Chapter XII: Local Gambling (3)

There are gambling games to which the initiated can gain access now at No. 39 West Twenty-ninth street, in Fourteenth street, the second door from Thiess’, at No. 818 Broadway, at Gallagher’s in Barclay street, at Delacey’s in Chatham Square, at Nos. 12 and 15 Ann street—all close together—Bret Haines’ in Barclay street, and at a good many quiet haunts of tigers so well trained that their footsteps are like velvet and their howl is inaudible. So it is scarcely necessary to go for mere sport to Phil Daly’s Long Branch Club, against which “Baron” Pardonnet has been waging such an ineffectual warfare, or to the famous Saratoga Club, at which “Colonel” Shepard has been vainly launching the awful curse of his boycott.

The raid which made John Daly move, and which produced so great a stringency in the chip market for the time being, started at No. 1 Ann street. It is rarely that an eye-witness describes, from the inside, an official descent on a gambling house. There are generally too many personal reasons for silence. Here is a description by a player at the time of that famous raid. It might also serve as a good description of almost any raid on New York games:

“I had just ‘coppered’ $5 on the queen to the intense disgust of a half dozen fellows who were playing her to win, when the ‘nigger’ who kept door came bounding upstairs, three steps at a time, fairly pale in the face, and whispered to the proprietor:

“‘Boss, there’s some men at the door that won’t go away, and say they’ll break the door down if I don’t let ’em in.’

“‘Quick!’ answered the proprietor, ‘open the door and ask ’em to step right up.’ The words were not out of his mouth before he had slipped the bank roll into the safe, gathered all visible chips of the banks, and asked all the players to gather up theirs, stuck the chips into the safe and locked the safe door, saying, ‘Boys, put your chips in your pockets and come around this afternoon and I’ll cash ’em in for you.’ In a flash all evidence of present gaming were wiped out. There were only a couple of tables, a dozen or so players, the proprietor, smiling blandly, and—a policeman in sight.

“In less time than it takes to tell all this the still shivering door- keeper had ushered in three ‘plain clothes’ men from headquarters. At the same time the police officer, in full uniform, who was already in the room—and who had been playing with the rest of us, mind you—edged towards the door so as to seem to have come in with and after the raiding officers. He was the worst frightened man in the crowd. But, with quite remarkable presence of mind, considering the strain on him, the officer in uniform stepped promptly back into the foreground, with a pitying smile on his face, and seizing the beard of the proprietor of the game, said to the raiding officers, who looked as if they wondered where he had come from:

“‘Gentlemen, this Mr. Bud Kirby’—

“‘And sorry I am, gentlemen,’ ‘Bud’ interrupted, with a bow and a smile, ‘to make your acquaintance under such unfavorable circumstances! What will you have to drink?’

“You could have knocked me down with a feather. ‘This then,’ thought I, as all hands stepped up to the sideboard and took a friendly drink; ‘this then, is one of those terrible raids we read so much about!’

“The players, fortunately for me, were not molested in the least. They melted away into the early morning gloom (it was then about 2 o’clock), and the officers who carted away the cards, the faro layouts and the roulette wheel, melted away to headquarters and made their report, and that afternoon we all went back and Kirby cashed our chips—of course he knew just about how many were out—and everything was lovely. No officer thought of touching the safe which contained the ‘roll,’ the only thing of any great value about the establishment, and nobody suffered any great loss or discomfort. But there wasn’t any more dealing there for a great many months. And maybe the officer in uniform, who was playing there in blissful ignorance that a raid was to be made, didn’t catch it from Kirby for not giving him warning!”

WHAT “PROTECTION” COSTS A GAMBLER.

A few weeks ago, before the spasm of virtue which constricted the public circulation of chips, a New York business man—whose name may be put down as Allan Allriver, being not altogether unlike the same—was approached on Twenty-eighth street by a professional gambler of his acquaintance who had paraded Broadway and hung about the corners until he was almost on his uppers. “Look here, Mr. Allriver,” said the gambler, “let’s you and I open a gambling house. I know of a good ranch on this very street that we can rent cheap, and if you’ll furnish the roll and let me run the game we’ll both make a barrel of money.”

