The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-05-24

II he NOVICE in the game Of draw
poker VIII find nothing more ex-
asperating than to hold a strong
hand ana get little or no profit from IT,
He may. perhaps, have three Of a kind
beaten several times and may have lost
stack Of blues backing them in way
that he believes perfectly JustihaDle,
and then, picking up another hand, may
find that he has a pat full. or four Of
a kind.
Now. he thinks. naturally enough, is
the tine when he is going TO Tecoup MS
losses, and possibly pile UP a consider
able net winning. To his disgust. how
ever, he win get no play at all. or,
possibly, a single call. If he happens
TO be the age. and all the other
players pass out on him, making
jackpot, his disgust may very possibly
grow into something like fury.
AS a matter Of course such accidents
are liable TO happen to the best play
ers. and have to be reckOned on as part
Of the uncertainty which constitutes
the great charm Of the game. a play
eT does not always get q chance 10 back
his cards when they are strong enough
to warrant betting his pile. That, ne
must expect. and must set down to the
debit Of luck. There Is however,
great deal to be learned about the back
ing Of a good hand before the player
VIII be likely to get all the advantage
he should.
Suppose. for example. that C. sitting
in seven-handed game, gets an ace
fun on AS deal. It is a jackpot and 3
opens II under the gun OF course 9
IS strong enough to raise TT the limit
or, II the game IS for table stakes, to
push his whole pile forward If he
does so. however. there is a strong
probability that all the othe. players
VIII pass out. leaving him winner, in
deed but winning only the original pot,
plus the amount that B opened for.
This would be a meager result COM
pared with what he is likely to obtain
# he plays with discretion
BY Analysing the situation u IS easy
to see that Q IS morally certain Of
winning the pot. 1t is true enough that
an ace full may be beaten, but il is safe
TO say that Ii Will not be beaten more
than once in a hundred times. The odds
are at least ninety mine to one that It
VIII win. and any man who plays
poker at all win be glad to risk his pile
with those odds in his favor. It is a
moral certainty.
It is therefore clearly to the advan-
IA &c OF Q that there shall be as many
stayers as possible, so that the pot
shall be sWeIled. If B opens. # IS his
play to trail. If he can assume a
doubtful air successfully, so that the
others wiz think he is coming in
against his better Judgment, all the
DCLLCL. 4 MS Is Ger fanny a form OF ue-
ceptiOn, and. as such, IL may Justify
the objections which some puTists find
against the game, but If the player
sCFuDles forbid him to indulge IN any
deception whatever, he may frankly de-
clare that ne is going to win the pot
1t may not hurt him much since the
others viii probably not believe him,
but he win thereby satisfy his con-
science.
May Take a Chance.
he having stayed without raising, the.
other players know nothing more. about
his hand than that he is willing to take
a chance on 1t. So far as they know,
he may have single small pair, or a
four straight, and they will not be
likely to fear him much. In fact, they
viii be more likely to come in than
they would if he had not. since the pot