The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
Count POtocki's Loss.

| From the Chicago Tribune.
| The loss of thousands of dollars In a
single sitting is no uncommon thing
among men who follow the vagaries of
pasteboard speculation. but a recent ex-
perience of Count Joseph Potocki, Rus
sian nobleman. caps the climax. The
Count lost 100000 in four hours of play,
and this is generally regarded as the
largest sum that ever passed from the
hands of a player at one sitting"
This is the colossal plunge in the his
tory of gambling. Count Potoclsi's money
went at the rate of $500 a minute, or of
$4,000 an hour, and at the end of the
evenings sport he "cashed In over $751;
900 shy" as the gamblers would say.
The Count lost this fortune in playing
baccarat at the rooms of the Vienna
Jockey Club. and the amount of money
that passed from his hands each quarter
Of an hour represented more than the
earnings of the average workingman dur
ing his lifetime. 1t was In an effort to re-
trieve past losings that the Count made
his fatal plunge. He had been a heavy
loser for two evenings and went into the
memorable game with a determination to
play even. His first opponent was the
Hungarian deputy, Herr Won Szemere
The latter not being a wealthy man, mod
crate stakes prevailed at the outset of
the game. Later Prince Braganza drop
ped in and took a hand. and the stakes
gradually went up until the onlookers
stood back in amazement
Both the Prince and the deputy won
steadily from the outset. 1t seemed that
every turn of the cards was in their IA
vor, and the run of bad lucks caused
Count Potocki to lose his head. He be-
came reckless and each deal brought a
demand from him for an increase of the
stakes. His two opponents, having al
ready won heavily, could not politely re-
fuse to accede to his persistent request
that the play be made more spirited
Such consideration is one of the clauses
or card etiquette.
The stakes rolled up by thousands and
tens of thousands, and the higher they
went the more rapidly the Count was
parted from his money. He became great
ly excited. The blood left his face and he
grew pale. His hands trembled and his
eyes became fevered and cleaning. His
hair was dishevelled, and every nerve In
his body was strained as the game pro-
crossed, and each minute his losses be-
came heavier and heavier. Yet he contin-
ued to bend over the table and kept in
sisting all the time that the stakes should
be raised. He plunged recklessly AS gam
blers say, The lost his head and tried
to force luck that was running so hard
against him.
Although his fortune was slipping
through his fingers at the rate of $4,000
minute he refused to stop. Crowds of
Austrian noblem en- gathered about the
table looking at the tremendous play In
establishment. They were Mortified at
Potockis losses and pleaded with him to
leave the table, but to all of them he
turned a deaf ear. He could see nothing
but cards and could hear nothing but the
rustic of their shuffling.
At the end of four hours Count PotocI,,
was "all in" and In despair he drew
back from the table that had proved his
undoing and gave it up. When the three
players arose Won Szemere was the richer
by $5O000o, while the winnings of Prince |
Braganza amounted to 100000 No one
not even the unlucky count, doubted that |
the game was ION the square" 1t was
simply his uniucky night. |