The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-07-18
"SURE THING" BET
PUT IN QUESTION
Gamblers Tricks : Based On
Weakness Of Mankind
OLD DEVICES ARE IN USE
Loser Must Pay Authorities Hold.
Don't Bet Against Mans Own
Game, Is the Advice of
Gamblers.
OLD DEVICES ARE IN USE

From the Washington Post,
One occasionally comes across a per-
son who has an idea that If 1t can be
proved that you are betting on a sure
thing you cannot collect the bet. Some
even go SO far as to assert that you lose
your money, but they are not clear as
to who gets it. They seem to think that
there should be some sort of punishment
for trying to take mans money away
from him when he has no show on earth
to get yours.
sure-thing gamblers are as old as the
hills. although the name Is, strictly
speaking, a contradiction in terms, be-
| cause the man that bets on q sure thing
is not gambler. He is either a thief or
a fool, according to the end he bets on.
But 1t IS the men who gamble most of
the time that bets on sure things when
| they get the chance.
Gamblers who know the weakness of
| human nature in its desire to bet on
sure things have at various times and In
sundry places displayed great ingenuity
| in devising schemes which make 1t ap-
pear to the victim that he Is betting on
certainty and that the man showing
| the trick is a fool. It Is an axiom with
the profession that there is nothing which
| will separate man from his money so
easily as making him think that he has
some one else beaten at his own game.
| The shell game. in which the shell Is
| lifted and the pea Is shown under it
| while the man who is working the game
| is looking the other way, and three-card
monte, in which the corner of the card
Is marked, and two of the most familiar
| examples, and there are hundreds of
other tricks, all played with the aid of
a confederate, which are built up on the
| same general plan-to make the victim
| think he is betting on sure thing when
in reality he is certain to lose
Sure thing games must be distinguished
from those in which there is simply an
enormous percentage in favor of the
game. A man may have some advantage
which IS cetain to bring him out the win
! ner in the long run but it is not by any
means a certainty that he will win every
! bet he makes.
Gamblers Sometimes Lose.
Gamblers have dealt their victims three
! kings and held three aces against them
| only to find that the fourth king had
been drawn to the others. A gambler
who was playing euchre for IS a game on
Mississippi packet had two red jack
| shippers in the pack SO that he was GER
tain Of holding both bowers on every
deal when the trump was red. yet Green
tells us he lost 50 straight games play
ing against a man who knew nothing
! whatever about cheating.
| History records some extraordinary IN
stances of persons high in the social
scale who were so addicted to sure-thing
betting that it resembled the so-called
kleptomania Of modern times. 1t is re-
lated, for instance that a former Mar
quis of Waterford was continually on
the watch for chances to fleece his ac-
quaintances by means Of wagers on
which he could not lose.
One of his tricks was to cause his sit
ting room In the hotel to be so overhead
ed that one or other of his visitors would
be sure to rush to window to open it.
upon which the marquis would appear to
be greatly alarmed, asserting that he
mad been warned not to open any of the
windows on that side of the hotel be-
cause it would throw a certain croclxerv
| dealer opposite into fits. during which he
would probably smash everything in his
| place.
Of course, such a statement was re-
celved with kcredulity and bets were
| easily made upon the result Of the OMEN
Ing Of the window. The result was al
ways as the marquis had foretold the
explanation being that he had privately
! arranged the matter with the shon-
| keeper in advance
1t appears that a certain English Lord
H., who knew the weakness of the mar
! guns succeeded In beating him at his
! own game. Lord Fl. had invited several
| guests for a weeks shooting among
| them the marquis. by chance he oh
! served the marquis one morning careful
~ measuring the height Of the dining
room table
SusDecting some Interior object. Lord
| IA. aIso measured the height of the table
| =
| inches. He then ordered the carpenter
! to reduce the height of the table To 90
inches exactly, which was done at once.
After the cloth had been removed that
! evening and tine diners were passing
| the port over the mahogany Lord Fl was
| quite prepared to find the marquis lead
Ing the conversation round to guessing
at the dimensions Of objects and finally
| Offering to bet that he could come nearer
to the height Of the table at which they
We're sitting than any one else.
After some bantering Lord H. took
nm on for 4ioOo' and promptly guessed
that it was about 20 inches The mar
ous stood UP, viewed the table from
near and far. and after much humming
and having, thought 1t was at least half
an inch higher. His chagrin when he
found that he had lost the bet NAV be
! imagined.
Betting on "Sure Thinu."
| II 10 Oltcn IdlSeu us IL nice question OF
ethics whether a person ought to bet
upon what he absolutely knows to be the
case. as against anothers ignorance. All
the authorities seem to have settled tha
matter In favor Of the man who knows
because 1t Is the other mans fault II he
Is ignorant Of matters which are open
TO him as freely as to any one else
Some years ago such bet was left TO
the decision of famous London sport
Ing paper. A had bet B ESQ that 'bal-
ance" was spelt with two Is. When q
produced the dictionary A accused him
of betting on certainty, as B had looked
up the authority that was to decide It.
Typical cases of betting on certainties
arise in connection with the rules of
games Here is a case that happened
close to New York only last month: A
| man drove ball out of bounds while
playing rolf and proceeded to tee I'D an
other His adversary told him he must
drop the second ball, and could not tee
1t up.
The upshot was a bet of several hun
dred dollars on this point. When they
returned to the clubhouse 1t developed
that the man who was right had had a.
dispute on the same question that morn
ing and had consulted the rules of the
game hanging in the club house to decide
1t. so that he was betting on sure
thing Nevertheless, the other man had
to pay.