The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-07-25

pencil. A milk wagon ratified by in
the street below. One of the negro
attendants, absorbed in the game,
gripped the arm of another onlooker
so hard that the latter turned and
pushed him away. Neither Gates
nor Davy paid any attention.
Then a silence ensued, disturbed
only by the labored breathing of the
watchers. Verify this was draw
poker for fair. what was Gates
going to do?' That was the question
each man asked himself.
Slowly the pencil of! the financier
crept over the face Of the visiting
card, his left hand shielding the
writing. ALI present knew that he
would call Davy, but all wondered if
he would raise, and, if he did, what
the amount would be.
The writing finished, John Gates
leisurely replaced the pencil in his
pocket. He turned toward the card
face down upon the green cloth, but
made no move to put it in the pot.
The smile left his face for an instant
as he shot glance at Davy, but if he
expected to learn anything from the
expression upon the plunger's face he
was disappointed.
Davy's expression resembled some
what that of the Sphinx on rainy
afternoon. He glanced carelessly at
Gates and then at the card.
What are you doin', John?' he
asked finally.
Without reply the financier turned
the card face up and pushed it to-
ward the middle of the table.
The inscription upon it ran, II. O..
U. s71,OOO."
John Gates had simply "called,'
and it was up to Davy to show his
hand.
For some minutes Davy Johnson
sat like statue. He seemed not to
realize the fact that his hand had
been called, and Gates grew some
what impatient.
1t was Davy Johnson's time to bet.
Without looking at the two cards he
had drawn he threw 10 chips into
the pot, now representing the sum of
s221,00O. Gates smiled. He then
looked at his hand, and the bystand-
ers noticed that the smile neither
broadened nor faded. Gates was
poker player. No one but he himself
knew whether the draw had bettered
his hand.
''Play cards, Davy,'' he said. "I've
called you. What've you got?''
One by one Davy laid his cards
down face upon the table. Three
queens and a pair of kings were dis
closed-a full house of great merit.
Davy peered over his glasses at
Gates
''Does it look good to you, John?'
he asked.
Its no good, Davy!" Gates shout
ed, the nervous tension over. eve
got an ace full here!"
Banging his left fist down upon
the table, Gates then slapped the five
cards upon the cloth. He had spoken
the truth. Three 'sbullets' and: a
pair of kings appeared. He had won!
The big game was over and Gates
raked in the staggering pot of s221,-
900, nearly a quarter of a million.
Accounts differ as to- the exact
amount contained in the huge pot.
Accounts differ as to Davy's hand,
some of the bystanders asserting that
it was a king full which the latter
held. In the latter event John Gates
could not have held a pair of kings to
bolster up his three aces, as decks
containing five kings were never to
be seen around Davy's establishment.
At any rate, all the onlookers agree
that John Gates won the pot with an
ace full, and that his full was little
larger than Davy's. And they are
also agreed that there was more than
100000 in the pot of pots, and that
the game lasted a brief half hour.
Davy, with sublime nerve, as cool
as an iced cucumber in spite of the
difference of more than 100000
which his losing hand had cost him.
spoke:
Better have a cup of coffee be-
fore you go home, John,'' he said.
Thanks, Davy, will" replied the
financier.
Five minutes later a taxicab was
summoned, John Gates, was polling
toward his apartment, and the biggest
poker game in history was over.