my
success for over a third of a century.
Have ] found poker generally played
honestly? Yes, i'm the professional
sense Of the phrase. but not in the
strict moral sense. | mean that poker
is the art of deceit and moral lying.
But the most honorable man ! have
known. SO far as their word and con-
duct go. outside of gaming, are profess
sonal gamblers. Some of the bravest
men. not of the dare devil bravado
type of men that one meets in the min
ing and cattle towns Of the West, but
moral heroes. have been gamblers. Po-
ker is the science of looking serene and
unconcerned when YOU may be secretly
shaking with fear OF disaster. The old
er ! grow and the more / play poker,
the more ! am sure il Is the least known
OF any game OF cards
Among the gentlemen and unpro-
fessional poker players that I have
known, United States Senator Sharon.
OF Nevada and San Francisco. was the
hest He was a marvellous reader of
human nature, a close observer OF min
ute personal things about his associ-
ates, and bold poker PLAYER to rely
upon the correctness OF his obserVa-
tons Hundreds of times | have no.
ticed tricks about a persons face or
expression that led me 10 know that my
immobile and stolid poker opponent
was slightly nervous or ioyous ut his
hand, but 7 have lacked the courage to
back nv knowledge M with gold coin.
Speaking about courage reminds me
that frsf-class poker PLAYER must
study himself as thorouRhlv as he stu
dos his opponents. used 70 think |
knew myself but I'm later wears have
come 20 tho conclusion that 7 do q
whole lot of things that reveal my
thoughts to the other professionals
Coure ge is the hardest characteristic
- feign. " takes heap of KNOWLEDGE
about Yourself to know just how 10
play a hand"
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