The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-28
A BIZ OF POKER ETHICS.
ACTION OF conscience PUT BY
KEEN OBSERVER.


pight to Make Use of the KnOwI-
,.dge-suspiciOn, Though, That He
.rold a Fairy Tale.
From The New York Sun.
Let go The anchor cried the skipper.
-Four poker hands were slapped down on
M. catia table ana four land lubbers
sared in four different directions to Obey
the order
You're il, Penfeld" said the skipper to
5e man who came nearest to obeying the
|ori,rs. THAT is the rope right in front of
GU
Pcnfeii lei the anchor drop and the
I yUcht was presently riding quietly.
Now, see here" said the skipper, a lit
e man with large inspirations, Il have
,ui up with you fellows long enough. Ii
L. quite evident that you will never learn
be name Of the different parts of yacht
/ aud ] am going to fix things so that you
wiz know at once what / want done and
!. ID can obey me in turn instead of all
,0mpiug on deck at once"
Acting on his Inspiration, he took dis
Ecardcd poker deck and fastened a card to
Id ged TO issue an order. Immediately he
/ had an intelligent and serviceable crew.
|Nncn he called out to "let go the king of
cubs or 10 take in the queen of hearts,
Tie laudlUbbers jumped to their proper
|pac,s ike old sea dogs. With this salts
3Vlory arrangement they were able to
continue their poker game with but few in
|t,uupions. When an order was called one
mau could attend 10 it while the others laid
r|,rHp 10 on t1h nff cd
stead Of All rushing away in four differ
Gin directions in the hope that one would
DE in the right place to perform the re-
Gured service.
And now that the situation is known,
you must get acquainted with the play
ers. Chief Of the group was John Balm,
millionaire, who once announced in
burst of unusual confidence that he never
PLAYED for more than s. ante, for when
one got above that he was gambling. OF
course, he looked on any game with a limit
On it as merely showdown, and the
Others in the party suspected that he was
showing cOndescension to them when he
took a hand in their little dollar limit
game. When he played poker the cards
occupied a secondary part, for he played
Tie men more than anything else. He
seldom paid any attention to the cards
during the first few rounds but devoted
himself TO noting how the different play
ers acted when they bettered their hands
Do the draw. He asserted his right to
use every fact he could observe in a game
Of poker, and the keenness of his OBJ
servauon was marvellous. 1t Is recorded
that on one occasion he met a man with
Ia corporation face who proved to be
worthy fOeman. By dnt of close watch
los however, he finally discovered that
A-s rival had one weakness. When he
oellered his hand, although he never
managed a muscle of his face or showed
ne slightest tremor of his well-trained
II Voice the little finger of his left hand
4 lWtehed perceptibly. Banking on this
knowledge, Balm had beaten the other man
| standstill. With such a player in the
anne it naturally followed that every one
/ ts Keyed up to his best; for the smooth
dthery-like face and steel gray ewes
made one feel that the game was presided
yer by the fates themselves
ne most enthusiastic player was VIII
ehileid' a young married man who used
tell about his wonderful baby, wnen
We're not playing, and who was en-
wing his first outing since his married life
Nsdn From his conversat ton il was easy
see that he was one of the most uxor-
us Of men. His wife knew all about his
BUSINESS and was his chief adviser. The
Ue reason for his presence in the party
vas mat his Wife was still young and had
meas about allowing a husband a proDer
amount Of freedom. She mad urged him to
axe this holiday and be one of the bows
s9a'n He enjoyed himself Ike a half
i'hen colt turned out to pasture and kept
/ up enthusiastically the game of poker
which Balm took part in so stolidly. Ell
Mhs the third member of the party, need
Aot be especially described for he was one
.. t'pse self-effacing men who enjoy them
serves without the inobtrusve and may be
Dored without showing it. He could al
ways be counted on TO take a hand in a
same OF poker wherever and whenever
proposed. As for the last member, Smith,
l. possesses some high-priced information
ABOUT the game which he would willingly
dispose of to some rich beginner who is
loply blessed with a beginners luck.
or hVe days of the cruise they played
most OF the days and all of the nights
NHhout any occurrence especially exciting
lunng the daytime, while they were
Gdising, the skipper stood at the wheel
thl issued his orders from time 40 time
From where he sat he could watch the
game by looking down into the cabin and
o1ld take part in any conversation that
cox place. During the evenings he natur-
| tly took part in the game.
ihey touched at various towns and cub
/ n0uses along the sound and owing to the
4 varying luck of the game had each cashed
4 '"eg KS so mat there was cOnsldera be mon
H. IN circulation about the yacht. As is
4 usual where a game is kept up continuous
IL we limit became iTks0me. With only a
uoAar limit no one could do any bruffing,
when Penfield finally exclaimed: SAY,
CLOVIS, this is the last day of our cruise.
say We wind up with a game of poker
.d' "H he really a game. ] move that we
'"ioW the limit TO the fishes" All agreed.
@+a the game proceeded. Penfield was the
aisest winner and so the others had no
Hhpunctions about letting him into a
'ine mat was much too warm for him.
lH'y took a fresh deck of cards and be-
San Inc skipper Interrupted them from
'"e 10 time, but in spite of that they
eCN Ihled to get more and more interest
-. The bets continually crept higher. AT
mere came a jack pot that seemed as
It would never open, and even with The
t'N-eent ante there was several dollars in
A. fhaily it came to BANS deal The
IaI.s were dealt 10 Penfield on his left.
AUS opposite and Smith al his right.
p j. His pei is worth opening for 49," said
"tll' after looking at his cards
me Sot was worth opening for much
i-3. @ aud the others an knew that he was
''y trying to coax them in Elkins came
fa,- 90