The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-09-03
Old White Sulphur Springs, Va,

"Did any or you ever happen 10 81
into a game of draw where a king
beat four queens?" inquired the sugar
planter from Hawaii while the early
arrivals of the poker bunch sat abou
on the porch of the bachelors club
house on Paradise row waiting for the
beginning of the regular Afternoon
poker session.
Nobody In the group had ever heard
of its being done just that way, ano
they said SO.
"Well,' said the sugar planter from
Honolulu, 81 not only saw it done il
that way, but was in the game wher
it was done. Worse than that, I was
the victim of it,"
I "Kind o. wahm around here tub
day, subs, dsn't you thinka'' put in
the tobFeco merchant from Danville
Va, anil the rest of them scratched
their htads and gazed at the sugar
planter thoughtfully.
"But the king, L ought to elu-
cidate,'' went on the man from Homo
lulu, wasn't a card. That is to say,
he was card, right enough, but not
a paper one. He was a sure-enough
king, and his name was Dave Kala-
kaua. Dave was the King of Hawaii,
as all of you gentlemen know.
"Now, don't form the impression
that I'm endeavoring to overwhelm
anybody with the idea that l custom
arily play poker with kings, or that
m any stuck up over having played
draw with King Dave Kalakaua. Dave
was the only king I ever dished a
hand for, and that s because he was
one of my neighbors and pals.
s9The only time / ever saw Dave
Kalakaua get by with big bluff was
once when he hooked up with Mr.. All
Fong, the tremendously wealthy father
of the famous family of All Fong
girls-so many of whom married Amer
lean men of standing. There were five
men in the game on that occasion, and
the turquoise sky of Hawaii was the
limit.
''Well, then, Kalakaua himself was
one of the five. Then Mr.. All Fong,
one of the shrewdest business men and
kindliest gentlemen that ever touch
ed fingers with in my life. Sam Par
ker, who has grown up with Hawaii IS |
growth and is one of our big men, was
in it, and so was Paul Neumann, Ho- |
nclulu's leading lawyer. I was the
other one.
"The King of all Hawaii was the |
last year = bird IS nest in that game
right up to the finish of the sitting,
when he came like a Tahiti typhoon. |
Mr.. All Fong had inserted a terrific
dent in his kingly person once when
Dave, dealing, dished himself pat |
queen high flush of diamonds, and then,
with great ina6vertence, not to say
opened the pot with a
800. All Fong raised him for $780,
This sort of thing told us we were
among those present at fitting
match. So we dropped out in turn.
"Dave danced back at the China
man for $500, and Mr.. All Fong was
right there with $1,000 push along.
Dave boosted the Chinaman another
thousand, which was seen, and then L
was ready to hand them some papers.
'sKalakaua hadn't taken his cards
from the table yet, having only pull
ed up the corners of them as they
lay face downward and peeked at the
margins Of them. So when I asked
him how many cards he wanted he
pushed stack of twenty SO chips to
the center to indicate that he was
pretty well fixed as to papers as it
stood.
"Mr. All Fong didn't think he need
ed any, either. He didn't say so out
loud, but instead of fooling around
with chips, he said, "a thousand bet
,er,' and then, seeing that there were
going to be great doings, l got out a
pencil and began to keep tab ON the
,hipless raises back and forth.
"What was in the center and what
vas represented on my penciled sched-
lie of back-anG-forth bets represented
nearly $4,000 when, upon lending his
'ars to Dawes first $4,000 boost, Mr..
Nh Fong gazed out of the open window
1t the whipping blue sea, with the
arly morning sunlight dancing upon :
t and said:
That's good, David
Let IS call it a night as it stands,'
one of the party then, and
g we were all tagged the suggestion
vent.
"''Dave,' said Mr.. All Fong then,
Gaming back in his chair, with his
lands back of his head, the ordinary ,
nan hasn't any right if he wants to ,
'e popular to show a hand that he '
las used to bluff somebody out of a
'oker pot. But that privilege ought