Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-21

we learned something about the then
rules of poker at the Grand Cafe.
Rule i. Attract no attention. tThere
We're no others)
At that moment Il speak of fifteen
years ago.. between and I o clock every
afternoon. you could count from five to
fifteen tables where the jetons ratified
where men skinned their cards with fur
tive haste.
The cafe, then, as now. supplied French
packs of cards free, but the players. be-
ing wise. bought packs with indicators
from the waiter at a dollar each and
gave them back at the end of the game.
So the waiter favored them So the house
welcomed them. Fifteen tables, SIS. not
to speak of the drinks and cigars. There
was no kitty" except that agreed on by
the players for their own purposes.
Some of these groups were wealthy
business men. Their fireproof safes over
flowed with gold, and their belfry with
bats.
Other groups were less so. Groups OF
players kept boxes of expensive mother
of-pearl chips with their favorite waiter.
and their table was reserved for them
day after day. Experts arose.
l. myself, in those early days got up
against the experts. / wanted to see how
they did IT.
| was let in with fiattering courtesy.
fetched.
'Table-staak? Feef-ty do-laar:" sug-
gested the man with the red tie.
l said: NO, give me 30 francs worth
for a starter" l wanted to get familiar
with the thirty-two-card game
From that moment it was knock down.
and-drag-out, no time wasted. They
would take my thirty francs and let me
go.
The first man anted 10 cents: the sec
ond straddled; the third straddled that;
so that it cost me 50 cents to come in.
All three drew cards always. Then two
OF them always dropped out. after which
they held an inquest over their dead
hands.
IF l had drawn three cards, I'd "a
made brelan." (Three of a kind)
Il ought not to "a held the kicker see-'
You know the way. l was supposed to
be busy raising back the other player
SO as not to notice this barefaced pre-
pairing of the pack for the next deal
They passed the cut neatly ut was all
they did neatly)
l desired to die hard So bet only on
my own deal-and won the antes, Each
time / showed up q stack they fed. Did
they suspect me? 1t disconnected them,
also, for another reason. Obviously they
did not trust one another; so that when
TO keep UP appearances. each time
among themselves. the winner was scowl-
ed at by the two others. and swift per-
emptory whispers passed I'll bet they
had hot time settling up when / had
gone.
II is different now. We play with forty
cards and personal friends. Even in that
heroic period you had to be introduced
10 play in the basement Of Plots billiard
academy. In the Rue Vivienne You can
not sit in without some sort of introduce
ton.
Here every afternoon and night sat
twenty Frenchmen. for the most part. at
four tables playing honest poker as the
thing went after their fashion. Probab ably
they are still playing.
But it was Paris poker. as brought
back by adventurous voyageurs. To be-
gin with. they took the .twos," "threes,"
"fours'' and "fives'' from the pack-net.
as you might think, to spoil the new
comer's game or to make the pack small
enough for easy stacking. The French
are so used to the ecarte or euchre
pack of thirty-two cards that f1fty-two
cards seemed too many for them at the
start when they learned poker
And. child like. they desire to have
good hands,
IL is true that when you play five or
six handed you must often shuttle up the
dead wood to complete the draw, a detail
not unfavorable to monkeying. But no,
/ believe not.
The "twos," "threes." "fours', and