“That’s all right,” answered Allriver, “but what’s to prevent us from being pulled the very first night?”

“I’ve inquired into that,” replied the gambler, “and am assured on high authority that we will be guaranteed police protection for exactly $25 a week. The usual price is from $25 up $100; we are getting off cheap.”

Mr. Allriver is still thinking about this offer and the remarkable statement with it. There is food for thought in it for the tax-payers. But the charge that police officials are bribed by gamblers is—as the old English Judge said about the charge of assault on women—“most easy to make and most difficult to disprove.” It has the advantage, however, of being even more difficult to prove.

Suppose a police captain or lieutenant were paid $25 a week by the proprietor of a gambling house for protection or advance notice of raids, no papers, or writing, or receipt, or voucher of any kind will pass between them. The proprietor and the police officer will not meet, nor will they be seen or known to communicate with each other in any way except through trusted intermediaries. Through them, one representing the “sports” and the other the “boss cops,” the agreement will be made and the money will be paid. They may meet each other and slide a “wad” from fist to fist as they shake hands on Broadway of a fine afternoon, or they may do their business over a friendly glass of beer at a Sixth avenue saloon table about 2 A. M. If either of these agents tries to squeal, his principal promptly denounces and disavows all knowledge of him. Then who is believed, the poor, unknown, characterless go-between or the “reputable business man” and “faithful police official?”

The elaborate system of bolts, bars, chains, double doors, and the like, which confronts one—either stranger in search of sport, or officer in search of prey—at the entrance of an established gambling house is not intended as a direct barrier to the admission of those in authority. Unauthorized raiders are of course kept out by this means. But no proprietor of a gambling house in New York would dare to maintain that system of defense in the face of known police or detective authority. It would “get the force down on him” forever. When an opening is demanded “in the name of the law,” the bolts are shot back, the chains loosened, the big nail-studded doors are unlocked. But all this undoing, and unloosening and unfastening takes so much time that the proprietor has had an opportunity before the police get into the “hell” itself to put away that which he wishes to conceal, and to put it away so securely that all the police in town couldn’t find it unless they tore down the walls and pulled up the flooring. It is quite needless to say that the players, if they choose, may also utilize this interval by escaping over the roof or down the back stairs.

That some of the New York gambling houses are, or have been, directly connected with Police Headquarters by means of a private wire, or at least with the nearest station house from which a raid would be most likely to be made, is firmly believed by some sporting men. But how prove it? _Quien Sabe?_ Certain it is that there are no “slicker” citizens nor more artful dodgers, no more long-headed law breakers in this great city of “slick” citizens and artful dodgers, than are the professional gamblers. Not so very long ago, when the notoriety of John Daly’s, as a first-class gambling house, almost across the street from the Gilsey was becoming a little too loud, a stranger who in the language of the street, thought he was “fly” and who had found out—he thought—just what door to knock at to find Daly’s and a game, hammered at the door in question vociferously and was surprised to have the door opened in his face by a neat maid-servant, who asked him what his business was, assured him the place was an apartment house for gentlemen and offered to show him the rooms. He was dumfounded and retreated in good order.

Next door, all the while, was an innocent-looking millinery shop. He watched out of the hotel window hour after hour the next day, until he saw a gambler, with whom he was acquainted, come down the steps from “the apartment house.” He sauntered over, joined his friend whom he had known in Denver, and asked him to show him a game, and was taken into “the apartment house.” A large and massive-looking hat rack adorned the back hall. Seizing it by two of the hat pegs, the gambler gave it a slight twist and turned it on its well-oiled axis, disclosing a door into the rear of the first floor of the next house. Here, back of the “millinery store,” the festive roulette ball was clicking and the tiger was bucking and being bucked vigorously. Such is life in a large city!

GAMBLERS COMING HOME FROM THE RACES.

