Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-03-15
TRAGEDY OVER POKER.
From the Washington Star

1tsS W
"A man who sits into 4 game OF poke.tn
a RECON that Is new to him without rrse
! finding out the rules OF tho game as II -
played In said region Is Liable TO stack up
against worse trouble than did the bfi'isn
solder who clomped into a Mohainmeuan
mosque with his boots and spurs ana h.r
met on" observed an old Californian, VINO
Is visiting Washington. FOR shc'es
heap OF different kinds of poker played IN
his country. And the worst Of 1t I, thae
the man who plays the kind of a game no
was raised on IN his own section IS always
blind to the beauties OF the entirely diner
ent game that he drifts into when ne ss's
away from hts own
Polhr IA a good deal like Injun talk. l
can talk pretty fair Modoc lnjun. bus 1
reckon II I'd talk Modoc to q bad Sno-
sllone or to an impctuous Sioux he'd be-
gin to figure on how my top hair "oulo
DO for tepee lining. And there are more
mixed brands OF draw poker played
around the United States and territories
than there arc InJun dialects
II once saw a game OF poker that re-
suited pretty seriously/Dr both players on
account of the lack " an understanding
between them before the game started as
to Just what the hands We're worth ms
happened In Benecia. a few miles up tho
bay and the San Joaquin from San Fran
cisco. in '65.
Il was IN JACK AIlD1 > Dig oSiC'id LAW
mil! ono Sunday a~fteruoon-for the game
was a. wide open then on Sundays as on
week days-trylng to pump a !l.tle sense
Into the fool head of a friend ;nins who
had chubbed away nearly every dollar he
had In the world at Benecia's grace games.
when one Of tho iookouts. who knew tho
interest | took in watching a good game
OF poker, although l never played except
with friends. came over TO where l was
standing and said:
Jacks got a good game Of draw on
with n new man upstairs. Go OF. up and
look It over
Now. In those days Jack Cator-who
was shot and killed by Billy the Kid In
Arizona. many years later-was about tho
hottest poker player on the Pacific slope.
He ran faro games In most of tho sizcabls
towns In California for the money there
was In 1t. but he just played draw poker
for fun. And No always played on thu lev
cl. for he wasn't a man who cared to mix
pleasure with business. and ma wouldn't
have found any entertainment in stacking
the papers or dealing from the bottom or
middle In any game that he got into Just
to enjoy the study OF the percentages.
When l went upstairs 20 the poker
room Cation was sitting in his shirt sleeves
opposite a solid looking man OF forty or
whereabouts. dressed In the uniform OF a
steamship officer. When l was told that
he was chief engineer Of on. OF the big
Panama steamers 1 didn't have much
trouble In figuring out where he'd go. hold
Of the huge sack OF gold coin i,s had with
him. For IN those days the chief ens!ncers
of the west coaS. ships used TO have charge
Of the coaliag Of their vessels. and they
considered 1t quite Legitimate to take a
rake-down of several thousand dollars
every time they coaled ship. Coal cost
from I'D To 81 a ton. and The chiet en-
gineers had the making OF tho report Of
their bunker space and entered INTO The ar
engagements will, the ship coalers on tbs
west coast. 1t was the custom OF the day
for the chief engineers OF .he Panama
steamers to feather their nests IN this
way, and nobody appeared 10 think any
thing about 1t.
This chief engineer had Just been trans
fered from the east 10 the west coast.
which accounts for his ierorance OF thu
rules Of the California game OF draw
poker. When l turned up | found that
ned been jabblng Cation pretty hard since
the beginning of the game. But tho two
dttterent brands of poker pla yed by the
TWO men hadn't yet come into conflict.
You see. they don't play stratghts out
on the slope. The sloper who hasn't trav-
"led or played poker with eastern men
doesn't know what the word straight
means as applied TO the game of draw.
eaton. OF course, knew all about stratchts.
but he never played EN- with anybody,
and 1 think he had "A right to assume that
any man who played draw With him In his
own territory ought to know the rules Of
the game in that territory.
There was a big jackpot bean in the
center OF the table when | went upstairs
70 look at the game. 1t had been sweet
rned probably half Il dozen times, and all
ready contained something close OIL to
Sl.OW In double eagles. But neither man
seemed to be able to catch openers. 1t
went around between them eleven times
altogether. and every time 1t passed both
men sweetened 1t for a lump. The chief
engineer dealt the twelfth mess. Cation
was one OF those cool chaps who picked
up his cards letsurely and one BIZ one. and
when he had thus got hold Of his iirst two
papers. he calmly joggled 500 into tho
middis and remarked that 1t was opeu.
before looking at the others.
These tickets of mine are worth $500
more. said the chief engineer. who was a
pretty self-contatned chap himself. SHOW
ing the yellow stuff into the pot.
.Ihen you want to play 1t for keeps,
pardner.' said Cation. standing the raise
before the draw. and discardirg two.
The chief engineer took one paper. He
picsad 1t up. looked at 1T for a second or
two. and then carefully closed UP the hand
Ike a fan and laid 1t OH the table In front
OF him.
DO your b!ufing.' he said to Cation.
how ABOUT q thousand dollars worth? p
inquired Cation. Ticking the double eagles
into the pot.
Thousand more than YOU said the
chief engineer. pushing his gold IN.
And Il thousand. said Cation, until the
c,inktng of the metal became almost in
ccssapt.
Now, I had been standing beh.nd Cation
when he drew cards. and when ! saw him
eaten a pair of nine TO his three kings l
figured that 1t was all over, especially as
the engineer had drawn one card. which
looked like a case of four-fushing or two
pairs. But the way the sailor kept hitting
back at Cation finally got me to guessing,
and by the time he had scoopcd nearly ali
or the coin out OF his sack had almost
begun to believe that he'd caught nat
fours. When the thousand dollar raises
had gone back and fourth several times.
and there was nearly 5000 in the pot. the
chief engineer, cool as a mountain trout
In a shady hole, cmptied ont his coin sack.
and found that he had little more than
1000 left.
He showed his remaining $1,000 to the
centhcr and said. Call
Cation spread out his king-fuli.
No good said the chief engineer.
spreading out a seven-high straight flush
Of diamonds. and reaching for the pot.
Hey? What's no good: Hands of
that pot sung out Cation. What In blazes
Nc you mean: Since when did a flush beat