The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-26
Poker ON the Briny Deep.

This is the log OF a poker game
played on the high seas, and with
never straight flush but that of the
rosy morn and never straight royal
but that of a passing ship, says the
New York Herald. The game lasted
for five days straight, and some who
had been flush arrived in port saying
that there was the deuce to pay. A
four master was the best out of the
deck and it came only three times. The
game was continuous performance,
beginning at Cherbourg Breakwater
and ending at Nantucket Lightship.
There were seven men from all the
world who sat in, and their names
were Beriah wilkins, NJ. A. Gunst, ia
cob Rothschild, Florence Ziegfeld, Jr.;
M. Wertheimer, Benno Neuberger and
Louis Strasburger. The limit was IS,
and some say more, for what are chips
at 81 apiece with a northwest wind and
a swelling sea?
Day in and day out in the smoking
room of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse,
of the North German Lloyd Line, the
seven sat. When the steamer arrived
here yesterday, after her record break
ing voyage, stories were repeated by the
passengers of times when the limit was
bounded only by the north star. Some
say that there was brief period when
500 was not thought too high. The
stewards carried bulletins, and the
progress of the game was reported as
faithfully as were the ships runs. All
the young women on board learned
poker terms and called for the news of
the game.
The first full hand was reported in
latitude 80 degrees nine minutes north
and IL degrees and AZ minutes west.
The man who held 1t did not win the
pot. Mr.. Rothschild leaned forward and
asked Mr.. Wilkins If he would bluff
the eternal sea with a pair of deuces.
There were intervals for meals, and
the players generally took the morn
ings to recuperate. 1t was the same
game, however, from the beginning of
the voyage to the close.
1t is recorded that in latitude 40 de-
grees north and longitude 40 west, Mr..
Neuberger, with a wave of his hand
swept everything movable from the
board. The sky was overcast, followed
by clearing weather, when Mr.. Neuber-
ger, provided with two pairs, called
gentleman who had three of a kind.
In latitude As degrees north and
longitude So degrees west the table
was raked fore and aft and a jackpot
was captured. A tall gentleman who
had been looking over the hands said
he didn't see how Mr.. Gunst could hold
such high cards and look so sorrowful.
The weather was then haZy.
Further details of the game are un-
obtainable. Thousands of dollars
changed hands during the trip. and
the rattle of the poker chips was heard
all through the afternoons and even
ings of those five days at sea.
The last day of the voyage was the
one in which Mr.. Rothschild won the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse. That was
the name of the last jackpot. Mr..
Strassburger opened it, and it cost a
stupendous sum to come in. Mr.. Will
kins is credited with aggressive tao
tics. Sweetening of the jackpot caused
it to overflow. Bulletins were distrib-
uted over the vessel as the struggle for
the prize continued. Mr.. Rothschild
glared at Mr.. Gunst. Mr. Rothschild
laid down four aces. A heave of the
sea tipped the table and deposited $176
directly in front of him.