It is on the parlor cars returning from Monmouth and Brighton Beach that the New York gamester is seen in little groups of three or four in the gayest of his mid-summer aspects. No matter if he hasn’t won a single bet all day, the gambler is “blooded” and must ride home in a parlor car. There is a group composed of three of the typical Gothamite race gamblers. The car has hardly started from the track before the porter has slipped into its nickel-plated sockets the tidy little table, which may serve either for cards or lunch. A crisp white napkin is deftly spread over it and a “cold bottle” produced, with three glasses, on a silver tray, from the porter’s larder. A cold chicken is brought out with some slices of white bread and a pot or two of golden butter. No Rothschild or Vanderbilt could order or eat a better meal under the circumstances, or sit down after a day of “sport” to a more inviting- looking board while whirling homeward on the rail in an easy chair. Yet these three men are plain, ordinary, common, badly-dressed, thick- fingered, blear-eyed and uncouth-looking “gams.” There is no “gentleman John Oakhurst” about them. Many New Yorkers recognize them and some nod as they pass on.

The big-boned man, with the ruddy, clean-shaven face, short, stiff gray hair and puffy eye-lids, eats the food earnestly and laughs, and talks in an even coarse voice. At present he is the life of the party. He wears a grayish-brown check suit, not very “loud,” a faded derby, and his fingers need a manicure. They are thick at the ends and do not look capable of deft manipulation. No doubt their owner can deal off the bottom of the pack if he wants to, without detection. He looks about fifty-two. His companions are younger. One of them wears an outlandish- looking round-crowned straw hat and a shabby suit of clothes. He has a pert, feverish-looking, but insignificant face, a red mustache and a tilted nose. The third is good-looking, dark and quiet. They talk eagerly and simultaneously, and not at all quietly of the races and of the bets, and their winnings and losings. By and by the table is cleared away and the “cold bottle” put on and big cigars are brought by the steward, who is told to “fetch the best he’s got.” Nobody has any more fun coming home from the races than professional gamblers have. They are not half bad at heart, perhaps. Before lighting the biggest cigars the steward’s got, they take off their hats and ask the only two ladies in this parlor car full of men if they have any “objection to smoke.”

The most interesting plunger at cards in New York to-day is, in all probability, that broken-down shoe-cutter yonder, who looks scarcely “good for a ten-cent drink,” but who, not very long ago, made the old- timers’ hair stand on end. His name is Bolt McHackin, and his home is in Newark. McHackin is, when not “on a tear,” one of the most skillful shoe-cutters in the country, and able to earn from $60 to $75 a week at his trade. His shears turn out fashionable “uppers” with a celerity and skilfulness rarely found and highly prized. When he has worked hard for three or four weeks and earned a couple of hundred dollars he gambles with a reckless prodigality. In more than one game he has risen from the table a loser to the full amount of his stakes, returning to his work not one whit wiser, and only waiting to try his experiment again. He has been known to make large winnings. Yet to “break a bank” where all the appliances for playing a “brace” game are ready at hand has been demonstrated to be an impossibility.

A NEW YORK GAMBLERS’ CATALOGUE.

If any doubt exists in the mind of the reader as to the truth of the exposure of the “faked” devices described in this volume, the author would especially commend to the attention of such skeptics the following catalogue, issued by a New York house, which is here reproduced, _verbatim et literatim_; only the publisher’s name being suppressed. Similar catalogues are being scattered broadcast over the land. They fall into the hands of young men, to whose curiosity and imagination they appeal with fatal effect. They are easily obtained, anyone may secure one by asking for it, and the United States mail service will safely carry and promptly deliver it. Do parents wish their sons, just entering into manhood, to be exposed to such snares as these here set for the unwary? Need any further argument be adduced to justify the author in the publication of this work?

That fraudulent devices of the character described are manufactured and sold is conclusively demonstrated by the issuance and dissemination of catalogues such as this. It is the mission of the FOOLS OF FORTUNE to strike at the root of this evil by holding up to the ridicule as well as the condemnation of the public the schemes and tricks by which such unprincipled scoundrels seek to debauch the morals of the young, and defraud any victim whom chance may send to their net.

