The sun., 1903-08-30
DlVIDED THE POT
~ WITH A BAD ANGEL.
Beneficiary of a Cold Poker Deck
Meets the Dealer in
Dark Hallway.
at is no trouble for man who has played

| TaJtIlnR CnlpS ana PICK tne losers, aRlQ
the Angel OF Commerce, az he lit fresh
cigar and cooked his feet at an angle of
forty-f1ve degrees-indicating that a new
| poker story was to be sprung. Il mean
1t is no trouble TO pick the winners and
the losers, even if the stacks Of chips are
about evenly divided.
| "Not many years ago ! was travelling
In Texas, and stopped at one Of the largest
towns, TO remain over Sunday. 1t was
Saturday night. and l asked the clerk at
the hotel If there was anything going on
that would entertain a fellow for while.
He told me there was poker game in room
1i3, knowing that had taste for little
| game of draw occasionally.
I'VE went to the room designated, and
| found there seven men. | sized up the
| crowd that there We're two winners and
| five losers in the game, although two Of
| the losers had stacks more Of chips than the
| winners. There were two 'cowmen in
the game, one local merchant, one lawyer,
one retired capitalist and two drummers,
| like myself
Now, that expression. retired capital
ist,' in q poker game always means one
who is a retired capital retres from
every poker game he plays in with plenty
Of. the capt al. ] had already picked the
retired capitalist for the biggest winner
of the bunch, and the lawyer l sized up
os tho other winner, I figured it out that
there was somewhere in the neighborhood
of 5000 worth of chips on the table
Three hands had been played, and the
| little man on my right had had three good
hands beaten. Consequently his stack
was getting low. 1 had been told that he
was commercial man, like myself and
saw that his lrsoes were pinching him.
| Il played along a few hands, winning
some pretty fair pots, getting tangled up
with the retired capitelist' three or four
times and always quitting my hand when
, he made o play at me. 1 was little bit
| lcary of the retired capitalist chap, and
kept out of the same water he was swimming z
in as much ss possible. Luck had come
my way. however, and had multiplied my
original capital by three, and was sitting
easy in the game. The little loser at my
| right saw that I was sorry for him, but I
could not tell whether it angered or secretly
! pieaeel him I blufed out three or four
| small pots when he was all in and let him
win them on tho show down, because
wanted to see that strained look vanish
! from his face.
He finally excused himself for few
, minutes, md when he returned I noticed
| that his face wore a more tense, set look,
and decided that during the few minutes
he had left the game he had reflected upon
d, l, ln huI afoip paI . 1n
extent OF the embarrassment they would
! cause and was In greater danger than
| ever OF losing
"Finally the little loser dealt. Seven
men passed it VI, declaring they could not
open the pot. II got around to the loser
and he quietly remarked:
! open it for 50, the last cent have,
| and I'll bot seven men stay and draw out
on me. That's been my luck in this game
THE pots had been opened for $40 each
| time, and % was low price for which a
draw could be purchased. looked at
my hand. There was not pair, no signs
Of flush. no chance for a straight. But
had the joker, and in that game tho Joker
was an ace Of any suit. l thought that the
loser had a right to get the benefit of
Short card draw, so tossed in So, Every
man around the board stayed
Il had decided that | would not look
at my hand after the draw. It was the
losers first bet, and he, having no money, ,
could bet no more than windy, and this
would leave II UP to me to make the first
money bet. This | decided not 70 do.
was sorry for the loser and determined
that if anybody around the board made
bet ] would drop in stack and run them
out, making them believe I had caught
phenomenal hand drawing four cards
l passed it up to the next man. He had
evidently caught something, for he reached
for his stack and bet $50, The next man,
one Of the cowmen, stayed and then it
came the turn Of the retired capt. alist
who raised II hundred The other cow
man was In, and the lawyer, who had the
last say, saw the bet and the raise, and after
making a little talk about not showing
down his hand against every sucker with
out some money being bet, he put In an
extra hundred.
II thought Well Johnny, here is where
YOU jump Off the little red wagon and rum
card without looking at it. The loser
WAS all in, and it was up to me. 1t re-
Culired $3.50 to Gull That was about one
third of my capital picked up my hand
and started to skin it down when caught
sight of an ace keeping company with
my outer card looked a little further
and found still another ace then hoping
that | could skin out another good ace
or a pair | flashed the other two cards
before my expectant eyes, for / was in a
fever of excitement now. What l saw
froze every nerve in my body.
Il reluctantly showed in $3.50. The man
TO my left counted out $3.50, said somethino
about lot Of 'pkers,' counted of another
$3.50 and showed it all In. The man sitting
next to him didn't have enough to oover
the bet, but he made the call for all his
capital. The next man, who had raised it
first. dropped in enough to call this raise.
but when IL got to the lawyer, he contemptu-
olIsly turned up his nose and said that
$3.50 was too small bunch for a thorough
bred to bet, and he raised that $500 more.
1t was up TO me and. kicking like bay
steer about getting into a game, making
q good winning and not having sense enough
to quit with the doodle, waiting to get
tangled up IN freak pot, &c. showed in
nj. nay remaining chips-by the way not
enough to call the whole of the bet
THE man who made the first best laid
down his hand. re next man hadn't
anything to say. The retired capitalist
after long, serious thought and careful
survey of the ceiling, called the lawyer's
bet. Cowman No. 2 had quit
Then came the exposure OF the hands
The second man to make bet, who had ali
his money in quietly spread out four tens,
remarkng with very pleasant smile,
You fellows played those four tens for me
to a finish, and was about to take in the
chips when the retired capitalist spread
out four Jacks, beamed on the man with
the four tens and told him it would be a
good iGea to stay out Of big pot till he got
something to bet on
"The lawyer, though. was the prize
pigeon IN the coop. He stuck out his chest.
exposed four kings face up and remarked