The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-17

QGcply vi lnS SuDJGCl. IIiNlici AhS
very exalted idea of our national
character or a very low opinion of
draw poker.
But as for his opinion that it is not
typically national game, 1t is only
fair to say that he is in a hopeless
minority. Long before Mr.. Morgan
was eminent-eVen before he was out
of his swaddling clothes-the clear
thinkers and capable analysts OF
character had discovered and proclaim
ed the fact that draw poker was a
game eminently characteristic OF the
American nation, and that successful
player must of necessity possess many
of the qualifications which have made
the American the foremost citizen OF
the world 1t is o'erlate to think OF
shooting the man who labeled 1T Amer
lean. He has slept in peace for many
| decades.
But Mr.. Morgan does not stop at
| this. He goes on to say: 1T Is based
! upon a lie. The man who has the
| greatest capacity for deceit wins. To
become d strong player he studies to
| develop the most ignoble and most UNI
| American faculty. The effect upon
boys is to make them think that de-
ceit and bluff are smart and essential
to success in work as we'll as In play.
1t is a sharp arraignment, and IL 1t
were true, it might we'll give praise to
those who delight in the game, for
surely no intelligent person would APP
prove of a pastime so iniquitous as
Mr.. Morgan deems this one to be.
But the fact is that it is not true.
Instead of draw poker being based
upon lie" Mr.. Morgan's criticism is
based upon a totally erroneous notion
of the underlying principles of the
game. The bluff Is certainly an i'm
portant part of the play at certain
crises, and the player who has not sur
ficlent nerve to carry it out when 1t
is forced upon him is not likely to
be successful in his game. but he who
assumes, for that reason, that it is the
cornerstone of draw poker, as Mr..
Morgan does, misapprehends the whole
science, and is doomed to certain de-
feat If ne plays long with one who
knows the principles or, which draw
poker is based. Mr.. Morgan would
not be one-two-three in a table stakes
game IL he played on this theory and
his opponents played understandingly.
The truth is that draw poker is based
on two things: First, and underlying
all the rules of the game, is the abb
solute provision that each man who
puts up. a stake on his hand must be
on an exactly even footing with every
OtHeT pldyeT VINO StdkeS against Hiii
No pot can be made up with a pre-
ponderance in favor Of any one play
err who has an interest in it. In this
particular 1t differs sharply from Wall
street methods, and Is "typically
American" in the highest sense. So
jeolously does the game of draw poker
guard the interests of the man who
has staked his all that the play Of
others, If it goes beyond his limit has
~
affect his chances of winning or losing
in any way.
But this is by no means the whole
of the argument. 1t only goes to show
the perfect democracy of the game.
The winning Of the pot Is decided ac-
cording to the mathematical superior
ity of some one hand among those that
are backed in the competition. This is
again typically American. Nothing but
absolute Superiority counts for feath-
erweight when it comes to show down.
and as the winner must demonstrate
that superiority in order to get the pot,
so the loser is compelled to accept the
fact of defeat and acknowledge 1t as
gracefully as he may after the demon
stration. Certainly there is nothing in
that which is foreign to American
ideas"
This, however, brings US to the final
consideration OF the "blun,' Which Is
all that Mr.. Morgan takes into con-
sideration in his judgment of the game.
1t Is true that the player who has an
inferior hand may take the pot in one
certain contingency. II he have con-
fidence enough in what he holds to
venture boldly upon 1t, he will be re-
warded for his boldness in case-and
only In case-the superior hand lacks
the courage to remain in competition.
This is the keynote of the bluff And
the player who attempts to win by
a systematic course Of deceit ut airy
stage, is the man who is going To Re
called and is going to lose, for the
buffer who relies on deceitful methods
is the one who fails to understand
draw poker. 1t is only he who has
calculated his chances well and backed
them boldly up to the point of the
draw. and who refuses to give up even
after he has been disappointed by the
-fulfillment of the chance he had
counted on, who can bluff scientlfical-
ly. This is the American spirit ex-
emplifed.
In a word, the typical poker player
POUNDS his play first on careful study
of his chances. He follows it up with
intelligence by backing those chances
UP to their mathematical value and
no further, but when he has done this.
and finds that the draw has disap-