The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-31
A JOLT AND
n TWO BLUFFS.
One Maxim of Draw Poker lllus-
tratej by a Player Who Woa
the Pot Without Fill
ing His Hand.


simple reason that the percentages OF the
game do not make it advisable, in my Judg-
ment, to draw to four-nush very often.
The odds against filing it. are, OF course,
just thirty-eiGht to nine. That is there are
thirty EIGHT cards in the forty seven you
have not seen. any one of which Will be
worthless to you or at best will give you a
single pair, and there are nine in the forty
seven any one Of which will III your flush
If YOU get it,
Figuring OF that basis, good many
players consider it conservative poker TO
stay on four-hush If they can get odds OF
four TO one in the heitng, which It's approx
mately, OF course, a sot-of to the four and
a fraction 10 one against them in the draw.
This, however, does not commend itself
to me as a matter Of habitual play, because
the small percentage remaining will beat
any player in the long run if he continues
TO buck against it long enough, unless he
should happen to have luck enough to beat
a mathematical average.
But this is not. by any means, the whole
of the problem. If the flush when filed
were sure winner, the player would ccr-
tainly be justified in staying on a four
flush whenever the odds on in the betting
were equal to the odds against in the draw
But the flush is by no means sure winner,
at is very frequently beaten, and the
man who has played it before the draw
is almost exactly in the preiicament of one
who should take odds of five to one, betting
on n certain horse to be entered in race
against four others, when he had no knowl-
edge Of what four other horses were to run.
He might know his horse was a pretty
good one, bu, he wouldn't bet on that basis
alone
AT least that's the way | figure it out
for my own play. | don't quarrel with
any other players theories, and | know
that good many do consider such play
as | have described to be good poker.
don't consider ii SO, and consequently !
never contracted the four-fush habit,
And of course the four straight is still
more hazardous thing than four flush,
The odds against filing it are thirty -nirs
to eight, and when you have filled ii it is
not strong a hand, This seems like
contradiction of the principle Of poker
that the value Of hand depends on the
difficulty of getting it, but it is not a real
contradiction, for there are great many
more four straights in the deck than there
are four Pushes.
But, although neither of these hands
is a particularly tempting proposition TO
me. there are times, Of course, when l will
play one or the other. The great beauty
of poker To me is the elasticity of the game
and the necessity that exists of deciding
on each play according to the circumstances
of the deal. and because of this elasticity
l never allow myself to be governed by
any hard and fast rule.
Il remember one game in which very
pretty situation arose simply because |
my general rule. The sequel,
too, was good deal of a surprise
Il had been running in pretty hard luck
for a whole season when il happened. 1t
was before had fairly made a start in the
a little ahead Being naturally adventu-
rous. | had had ups and downs Ia plenty,
but at this time il had been most ly downs
for nearly n year.
-The business | had started in Western
city promised well, but l made some bad
debts that crippled me, and the crops failed,
80 that trade fell off till | was seriously
hampered for ready money. | was 30
hampertd in fact that | neglected my
insurance. and AZ might have been expected
my store burned down, making total
loss. just week after the policy expired,
natn De'H ,itN ing cdftiS HlICil Win
the business wa going on. tearing that it
would hurt my credit, but when found
myself entirely out | became Il little reck
less | scrapcd up all the odds and ends
| could, and turned everything | had into
cash, so that got together about three
to go still further West But before starting
| spent an evening al poker
Now $500 is good bit of money, or a
very little, according to how you look al
it. 1t seemed very little to me, and
was sore enough besides To be little reck
less, 80 | played a more open game than
| generally do, and for a while ! suffered
in consequence.
"The party was a pleasant one. There
were no professionals in it, but the five
men was playing with We're all tru" sports;
keen in their play, but square a. die, good
losers and good winners.
There wasn't q man there who wouldn't
have taken my money AZ a matter of course
if he had won it, but they all knew how
| was situated, and none of them would
begrudGe me the money If | should win,
1t was the best sort of a game to play in
no mercy and no tricks in it.
Il was friendly with all of the players
hut one. That was n merchan, named
Bolton, who had, as believed, been guilty
Of some sharp nra%hroT n business zeal
There had not been ;ny open quarrel
between us. but the thing ranked in my
mind, and he knew thrl it did He had
had the hest end of the tri MS l.Cn, so he
felt no cnmity to me, lGt WIS II Their in
0lnod, on the contrary, to lie friendly ~ n
rgrec, but / had received his overtures
coollv and YVES. rs a matter of fact, tigur-
ing on the possibility of winning fro.> him
the ba lance of between four and Ave hundred
dollars which considered th; he re, lily
owed me, but which had no hope Of col
lecting.
-Of course. that was d b1d frame of
mind to be in while playing lave noticed
hat when find myself PLAYING at any one
particular Antagonist in party my game
suffers. l can do best, and believe every
ot her player can do best, when he eliminate, ;
all personal feeling from thu gam, ard
plays against the combination he is opposed
TO, without singing out an Individual,
However, ! IVES plavinE. and | was
reckless, Az said, and | was feeling PR
icularly hottie to Bolton, 80 it was no
great wonder that | was losing, nS | was.
pretty steadily, for the ftN half hour.
The effect on m al first was to make IN,
more reckless ard rlorr bitter, and cons"
lurntly more Fable 20 mike pocr plays.
IF l had no, icll,n ul sem I W short
runs Of good luck would haya ban down
and out in short ord r. for W. werN playing
better luck than 4 torv q add ii ! had
been playing my uu1l gaia n girr !
would have been ah-ad. A. i, W., / usd
lost my first hundred and had bought 81; ia,
and the second pill VAS getting low b lore
pulled my.clf tog ther,
Then II came to M in u fash that ! was