The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-04-03

SAID the gray-haired, young-looking
man in the club smoking room. that
II a man goes up against a crooked
gambling game and plays his money
in he is necessarily. going to lose IL:
but it isn't 80.
one very easy way of winning
against a brace game OF faro occurred
10 me when / was "a young fellow in
chicago had been playing faro more
IMAM was good for me for quite a while,
and was fairly infatuated with the
game before i went to Chicago.
had learned something about IT.,
too, and 10 didn't take me long 10 make
up my mind that there wasn't single
gambling house among all those that
came 10 know in which ] could expect
a square deal IL / played faro there
lt was strange that 1 should have
played at all. holding that opinion. but
was young and / was infatuated with
The game. L was foolish enough to
think / might have luck or that some
miracle would happen, and rather than
not play / used TO go around once in a
while and blow in a few dollars.
one night / wanted $50 very badly
and all / had was $40 The foolish
familiar old thought came 10 me that
the ten was of no use. and that was fol-
lowed by the equally foolish notion
that / might by some stroke of luck win
IL off the bank
AT all events 1 made it an excuse TO
play. and went to a joint where 1 had
played before and bought a stack Of
chips
Before I began to play 1 noticed
that a big fellow whom / hadn't seen
before was playing with yellow chips
each one Of which was worth SO. and
that he was betting five or ten of them
"a "a
ing more than the one bet on a turn
but betting fifty or a hundred each
time. As j sat waiting for a new deal
! had a sudden thought.
1t was not my habit TO begin i'm the
middle Of a deal. so no one paid any
attention to my sitting idle. especially
a. there was plenty of room at the ia
BILE, only four or five players being
there Then they had me sized up for
piker and they didn't notice me much,
anyhow.
On the Pike Method.
My thought was that the big man.
being wide-Open player with plenty
of money, was going 10 lose it all, If
there was skill enough across the table
10 make the cards run against him.
and / had no doubt in my mind that
there was skill aplenty. So reasoned
that If / could copper a few of the big
mans bets without attracting atten-
ton l could win out the fifty easily
enough
Il piked along as usual. 80 cents on a
turn, till I had lost a couple of dollars
and then with an impatient gesture I
slammed down s. with a copper on il
alongside the big mans bet Of a hun
bred on the queen 10 win. The queen
lost.
Then I went back to my 50-cent bets
IA nd Iaz fa
but as 1 happened 10 win one or two
I still had about twelve left. and I cop
pereq another of his bets with my whole
pile. and I won again.
Il noticed that the big mans face
wrinkled as he saw a slice taken off
his stack 10 pay me. and ] knew I could
not do the same trick more than once
more without having words at least. so
I waited till the last instant as the
dealer was about to pull card. and
once more put up my pile with a copper
ON the same card the big man was play
ing TO win.
He began to swear and the dealer
looked mighty black. but ] cashed I'm
and left the place. It didn't seem to
me il would be healthy around there
for little while.
That's one way, and an easy one IL
you play II right. to beat a crooked
game but there are others If you
know a game is really crooked the
thing TO 10 is TO find out just what the
dealer is trying to do and how he does
il. Then. if you watch until you are
certain Of what he expects YOU TO do
and do the opposite, and do il sudden
and hard. before he has chance TO
kick. you'll be pretty likely to catch
him.
Il reckon. perhaps draw poker is the
one game i'm which it is the hardest of
-. T4r.H
be done.
once in while there viii come
along a man who has studied the thing
FOR fun as carefully as the professionals
study it for business. And il a man like
that sits i'm with a party OF profession
ais there's likely to be something do
Ing.
Doc Allen of Cleveland.
ct had a fried they called Doc Allen.
in Cleveland once. He was a high roll
or and got me into mischief more than
once. He took me up TO Detroit one
Saturday. just because he heard there
was some high play going on there. and
ne said he felt as If his time had come
Tor a little excitement.
We found the game going on all
right. in a gambling house not far from
the center Of town. and after a little
difficulty we got admission 10 the house
We played faro for a little while wiki
indifferent luck. but Doc stretched him
self suddenly with a mighty yawn and
asked if there wasn't some poker go
inE on. and they told him there was.
and took US to the poker room. for 7
went along though I hadn't the faintest
intention of playing
He asked for a hand ana they took
him I'm, while I sat well TO the rear be-
hind him. 50 that 1 could not be sus-
pected of signaling to him or Of over
looking anyb0dy's hand. / noticed that
7 was watched closely by more than
one. but nobody made any objection and
7 stayed. OF course, I could not see all
that happened. but I saw the betting.
and Doc told me about the cards after
ward
They played along smoothly enough
with no remarkable happening for per
haps twenty minutes. when I noticed
that Doc had opened jackpot and two
other men had stayed when a big man
they called Strong had raised it. The
next two passed-there were six in the
game-and Doc looked at his cards
carefully before playing further
of course. couldn't tell whether he
was thinking of laying down. or Of
raising back, but ne came I'm without
raising. The next man laid down. and
the next. whom they called Bill. raised
back. There was something like a hun
dred dollars I'm the pot when il came 10
him. and he raised il fifty.
1T was on his deal. and from what
had happened IL was PLAIN that Strong.
having first say. had passed for the
chance Of "a fciuur that TQfII nF, tho