Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-07-12

| llaDle 10 StrOll into the room anu eVeH-
tually invite himself into the game.
This is all mapped out in advance, the
sharps making every effort to land a
victim without actually asking him to
play.
There is fine logic in this. 1t is sell
dom that a shark Is directly accused
| Of cheating. II player suspects that
all is not right he generally leaves tha
table without making any accusation.
II he should accuse one Of the trio,
who is actually cheating (and losing),
| the confederate, who Is not cheating
| (but wInning), Immediately turns on
the accuser and proceeds to administer
a verbal walloping, thus diverting at
tention from the accusation and put
| ting the other on the defensive.
| "I don't see what justification you
have in coming into our game and in
sulting a gentleman" he declares with
every show Of Indignation, and with
out pausing for reply, continues Il
am the only winner in this game, while
the gentleman you assail Is a heavy
loser! II there Is anything wrong I
must be the guilty man, and don't
| propose to allow you or any one else to
make statements that directly or indi-
rectly reflect on me! Who invited you
to play, anyhow? Nobody! You but
| ted in without being asked and now
you kick because you have lost a few
paltry dollars! If you can't afford to
lose by all means get out Of the game!
Don't force yourself into what was a
nice sociable party and then make re-
marks rejecting on a gentleman, who
has been losing constantly without
making any complaint whatever!"
Such a TRADE will generally silence
| the 'knocker," especially as one or
more Of the other players may express
a conviction that everything Is all
right. The other sharks, quite natur-
ally, make manifest their approval OF
the speech.
| There are times, however, when, as
the result Of carelessness or accident,
shark does something that unquestion-
ably marks him as a cheat, and the re-
port Of anything Of that sort spreads
over the ship like wildfire. In fact, the
| gamblers refer to such an act by one OF
their number by saying that so-and-so
set the ship afire." This is a great
disaster, from the viewpoint Of the
sharp, especially II 1t happens at the
| beginning Of the voyage, as 1t makes
the prospective victims suspicious OF
every one and they refuse to gamble
| for big sums.
One of the favorite tricks Of the
sharps is to work the spread" If one
/ of the trio has four hearts, for instance
he flashes the information to his con-
| federates. If either one Of them has
heart in his hand, he signals go
ahead" and the man with the four
hearts plays his hand just as II he held
a pat flush. The fifth card in his hand
he palms and when the other players
throw their discards on the board ne
makes a move as II pushing them away
from his side Of the table, at the same
time dropping the palmed card.
He Is then playing with only four
cards in his hand, stands pat. bets the
limit, and when finally called he throws
down his four hearts in the center or
the table without opening them up to
view. AS the cards drop in pile his
confederate who gave the go ahead"
signal. and retained in his palm
heart when throwing the balance OF MS
| cards in the discard, now reaches IN
with the remark, Let's see what 1t is,
| and spreads open the four hearts, at
the same time depositing the fifth
heart from his own palm. Thus flush
is shown, the fifth heart being spread
| in. This trick can also be worked to
| make full houses, straights, and, In
fact, any poker hand. 1t Is also used
| In pinochle in making big melds.
A short time ago a well-known gam
| bier, whom we will know as Gillen, as
that is one of his many aliases, had an
amusing experience on the trip from
Liverpool to New York. There was, IN
addition to Gillen's combination,
combination of three Frenchmen on the
boat. These Frenchmen were not
known to the officers Of the ship nor to
Gillen's two companions as being card
sharks, as they were making their first
trip. 1t so happened that two OF the
Frenchmen took seats in game IN
which Gillen and one of his partners
were playing. In addition to these four
| there were three other passengers.
They had played but few hands when
Gillen signalled his partner that he held
| two pairs, aces and tens, and the part
ner signalled that the spread should be
| worked. One of the Frenchmen oppos-
ed, and the two players bet their hands
up quite freely. Evidently each man
was quite sure of winning. When the
call was finally made Gillen threw
down his two pairs and his partner
spread in the third ace, making an ace
full. The Frenchman dropped four
spades on the table and his partner
spread in the fifth spade. making q
flush. The spreads were made simul-
taneously and of course the four
gamblers all knew at once what had
happened.
1t was too rich. The wise players all
burst into laughter. The three others
also laughed. although they had no
idea what had actually transpired. The
Frenchman who had spread In the
spade looked at Gillen, who immedi-
ately gave him the signal that every
thing was all right and the four sharp
ers accordingly worked thereafter to-
gether, dividing the profits equally af-
ter 1t was all over.
There is a regular general code OF
signals in use among all high-class
gamblers, and 1t was. therefore, possi-
BILE for the Americans and the foreign
ers to communicate across the table.
Another plan for separating the pub
lie from it's money when aboard snip
is to make a pool on the number OF
miles the ship will make in twenty-four
hours.
This is done every day on practical