The author believes that the average reader will peruse this catalogue with mingled emotions of interest, surprise and disgust. To the uninitiated it will prove a revelation of depravity at once horrifying and appalling. Yet in itself it confirms and corroborates every statement herein made as to the practices and methods of professional gamblers. The picture is a dark one, yet if it is defective in its fidelity to truth, the fault lies in a deficiency rather than an excess of coloring. Like vampires, these men fasten themselves upon the body of society, ready to draw from its veins the very life current on which its existence depends.

The following letter from a New York dealer in sporting goods explains itself:

“DEAR SIR:—In reply to yours, there is only one sure way to win at
cards, etc., and that is to get Tools to work with and then to use
them with discretion, which is the secret of all Gambling and the way
that all Gamblers make their money.

Yours truly,
—— ——.

ADVANTAGE, OR MARKED BACK PLAYING CARDS.

By which you can tell the color, suit and size, as well by the backs
as by the faces. They are an exact imitation of the fair playing cards
in common use, and are adapted for any game, where it would be
impossible for your opponent to win, as you would know just what he
had in his hand and could act accordingly. These cards can be learned
in an hour with the instructions which are sent with each pack, so
that you can tell every card the instant you see it, both size and
suit.

N. B. Be sure and ask for the Key or Directions, as without them the
cards would be of no use to you unless you are a first-class
professional gambler.

THE POKER RING.

An ingenious little contrivance for Marking the cards while playing,
in a perfectly safe and systematic manner, so that in half an hour you
can tell each card as well by the back as by the face. Although it is
not as yet generally known, it is now in use by a few of the oldest
and best professional players in the country. Anybody can use it at
once.

For second dealing they are invaluable, and no second dealer should be
without one for a day. But comment is unnecessary, as anyone
understanding second dealing will see in an instant its value, the
moment the subject is brought to his mind.

SKELETON BOXES.

German Silver. A sure thing for dealer to win every time at Red and
Black, or Red, White and Blue.

ROULETTE WHEELS.

Faked Roulette Wheels that can be made to come Red or Black, or High
or Low Number, just as the dealer desires, a sure thing every time.

MARKED BACK PLAYING CARDS.

Square Corners, per pack, by mail, postpaid $ 1 00
” ” 6 packs 5 00
” ” 12 ” 9 00
Round ” per pack 1 25
” ” 6 packs 6 50
” ” 12 ” 12 00

FARO TOOLS.

Hart’s Faro Dealing Cards, unsquared, per doz. $15 00 Also, the same in any form, “Rounds and 2 25 Straights,” “End Rounds” or “Wedges,” per pack Same, per dozen, by express 25 00 Two Card Dealing Boxes, top sight tell, top $50 00, $75 00 balance, improved Lever or End Squeeze Back Up Second Card Box for Red and Black, Gaff $30 00, $35 00, 40 and Pull Back, 00 Dealing boxes of every description made to order and repaired. Top balance, End Squeeze and Lever constantly on hand. Card Punches, best 2 00 3 00 Glass paper, better than sand, per doz. sheets 1 00

ROULETTE, RONDO AND BALL GAMES.

Roulette Wheels, finest in the world $500 00
” ” Spreads, cloth, double, 13.6×5 ft 70 00
High Ball Poker Balls, round, each 20
” ” ” Bottle, used with rubber cord, without 10 00
balls

POOL AND SPINDLE GAMES.

Mutual Pool Machines $150 00
and
$200 00
Rolling Faro, 28 Aces and 4 Horses (with fake) 60 00
” ” 28 Cards and 4 Jacks (with fake) 60 00
” ” on cloth, with Spindle 20 00
Wheels of Fortune, 36 inch, 8 colors, 16 spaces, with Nickel 10 00
Plated Spindle and Socket
Wheels of Fortune, 36 inch, 8 colors, 16 spaces, with wooden 8 00
Spindle

DICE GAMES.

Bunko Chart, “Special Drawing,” without tickets $5 00
Bunko Tickets, per set of 56 2 00
Ivory Dice, for top and bottom, 3 fair with 1 00
Ringer
” ” double, 3 high, 3 low, 3 fair 2 00
” ” loaded, ” ” ” 5 00
Loaded Ivory Dice (Chinese make), beats 10 00
everything, $2.00 each; per set of 9, 3
high, 3 low and 3 fair to match
Ivory Dice Tops, to throw high or low 2 50
Rolling Dice, or Log, for high or low 5 00
Dice Cups, harness leather, best in use 50c., 75c., 1 50

SHORT GAMES.

