Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-10-23
ACES BACK TO BACK
CAUSE OF HIS DEATH
Once Too often Did S. E. Brodkey
Have the Big Card in the Hole
Friends Get Suspicious.
TRY TO GET BACK LOSSES


Upon aces. back to back, is laid the
blame for tho suicide of S, Il. Brod-
key, well known pawnbroker OF Four
teenth and Douglas streets.
Once too often In various
friendly" card games did Brodkey
get an ace up and an ace in the hole.
He tripped himself up, finally, and
the dilemma in which he found him
self led to his self-destruction.
This is In substance the story that Is
! circulating among his friends and ac-
| quantances and stirring to it's very
depths the circle of Jewish folk In which
! he associated.
According to accounts which are amply
verified little group OF men, of whom
Brodkoy was one. had beer in the habit
| Of visiting around at each others homes,
particularly on Sunday evenings when
! free from business cares, and enjoyed
little suppers, after which the table would
be cleared to make room for cards. The
game was poker and the speed of the
playing could be imagined from the limit,
which was ordinarily 81, and Brodkey
nearly always had TO dig up The
score for a year or more, II Is said. left
= hime more than thousand dollars loser.
Then Comes Cnrd shark.
Then one day not so long ago, g hard
up professional gambler entered his store
to soak pledge and the talk acciden-
tally drifted TO cards. Brodkey lamontod
his poor luck and complained of his CON
stant losses. to which his customer re
marked that It might not be so much In
the playing as in the cards.
II can tell you how TO change youi
luck and show you how to winV
The professional returned later with Z
few decks guaranteed to produce three
of-a kind, stright- flushes and full houses
IF you use these you won't have any
more trouble settling at the end of 9
game" the professional Is said to have
laughingly told the pawhbroker.
The Jest fell in fertile soil.
nradkey na Host.
week or so later Brodkey was hos
at little dinner OF rinderbrust.
At the end OF the evening his guests
called him phenomenally lucky and de-
parted quite few dollars behind.
The next session took place also at thu
Brodkey place, and several more,
From the good thing poker playe
who always lost Brodkey developed int
an invarlable winner, lie always seemed
TO know when TO "lay down and wheI
to bluff"
One night one of tho company, afte
: losing considerable. picked up a pack o
: cards and stuck them in his pocket
Then came the blow off
= Brodlxey was accused OF ringing I'm
phoney deck and the victims demande
their money back Brodkey returne,
some and explained that he was 'makinl
jokes" Then nearly all who had beel
, playing with him from the start com
, menced to worry him and kept # up. T
friends he declared that some of tn
, losers were taking advantage of his po
sition by demanding more than they lost
and he asked them IN intcrcede and Sc
him straight again.
want All Back.
The losers. however. insisted upon thei
demands In full, and even went so far n
to engage a lawyer to commence prose
cution.
They're trying TO bankrupt me-" Brod
key complained few hours before h
swallowed the poison draught
The exposure OF the marked cards cam
: few weeks ago. Since then Brooke
had been persistently sought after b
: his former card table playmates. Tn
story leaked out and the suicide was tn
elimination.
Though forced 10 admit the use o
9 marked cards. Brodkey at all times in
o sisted that by their use he had got bac
> only about half what he formerly los
: while playing with men who knew tn
!, game better than himself