The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-17

two cards. F having now 4 iun, '"'ac.s m
had no nlace In n Struggle against three Of a
kind in one hand and a pair that had evidentiy
been bettered IN the other; nld h have ~ caiIsd' for
+ would have bet even II he had ONLY made
4 second pair. but the fac, OF = natiaS la
7. who only drew two cards, Was s''u 'r r
ne had at least three ols o"s' "
IL remained for i to decide whether to call
or resign, either, Of which woI Ina h% wss VERY
small. lie decided 70 call on ,he THEORY ~ -
+ was possibly blufing. and there Was 500
IN the pot. His diIS r, uIsy T tenSrh i lost Ss 't and
the only man who had overplayed nus name
reckleSsly, won the money As va, Sau, 'na
cnmstsncrs liz ,hes s,a asa S"' di.,redIl the
rules which undoubtedly govern, good play
in the game. II is not to be called IN eAttaor-
binary thing that a payer sn n.ir snH n mi
house is unorestionably a strong enough hand 10
justify backing heavily, II must nqt Ne Ior-
gotten, however ,hs' A. hodSa avsinst IL 1re
+, however in paying for The chance o.
getting i; made 1wo e1 mati N " To- those AGAINST
him in the draw. The first time he put up
IS cents against si.,5 that was IN The pol. tnus
time lie nut up 30 cents against - Is IN the
pot, getting seventeen 10 two. Even The latter
wa wholly ont Of proportion 70 the odus Oh
l he 0fnA. Hlu Tie Hldu VIZ '. 49,
in this fashion viii eventually 20 broke. despite
the occasional winning OF a Dot IN The manner
described. .,.u,.
fortlitouS outcome, was by no means 10 pc
classed a. a phenomenal one, II wa" hardy
unusual enough to excite more 'hah u pa 'sina
remark, and has been described III detail here
merely fer the purpose of analyzlng the play
and showing how correct poker Is always Ilaole
TO be beaten by a fiuke, A deal that occurred
in the same sitting only, a few minutes later
however, was remarkable enough 10 warrant
description for the sake of showing how good
play will win against good cards a..
age. The ante was the same, A having put
up 10 cents for a quarter. In the deal \ goi
the seven, eight, nine and ten OF diamonds.
of aces. T. ten high, T a pair OF Jacks ana u !,
the queen. nine. seven and six OF hearts, =
put up his quarter. I cauns ~, u lohoweH, ~
ing a chance Tor a straight f'lsli hll-h or u
straight. raised Il the limit. B, {, ID and u
stayed. + dropping out. -,
might have raised on the strength of his four
nnsh rs 4 was the only remaining PLAYER 10
hear from, but the wisdom OF NGrh a Fsi," y
open Ia dispute. and no criticism Is due, \, on
4 the other hand, had only a fohr-ruehi,, nut ms
| chance Wa much better, and u he should happen
TO catch the straight ilurh he would want rs
was unauestionably good play. Y had II Iair
chance. only and was Justified n passing, Whlie
the Others we're equally luN,,hcd "a SAYING
inr a straight, lack high. b and e failed TO
better. d got a third ace and q drew a spade.
b BET the limit. { stayed, ID ra',ed, making IT
and B stayed. stnl having confidence enough
in his three sizes 10 make him call. & passed
This piay raises a question Only three
players were left in, and 4 had drawn only
one card, while Is had drawn two; ID had no
fear q p i si pss his nr,S SGH 'G grsO T"% and I %t , IGScs
are almost the hardest hand 10 better IN the
draw, il was probable that y had not bettered;
The real struggle wa. therefore between \ ana
ID, and d, realizing this, saw his opportunity
for a bold play. He sat in the right piao" Tor
II. since even If 4 should raise back again.
ne could lnas ed a s s,'p poss 81 lHes force TO resign
in case he was blurinC or had filed only a small
straight. A. was said. d made the play.
A had then 10 Judge Of the two hands against
him. He estimated b. hand correctly as three
of kind. and consequently had no fear OF him;
d.. however. had drawn three cards 80 ms hano
he lad only three OF a kind, but on the other
hand he had not only seen 40 raise after 4
had drawn one. but he had raised back, md
eating either a bluff or a strong hand. AS
own hand wa, not very strong. but he decided.
in order 10 te.t ID stHl further. 10 raise again.
which lie did, and b passed out all.
or was blufing. either of which was possible:
He knew. however, that A seldom bl'ined, and
he decided that he had probably filled In
that case. Of course. DE- hand was worthless,
and his only chance Of winning. the pot wus
by making A believe tina, he held a stronger
hand than he really had A call would nave
that A might moi have filled, and that there
was enough In the pot 10 Justify paving %
cents TO see. For there was In TACT sio'o on
ID decided, however. not TO call. There
remained a chance that 4 lad filled a small
straight in which case a call would give nm
the pot, but ii ID should raise there WAS q pos
sibility that A would believe himself beaten
and would lay down his cards, reasoning 'hat u
would scarcely 80 SO Iar as to rai,r ,hrs ,sr LINES 81
a kind. II was not a promising chante, ont
b decided TO risk a dollar on II against the siO,5o,
and he accordingly raised again.
4 had now to decide whether 10 throw down
his cards. to call or 70 raise. again. " was a
test Of nerve, for be- had to Judge ~ play either
as a bluff or "a evidence OF a strong hand. strong
er in all probability than A.. He might haye
three OF a kind, or a full house. or fourS, In
the first case A would win. but against either
Of the Others he would lose. II would certainly
have been sound play to call. but u had sue
ceeded in doing what he had undertaken 10
do by his successive raises, namely to convince
A that he had a strong hand. and 4, losing his
courage, lost his nerve entirely and threw down
his cards. II was indubitable proof or the SUI
p%eriority OF Ds play, for although y sat IN =
good position for a blum as the play ran, 4
had also a good position and should have played
his hand, al least to The extent OF a call.
1t may be argued that i was A's error rather
than Dis good play that gave the latter The
pot. but the contention Of the writer is that
A would have made no such error had not
been for the cotsnmmAte judgment ana ex-
cellent nerve which enabled ID TO see his oppor-
tunity and press his play sufficiently, to over
awe A. The hand was one which illustrates
very we'll the wnv in which a good player can
deceive a poorer one rs to the value Of his cards
and 80 win against a stronger competitor.
II shows. too, the great advantage that may
lie in position. Had ID sat where B did and
been obliged 10 bet first, G would have come
in rs he did after BIS bet. and b sitting IN Ds
place with three fours. would very probably
have raised il, though possibly he would not
with two one-card draws 10 hear from. Had
he raised, however. A would have raised again,
as he did, and d would then have bad two
raises TO zee before he could himself raise
IL would have left him in doubt n TO all three
hands, for G had not at that time dropped out,
and the prospect Of a successful blum would
not have been as good. For Il is certain that
DIS actual play was OF the nature OF a blum.
though there was all the time the possibility
that his cards were the best, and II was not
therefore, q pure blun.
Had II been purely a bluff the advantage
OF the position would have been equally great.
and unl.ss he had betrayed his weakness by
his manner he would have won on the same
play even though he had not hettered his original
pair. The chance Of the blum, il Is easily to
he seen, depends largely on position, and
though hlufing NAV be successful even when
poorly done. the experienced player will
do well 10 avoid trying II until he shall have
studied the sequence Of the betting.