Monte Tickets, or Broads, per doz., by express $ 5 00
Patent Knives, with lock, new pattern 5 00
Patent Safes, with two openings, ivory 5 00
Shiner, for reading cards dealt opponents 60
” ” ” ” ” in 1 00
half dollars
Vest Hold Out, with late improvements 10 00
Table Hold Out, something new, worked with knee 10 00
The “Bug,” for holding out an extra card 1 00
Crayon Pencils, case of 12 colors 1 00

KENO SETS.

Spring Peg Board for 200 pegs $20 00
Pool Globes, Polished Walnut, Keno Nozzle 6 00
Large Sized Leather Bottle, Patent Nozzle 10 00
With 90 Numbered Ivory Balls 30 00

THE SKELETON CARD TRIMMER.

Or new style Stripper Plates for cutting strippers. We now offer our
new style stripper plates with several new improvements attached. They
can be used either with knife or shears and can be set to trim coarse
or fine as desired, with movable guage to cut at any angle, best steel
plates with brass screw and guages with pin socket and hinge plates.

CRAP DICE.

In reference to dice, loaded dice come in sets of “9”—dice, viz.: 3
High, 3 Low and 3 Fair to match. But loaded dice, generally speaking,
are not strong enough for craps, as it is impossible to load dice so
as to make them come up any particular number every time; the best
that can possibly be done is to make them come up about every other
time on an average. They are generally used to beat Sweat or to throw
High or Low, or to bet on averages, or in various other ways, too
numerous to mention, to get the money.

The best way to fix dice for craps is to have one dice with 2 aces, 2
fives and 2 sixes on, and one with 2 threes, 2 fours and 2 fives on.
With this pair of dice it is _impossible_ to throw 7, and there is
only _one possible chance_ to throw eleven. But, if you want dice to
throw 7 or 11 sure, the only way we know of is to have one pair thus:
one dice with all sixes and one with all fives on to throw eleven; and
one with all fours and one with all threes on to throw seven; or, one
with all fives, one with all deuces on to throw seven.

NOTICE TO BILLIARD AND POOL PLAYERS AND DICE THROWERS—HIGH BALL POKER.

A NEW GAME.—This is something just out, and for your business the best
thing in the country, a dead sure thing always, no mistakes made with
this. You have always got them, and can throw a high or low ball SURE
EVERY TIME. This sounds like an advertisement, but I will guarantee
every word of the above or will willingly refund the money; that you
can control the balls is certain, and that is all you want to win the
money betting on the balls as they come out of the bottle. It beats
all dice throwing to death. Let all dice throwers who make dice their
specialty take notice it will win Dollars where dice wins Pennies. Any
man can get a game with it in a Billiard Saloon, and to get a game is
to get all the money there is in the house. In his travels with one of
these he can win a Million. The game is called High Ball Poker, and is
simply this: 2 or 20 players put up their ante the same as in draw
poker at cards, then each player draws one ball; he looks at it and
bets whatever he likes if his ball is a high number, or if it is small
he passes the same as with a good or bad hand at poker. The next man
can raise him, and so on; if all pass he takes the pool, or if anyone
calls him they then draw one ball more, or two balls as agreed upon
and bet again. If the hand is called they show down and the highest
hand takes the money; if there is no call the one that made the last
raise takes the pool, the same as in draw poker without showing his
hand. This is to save him from showing too many good hands, as he may
stand in with the dealer; but whether he does or not it is a regular
House game for the dealer, as he takes a check out for the house every
time a hand that counts over a certain number regulated by himself as
a percentage to pay room and other expenses, the same as any club
room. He also takes out one check every time the pool is passed out
three times in succession, the same as JACK POTS. With Faked Bottle
and Balls the dealer can get all the money in the game anyhow. If he
dont stand in with anybody he can make one player win this time and
give him two big balls, high enough to count the percentage and take
out one check, next time give another player two balls high enough to
count the percentage and take out another check, and so on all night;
and when the game closes he will have most of the checks in the box or
kitty. Or he could play himself and win four or five of the big pools
during the night and lose twenty small pools to square himself—do it
gracefully and with some judgment and win $15 or $20 and make it
appear he has lost. It can be introduced into club rooms, and made to
take the place of draw poker with cards. It is attractive and
fascinating, and played the same as draw, and the novice would rather
play it, as he knows there will be no shuffling up on him, no monkey
work with the cards, and he has as good a chance as the gambler and
won’t be afraid to play alongside of him any more than he would at
faro bank. That is all there is to the game, but there is a dozen
other ways to win with it besides High Ball Poker, viz.: by betting on
averages as with dice or raffling for a watch, etc., or betting that
you can beat another man’s throw or that he can beat your throw, and
other things too numerous to mention. It is a good thing and anyone
who wants to win big money is foolish if he don’t have one. Anyone can
use it to perfection in one minute as good as he can in ten years
(there is no practice or skill required), as soon as he is shown where
the Fake is, which is fully explained in the directions and you can’t
help understanding it as soon as you touch the Fake; and nobody can
tell when you work it, even if they know all about it, any more than
they can with a Pull Back Box. Price with full directions;

