New-York tribune., 1905-08-03
TOLD BY THE OLD TIME GAMBLER
He Relates Some of His Experiences While
Trying to Raise a Stake,

Everybody CANDLES" remarked the old Spo-
kane gambler as he carefully picked fsck OF
dust off his coat and resumed the contemplation
Of his cigar cot course. all folks don't gamble
alike, but nearly every enterprise that is under
taken is a gamble
The old gambler is a relic Of the days when
the whirr of the roulette wheel, the click OF
checks and the rattle of dice were nightly heard
on lower Howard-st. He was a type OF the we'll
dressed. we'll fed and b diamonded individuals
who were the cocks of the walk in the lower end
of town before the law making gambling a
felony went into operation. When the felony
law took effect the old gambler forsOok the
green cloth and only i'm "reminiscences lives over
the days when he was a knight OF Dame
Fortune
The farmer is a gambler" continued the old
gambler He stakes his capital and work on
the weather and the market The merchant lays
in stock of goods. and if the demand is right
he reaps harvest. II is so with all forms OF
enterprises. The difference is that when
man plays faro bank the wheel he gets
quicker action for his money.
Does anybody ever make stake gambling! -!
Why, sure. I met a man the street the other
day who of the best ranches in the
Bitter Root Valley. near Afissouls. He got his
start by a winning he made in the old owl here.
Il won't give YOU the mans name, but he
came to Spokane about ten years ago from
Cofax He had been working in "A livery stable
there and had about $50 when he landed here.
He played the wheel and the bank, and nnally
lost all his money. III and soaked his
watch for So. He fooled around and lost all
but So of this shooting craps and bucking the
tub game
He then went over and bought 81 worth
Of checks at one of the faro games he Imme-
diateIy started 10 win. He won for six days
steady. He beat out of $3.50 in that time
One Saturday night he came To me and gave me
the money to put in the safe for him. on the
following Monday morning he deposited the
money in the bank and went over To Missoula.
He bought a ranch in the Bitter Root Valley,
and to-day is worth 100000 When 1 met him
the other day he told me that he had never Bet
"a cent since he made his stake.
The principal thing in gambling is 10 know
when to quit There was young fellow out here
about ten years ago. who was connected with
one of the swell families in New-York- read
in the paper not long ago about him marrying
some society girl back there
This young fellow was quite a pIunSer- He
won about $4,000 one night before midnight He
gave me the money 10 put i'm the safe for him
II was all in big bills, After I had put the
money in the safe I was closing up the game
when the young fellow sauntered over and, put
ting 81 the layout, said he wanted 10 win
enough to take friend to luncheon made
few turns and won the dollar. He then bet
S100. | turned and won that. He got 10 betting
$3.50 and 5000. | won his money as fast as 1
turned the cards. l kept tab of how much he
had in the safe. The last bet he made was Not1
l won this from him. | cleaned him out of his
$4,000 winning in one deal When he lost his
last bet he borrowed 500. and getting a fresh
cigar went out and took his friend TO luncheon
with as little apparent concern as though he had
only lost 81.
''One Of the funniest games that I ever got
into was poker game in little town in Nevada
a good many years ago. There was "A fellow
there that thought that he was the real, genuine
thing i'm the line of a poker player. In those
DAYS | could play poker myself. The native with
the poker playing propensities ran a restaurant
and he used To do his playing in the kitchen
after he closed up. A friend had come with me
from San Francisco TO the burg, and, getting
this friend I went down To the restaurant along
about midnight. Was that friend of mine a
poker player? Aye, aye. captain.
We landed in the chop foundry just as the
fellow was closing up II took hut a rev words
To start a game. and We We're soon hard at
work I'm the kitchen. Well, I'm short while We
had him cleaned out Of about $0OO-an the
money he had.
to Know if he could bet his stove and four
lengths of stovepipe. Stoves and stovepipe We're
worth a lot of money in the little towns in
Nevada i'm those days. My partner figured that
II we were going To go into the restaurant bust
ness We might well right. and told the
native that he could bet his stove and stove
pipe.
1T was my deal and after the cards were
dealt the restaurant man made IL a length Of
stovepipe To draw. Ny partner and myself
STAYED for 81. I had bum pair and did not
better them on the draw. My partner het 81
and the restaurant man raised him a length
of stovepipe dropped out and my partner saw
the raise and came back with another So The
restaurant man stayed raised him the stove.
Nv partner saw the stove for 500
"On the showdown my partner had three aces
and the restaurant man produced four queens.
From then on it was all his way. That was the
nearest I ever came to getting in the restaurant
business. - Spokane Spokesman Review.