The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1924-01-31
awhile, Where the Devil Is Still King

the croupier in the middle of an almost
s-shaped green baize table. Seated
around the table are the heaviest play
ers. and behind them on raised chairs
gamblers who have been unable to get
a seat at the table itself get friends In
front to place their stakes for them.
Behind them again the spectators lean
over brass rail TO watch the play. The
banker having thrown to the croupier
several bundles Of thousand franc notes.
each one of which contains a hundred
notes, the players start stalking. On the
first hand Of bank the gambler usually
goes slow, waiting to see with true
gamblers superstition whether the
bank is lucky or uniucky Still, by the
time the croupier calls out lie jeu est
fait" the whole outside edge of the table
on each side of the dealer is outlined
by border Of single notes or fat wads
With a finger the dealer slips the cards
out of the shoe, one to each side of him
and one to himself.
The game has begun. Like all great
gambling games it is Of a devastating
simplicity Having dealt two cards to
each side and to himself he turns his
own two face upward. If, face cards
reckoning as nothing, the total of his
cards makes eight or nine the bank has
won unless the cards on either side of
him are equal. If the bank does not
turn up an eight or a nine the players
have to consider whether they will draw
another card with the object of making
their total eight or nine. The odds
have all been worked out for each con-
tingency that may arise. It is obvious
that a man who has drawn a six is not
going to tempt fortune in the hope of
getting a two or three dealt him and
will stand pat. The banker however
has a little calculation to go through
Thus IL on one side of the table there
Is six. on the other side a four and
he himself has five he will with an expe-
rienced eye estimate the amounts out
against him at each table and decide,
as he has to. in second whether it will
be worth his while to draw another
card in the hope of beating the six or
whether 1t will cost him less to accept
defeat at the hands Of one side of the
table and gather in on the other side.
When a coup Is made there follows
a marvellous exhibition of croupier leger-
demain. The croupier, armed with a
broad pointed supple sword of wood,
stretches round the table, scooping in
all the bundles if the bank has been
victorious, and with amazing rapidity
stacks them into bundles of anything
from ten to a hundred thousand francs.
ndI 70 fIA T,f5A -,
bank and starts the next deal on its
way. If the bank loses, the operations
last little longer There are all sorts
Of different sums staked The bundles
have other bundles taken from the bank
er's pile flung to them, and the smaller
amounts the croupier either estimates
with an eye seldom at fault or sprays the
notes out into a fan with the point of his
sword in order to ascertain the exact
amount.n During the gambling this season
many have been the occasions when, after
a long run of bad luck, the banker has
>unobtrusively slipped out of his chair
when the croupier has begun paying out
and the whisper goes round the room
that he has gone to get more "charbon"-
coal being the money which supplies the
factory" with its power. When he re-
turns he throws over to the croupier an
other half million or so with the ildiffer-
ence that a man will offer a friend a
light. This game goe@ u, with but few
Interruptions, throughout the afternoon,
evening and occasionally right through
the night until breakfast time When the
workmen are setting out in the gray
dawn for their factories" employers are
leaving work at the Deauville factory"
anything from hundred thousand to a
couple Of millions richer or poorer than
when they started on their arduous day.
There is no eight hour day for the
gambler and the pleasure seeker at Deau-
Vile. Indeed, it is a mystery when any
one has the time to sleep. Cafes and
restaurants remain open all night long,
and long before the Casino is shut the
first rare, healthful holiday makers are
tripping down to the sea for a morn
ing dip.