The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-11-07
BIG fOoI-s saos woRIH s2.snn
GentiemsB's f:ane Of Poker In the g sov..
iHz DAYS Of i.easenwergh
Frem the chicago Iuls- ocsan

Frem ths Chicago Iuls- ocean
Did ever tell you how Big Foot "a
Bunch. OF Leayenw0rth. won nearly l. -
on poker hand BY betting one u ~
shoes?" asked the old sport. "No? Wen
then III tell you.
Back In the sos Big Foot Bench ~
the most famous poker PLAYER that ever
struck Leavenworth In those d rs tb.
old town was an Quitting point and vas
booming. Bunch'S one striking character
istic was the size OF his feet. and tina. 4,
how he got his name. No other man o.
modern times ever carried such q pli- o.
feet. They were each fully eighteen inches
In length. and he was compelled u have
his shoes made to order.
one evening after boatload 81 tour
lists had come Up Biz Foot fell into con
yersation with some OF the passengers and
naaliy poker game was suggested -Four
men, including Big Foot. s.guiled their
were at IL As the cards were b .1g
shuffed for the first deal one OF the three
strangers remarked that he guessed i
would be a gentleman's game. which
means q game IN which a player may
make bets without putting hls money IN
front Of him. in other words. bettng on
credit. As the three strangers az look
prosperous Big Foot said that he was sa.-
isfied, and the game proceeded
In those days the Old-fashloned leather
pocket-boOks were used almost exclusive
iy by wealthy men. You will remsmbar
that they had one compartment for bills
which folded up, and the book was heiF
together by strap which slipped througa
leather holder. Every now and then
one of the strangers would dig up hts
leather pocket-hook throw Il into tn
middle OF the table and murmur. A thous-
and better
Big Foot had about $3.50 In cash in
front OF him, but his hands were not run
ming high, and IL was some time before ne
had OCCASION to go against the pocket-b1ok
play. Finally, on his own deal. ne caught
three tens to 60 and the fourth ten drop
ped Int his hand on the draw.
Everybody stayed, and when Il got
around 10 Big Foot after the draw he
made a raise that took every cent I'm front
OF him. The first player 10 the left then
went to his pocket-book again. and toss
ing II into the center. simply remarked
si,VJ better. The next man saw thu
raise and went It SEQ more. The thiT.f
man threw his pocket-bOok into the cen
Ter 10 make good and the three looked AZ
Big Foot inquiringly.
Big Foot was equal to the occasion. He
was convinced that he had the top hand.
and ne proposed 20 play II for ali r. was
worth. Quickly slipping off one of his inn
mense shoes he threw IL into the center
with the remark; Well gentlemen as
you are all playing leather I will do a
little or II myself. / guess there's enough
good calfskin there to see the bets al
ready made and raise s2.5O0 more.
the other players sized up the shoe
and then, breaking into a he rtv laugh
laid down their hands. Big Foot raked
In all the loose money In sight and the
strangers then opened their pocket-books
and counted out the amounts for which
their leather stood.
I've heard lots of times of fellows bet
ting their clothes on a hand. but / doubt
II you Will find another instance In the
history OF draw poker whore a plaver's
shoe was good for a $1,000 pot"