The sun., 1908-10-04
PROBLEM OF THREE ACES
TEST or, A STRANGE PLAYERS
ABILITY AT POKER.
Jack Nolan. Soldier Of Fortune, sits In =
Noted Game 81 Memphis En-
tiPeiy Satisfied With the Result.
ThoNRh Ouitttl6 n (aOod winner.

NOteu GhUlo ~ MotnptNb NOt EAk'
tiFeiy satisHed With the Result
ThOnsh QuittiDs . Good winner
-Now.' he said 10 himself, what shall
! do with those?' . a..
There were three aces In his hand
together with the ten Of spades and the
seven Of hearts, both OF the latter, negligl-
BILE according TO the law Of chances but
In some strange way seeming to have
sinister significance. Why the ten. and
why the seven?
Recognizing the absurdity OF this
thought. he stll dwelt upon 1t. even while
he was considering whether he should
go In on his three aces. On the face oi
II. this was no problem.
In an ordinary game he would have
played three aces just as anybody eiat
would play them. This, however. Yai
no ordinary game. though he was Ger
tain that the others did not suspect him
Of knowing that.
The fame Of that Memphis game had
spread over the eastern half Of the con-
tinent and as far west as the Rockies
Redoubtablo players from as far away
as Boston and Denver had Sat in. count
ing tho Journey from home little thing
in comparison with the fierce joy Of meas.
uring wits with Harry Lang and the
other players.
They always spoke Of Lang by name
Sometimes they mentioned the others
but he played always, and the others only
at times. No two men were always in
the G game, and no suspicion Of confeder-
atei skill had been established.
There we're in Memphis that year. how
ever, some half dozen men who had
come to be known for the skill and daring
Of their play end for the readiness with
which they backed their cards with large
sums. and Whenever two or three or
more OF these men sat in together Lang
was In the party.
Had he been uniformly successful II
would have been herd for him TO main
tain his reputation as a square profes-
-Bional, for IL would have taken more than
legitimate skill to win at all times az giinst
EIch men as he played with. AT times
he lost heavily, but it was never reckoned
th.t he was much behind the game
Being a professional, as matter Of
COuI bc uS was Ieltllci ItlCiIpCi uoI kbCot
of the famous club that dominated tbs
social life of the city. but among the
plungers in the club were number who
found the way to the equally famous old
French hostelry close by both easy and
pleasant. and there was bigger and better
poker played in its dingy private parlor
than even in the club card room.
Jack Nolan, soldier of fortune had
known of the game for months, and while
outstanding his resources for a plunge
at it. as he had more than once done for
a season at Monte Carlo. he learned all
he could at long range of the character
and methods of the babitual play era
From what he learned II was not diff
cult to decide that Lang was the one
play er in the game to be watched. IL not
actually feared
Lang's reputation as a square pro-
fessional had provoked only a cynical
smile In the man who had known pro-
fessional gamblers all over the world
For himself he had always been care
full to have some ostensible calling that
kept him outside the class and he had a
warm admiration for those who. never
having been caught In crooked play,
were called square.
Admiring them for their success he
had initiated them In never taking what
looked like a hazardous chance. He
played straight whenever it seemed
dangerous to do otherwise. AS q gentle
man OF repute he was welcome in circles
that were closed to professional gam
blefs and to be detected would be more
serious matter to Jack Nolan than TO
Harry Lang.
The r1imor Of a really big game, how
ever, was a call to the soldier Of fortune
as irresistible as the beginning OF South
American revolution. and so it came that
after recommending at distance he sat
in one night with Lang and three others.
having been introduced by clubman
whom he had met In New York.
Dingley. who introduced him, was a
cotton factor. alert. suspicious. cool and
daring. Loving play for the games
sake he was a plunger in speculation
Of all sorts and had won and lost fortunes.
A thousand to him was merely margin.
whether il backed a card or clinched
a purchase through his broker
Hornaday. who sat next. was of a
different type. Bold enough in his play
when the cards justified, he reokoned
his chips always as money, never as
counters merely. And Merrisk. the next
at the table, was an overrioh youngster
occupied in Kidding himself OF the pos
session OF great patrimony.
Losing and winning seemed almost
equally pleasant to him. but they had
ceased to class him as q sucker because
OF his not infrequent winnings. They
joked about his luck sometimes, but he
only grinned and laid no claim to skill.
whatever he may have thought.
Lang had the next seat and Nolan sat
next to him.
Lang had dealt the three aces early
in the game. too early, Nolan thought,
as he studied his chances. Yet that Of
itself might be in the dealers mind a
circumstance to disarm suspicion.
The ante was two call five, Dingley
came in, Hornaday dropped, Merrick
raised it FIVE and Lang trailed. There
seemed no reason why Nolan should net
reraise, but he hesitated, and finally
pushed - forward. saying nothing and
thinking absurdly enough about the
seven and the ten more than about the
three aces. Then Dingley came IN, clos
Ing the pot.
sone card. please said Nolan. watoh-
inc the dealer intently out Of the corner