The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-05
IN 4 STIFF GAME OF DRAW
GOLD DAM sPICER's NERVE DIDN'T
DESERT HIM AT A CRITICAL
MOMENT
NOT FEAsED BY FACED CARD
1t Would Have Done the business,
but Another Draw Helped His
Hand just the
Same.

This new rule that all the New York
clubs are importing into the old game,'
said a we'll known gambler in the back
! room OF d Sixth aS enue restaurant d few
nights ago, to a Brooklyn Eagle reporter,
reminds me OF the nervieSt man and
the nerYiest piece of play l have ever
seen at the green top table. I mean the
| rule about taking faced cards in the draw.
In all the games I've sat in fer the last
! six months the house rule has been that
you take all the cards coming to you,
/ faced or otherwise. The way l learned
| the game, If your card was faced, "
| had to take another after the rest had
| been helped.
1.-THE man was a story in himself, but l
! haven't got time for that. He was Yer,
mont Yankee, born Of straight old Puri-
! tan stock at a little village, about twenty
miles from Burlington. He was brought
UP as straight as a string and never
! broke the Methodist discipline until he
| left home Never WAS very strong as a
scholar, he told me, but managed to get
! through the local academy and entered
| WESLEYAN college, the good old Methodist
| institution on the Connecticut river. by
! certificate I've always heard that it is
| a pretty good place, morally, but, how
| ever that is, Frank Batcheller learned a
lot of things there that he didn't know
before and among them learned to count
1 the spots on the pasteboards. His mates
|
cause of a very peculiar drawl he had,
and the name stuck.
| "FIe didn't do much as a student and
when the rest Of his class graduated he
wasn't on the Phi Beta Kappa list, and,
! If I'm not mistaken. didn't get many de-
| grees. He looked around for something
| to do, but, as he used to put it, didn't
have his choice Of jobs. The upshot was
| that he landed as clerk in Chaffee's
hotel in MiddletoWn, where he had pass
| ed a good many of his college days. The
boss, old George Chaffee sort Of took
pity on him, and as he was well known
at the college, took him as drawing card
for the undergraduates
ut was there that old Dan Sp.cer got
the start which finally landed him in
New York as g. free lance and general
! sporting man.
| George had the motto printed on his
mirrors and hanging on placards all over
| the house, AS we journey through lie
| let us live by the way Dan meditated
on this and decided it was good enough
for him. When 1 first met him he had
| been here several years and knew as
much about things in general and gam
| bling in it's many different FORMS In par
ticular, as any man it has been my good
! fortune to meet.
sThe play I want to tell about, If I
ever get to it, happened in private
room in a Broadway hotel not very far
! from here about five years ago. There
/ were six men in the game and three OF us
looking on. re
1T started very mildly. Two Of the
players were travelling men VINO would}lt
! stand for table stakes and wanted 10
play a dollar limit game. There was an
actor who had night off while his show
was moving in, who felt like high play
but was willing to compromise; two morse
owners who thought that a limit game
was childish and would listen to nothing
| but table stakes. fsBatcheller was ready
for any game at all, but had very little
to say.
they decided to cut the cards, me low
man to determine the style OF garAe.
evervbodv proposed a 81 limit. Each
man bought $50 worth of checks and they
! started in. o4.-,
! even play. Both the drummers We're DO
! ing we'll. One had run his stack up TO
$50 and the other had about $40 In front
| losers because with what was to them
| a small limit they could not wait FOR
hands and tried to force their luck one
of them was SIS to the bad and the 9th
! Ell. whom they called Sam, had bought
twice and had about $50 in the game.
"Again one of them proposed table
ing good they raised no objections. Each
man went down into his pocket and
brought his stake up to $50.
The play livened up bit put Batchel-
/ Ter or Dan, as they called him. was los
ing. The play that I'm. telling about
took place very soon. after the table
stake game began. Dan had just dealt
and everybody passed out, making JACK
! pot with everybody in for 81. On the
first deal no one opened. On the second
deal the first two passed and the man man
on Dams left opened the Sl2 pot for $40.
Dan SKINNED off his cards and came came IN n
and two others did likewise. When II
came to the dealer he raised $40. There
was over $50 in the pot. The opener
sec then from where was standing that
he had three queens He studied mo-
ment, evidently thinking about another
raise, but he either weakened or wanted
| all in for he merely stayed.
''When Dan lifted his head saw that
he had 3. f. 8, of spades, with pair
of fives. Without hesitation he raised an
other so and two of the men dropped
The dealer who had made the first raise
with aces and tens stayed, and so did
the man with the three queens the
two cards. Dan asked for one, but Just
| as it was being passed to him the three
! queen man, one of the horse owners,
reached for his cards and it strrck his
hand falling face up on the table 1t
was the seven Of spades.
do I get that card or not?' asked
| Dan without sign of anxiety. Accord
ing to the rules of those days he did not
get the card, and as soon as the deal6r
said so, Dan turned 1t over and threw
it into the discards The dealer thought
| a long time, evidently little frightened
by the two card draw. He finally de-
cided to take chances on his aces up
| and drew one card. Then he gave Dan
the next one which he slid in among the
| other four without looking at 1t.
The opener bet IS. The three queen man
raised S. after looking over his hand
Dan studied his minute and then as
! there was about 500 in the rot and he
had only $40 left in front of him, pushed
in all he had
The opener then looked at his hand
again and pushed in all he had which
| was only 81 short of Dams bet:
| 1.-THE three queen man went down TO
look and remarked. I wish you gentle
men had more money. I'd like to get this
hand That suited the horse owner Al.
He had caught an ace and filled his hand;
! Well. I've got something OF hand
| myself, he rema1 ked. I'm agreeable to
any moderate amount Up to $1,000
The three-queen man said: Make It
| $500. That's all I've got with me. OF
| course. you get a. look in for the pot,
he added, turning to Dan.
Dams face did not show the slightest
| interest but he said: If you've no ob1ec-
| ton, I'd like to bet this hand little
| harder With that remark he reached
! into his pocket and brought out a big
! roll of hfties and, hundreds He peeled
J off $500 and tossed it into the pot as II IT
was so much waste paper The other two
| men dropped their money in and q show