The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-18
POKER AS NOW PLAYED.
GAME INsUREs BIG PROFITS TO
THE ROOM-KEEPERS.

Big Handicap in the Limit Bets-Vet-
eran Gambler Tells of High Stakes
in the Old Days of the Regime
when Poker Was Really Played.
Beaten by the Men They Had Plan
ned to Rob-Typical Combination
of the Kind which Produce
Stories.
From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Poker is a game that is productive of
many queer combinations at times" said
an old-time player who was waiting for a
game to be started in a Chicago club house
one night last week. There's very little
real poker played here any more. There 5
lots of alleged poker, of course, but it's
nearly all of the $3-init kind. with about
three pluggers for the house to every four
live men. It's game that's run for the
rake-off entirely. If the pluggers win che
house is ahead,gas they ali fla pson shares;
if they lose, the house wins anyway, as
the kitty gets checks enough TO insure a
fat profit. There are at least a dozen
all conducted on the same plan, and all
of them are making money, Cheating?
No, there's none to speak of. The game
is strong enough without it, and the pro
prietors are wise enough to see that there
is no sense in killing the goose; that lays
the golden eggs. Let me Illustrate the
percentage In favor of a game conducted
in this manner: All the games are seven
hoT doc oil & la IL nil
a white check, with 1919 cents, as a rake
off. Five liye men drop in and buy $40
worth of chips each. The house stakes
two pluggers with $50 more in order to
get the game going. Hour in and hour
QUE the Jackpot rake-of will average
twenty white checks, or $3.50 an hour.
Besides this, there is a rake-off for every
called hand of two pairs or better that
will bring the ktty's portion up to at
least $3.50 an hour. In twenty hours play
che kitty will eat up just $40, or every
check there is on the table al the begin
ming of the game. With three or four
tables running. as is the case in most of
the downtown games. the house has a
sure-enough bonanza.
No Chance for Live Men
Occasionally one of the hive men has a
run of iuck and gets away with a few
checks but NOT often. The pluggers are
ponds upon getting out a little 10 the good
at the end of the game, and they are not
taking amy real gambling chances They
lose at times, of course, but as rule they
win. They VIII sit quietly for an hour at
time waiting for good hand, and when
they get 1t they know how to play il.
Then they have a sys EN- of back-ra,sing
between themselves which is calculated
to brighten our weak-nerved players, no
matter how strong their hands may be-
Taking alb these facts into consideration
the live man has small show to come out
ahead of the game unless he has a Pine
nomenal run of luck and holds hands that
will warrant him in bucking against the
boosting tactics of the pluggers. Time
was when no limit was the rule in poker
and then we had real gambling. A man
might be $1,000 or so 10 the bad and get
even on one good hand. He can't do that
in a S3-MmM game and therein dies one of
the secrets of the big profits the club pro-
prietors make. 1t was bad enough when
change was made to the table-stalse
game. but. the limit play combined with
the kitty makes a cinch for the house.
but that isn't what / started to talk
about. l was reading the Washington
Post the other day Of the od-time skin
games The story was one with which
was familiar and illustrates the point
tried 10 make at the beginning. 1t was
tnree- game III WNiCn a ofllOOhIl
short-card man had started out 20
rob a sucker who had lots of money the
third player being a sharp honest man,
who knew he was up against hard
game and was merely trying to protect
himself. 1t came the gamblers turn 10
deal, and the sharp man, whom l sha1
call Brown, noticed che sharper stacking
the cards and determined to drop out. II
was a fat jack pot with the sucker occu-
Dying seat between the sharper and my
friend Brown. The former goa a pat
straight. and broke the pot width a stiff
stack of checks Brown picked up his
hand and found he had three acres. This
made him decide 10 stay In for that one
deal IN the nope that he might better In
the draw. knowing the dealer had put
the cards up, Brown did not raise on has
three aces, and when the sucker stood
nat he drew two The gambler was
aware that his work had been spotted by
Brown. and Il disconnected him so much
that he forgot TO discard, drawing three
cards. which he dumped on top of his
original FIVE.
Discontinue of u Gambler.
"As they left the deck Brown got a
fash at them and saw two tens. When
the gambler started to pick up the eight
cards, Brown stopped him with;
" That doesn't go. You've fouled your