Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1907-09-29
COULDN'T SKIN
HIN At POKER

assemble enough likely looking in
sitters for little game of draw at
one of the Paradise Row cottages for |
bachelors. 1t was a bit early in the
Old White season and most of the |
regulars, some of whom have been
battling away at each other in the
Old White poker game for forty sum-
mers, were still absent.
The difficulty encountered in get
ting round table bunch together
reminded Colonel John Taylor of
Cincinnati. of story.
1--WE got Kentucky crony,' he
said, who would rather play poker
than sip mint juleps on second
story piazza and l can't make it any
stronger than that, seeing that he
was born and raised in the Blue
Grass country. For all that, he still
plays the barnyard game and he is
not very lucky.
He was ordered by his medical
man to take voyage to Europe
few summers ago for his health and
he ran up to Cincinnati and dragged
me- into it. | figured that it would
be the decent thing, anyhow, to go
along with him and protect him from
the poker sharks, for | knew that if
he went alone he'd be liable to sit
into games with people that carried
their burglars kits right in their
hands.
We'll, l had to do everything but
beat him on the head to keep hin:
out of couple of perfectly palpable
poker deadfalls on the train ride to
New York, and at the New York
hotel had to keep hold of his arm
every minute while he was awake to
prevent him from organizing himself
into committee of one to form i'm
promptu draw fiestas from the gang
of sharpeyed good thing grafters that
were hanging around the corridors
of the hostelry waiting for nothing
better than marks of the cut and
style of my Kentucky friend.
con the steamer it was still worse,
for he's got sort of frank, come on
way about him that caused the card
sharks who were making the voyage
to gaze at him with positive hunger
in their eyes. Three or four of them
did essay to buzz him to the sitting in
point, but I suppose my glares fright
ened them away. My friend looked
at me reproachfully when l tool
these steps to protect him.
But, for all my wisdom, | myself
was fooled by a couple of the poker
fanciers on the third day out. Began
talking with a pair of substantial
looking chaps of thirty or SO at din
ner on that day. One of them sale
he was a commission merchant IL
Cleveland and he ratified off thu
names of lot Of Ohio people whom
| knew. Agreeable fellow. Thu
other one said he was government
official in Washington and had de
cent way about him, too.
after luncheon that third day, no
ticing that my friend was still glanc
ing wolfishly into the card room
every time we passed it on our pos
prandial constitutional, inadvert
emily said to him
Major, don't want, to subjec
you to any deprivations of any sor
on this trip, but if you must and will
frivol around with cards, why dGil'
you exhibit enough perception to picl
out as fellow players a couple o
obviously square men like those tw
young fellows we were talking wit
at luncheon?"
Il hadn't got the words out of m
mouth before he released himsei
from my clutch and started aft at
sort of ship lope.
Wonder where can find emi
he said, and then had to trot afte
him and presently we came upon tn
two agreeable chaps leaning over tn
aft rail, and my friend, without an
beating around the bush, suggeste
little game of $40 limit to then
Both said they were bit rusty 9
the game, but they were willing, jus
to glide away the time.
"And SO we began the four-hande
seance, playing with stripped dec
everything out of the deck dow
to the sixes-so as to save all th
dealing that an all jackpot gam
involves in four-handed sittin
when the whole pack is used, tn
stripped game is pretty hot. seem
that at that game threes are imb'
cile, straight just foolish and
small full only fair to middling, bl
it's as fair for one as for anotht
when all hands are used to the va
ues of the cards.
My Kentucky friend was the hal