Faked Bottle and 25 Ivory Balls, Round face $15 00
Faked Bottles, each 10 00

THE BUG.

This is an entirely new invention, for the purpose of “holding out”
any number of cards, _and it will do it_! It is very simple in its
construction, easy to operate, and any person who knows that two and
two are four can use it. It can be carried in the vest pocket all the
time, is always ready for use, and not liable to get out of order, but
should it do so any watchmaker can put it in order for a trifle, as
the whole expense of manufacture is only about fifty cents. “Then why
ask $3.00 for it?” you may say. For this reason—That one is all you
will ever want to buy, as they do not wear out like cards. Also, after
seeing it you can get one made as well as I can, and make them for
your friends and sell them to all the sporting men in your vicinity,
thereby injuring my trade and I get nothing for my invention; and you
will wonder that the thing was never thought of before. With it you
can “hold out” one or twenty cards, shift and make up your hand to
suit, and your hands and person are at perfect liberty all the time.
Your opponent may look in your lap and up your sleeve, but there is
nothing to be seen! After having used it once you would not be without
it for _any_ price, as, like all good inventions, its simplicity is a
great point in its favor, and any sporting man who has ever seen or
knows its value, would not hesitate to pay $10.00 for one if he could
not get it for less; and then he would be doing a wise thing and
getting more than the value of his money at that. This valuable little
tool will be sent, free by mail, with full and complete directions for
using it.

THE SPY.

This simple and valuable little Advantage Tool, with which you can
read each card as it leaves the pack, has now reached _Perfection_, as
far as we are concerned, as we have steadily improved upon it until we
can improve no further.

_The Reflector_, which is convex, is imported direct from France, and
is made _specially_ for this purpose. It can be used in perfect safety
either in the table or on the knee, and should the suspicion of any of
the players be aroused it can be removed in an instant; your hand
completely covers it, as it is only the size of a silver half dollar,
and you can hold a half dozen of them without their being seen; you
are at perfect liberty with your hands all the time, and if you wish
you can be using the _Bug_ or _Strippers_, or any other advantage
implement with your hands at the same time, without interfering with
the _spy_ in the least, but anything else would be unnecessary, as the
_spy_ is to the ordinary player advantage enough in itself.

STRIPPERS.

The benefit of these cards can be estimated only in one way, and that
is: How much money has your opponent got? For you are certain to get
it, whether it is $10 or $10,000; the heavier the stakes the sooner
you will break him, and he never knows what hurt him.

For Poker they are a sure thing, for what could be better than to hold
the _best hand_, which you certainly can do with these cards; or, for
playing Seven Up, what better thing would you want than to have your
opponent deal you three aces every time he deals, with a chance of the
fourth; or in playing Euchre to force your opponent to give you or
your partner three bowers every time he deals, in spite of himself.
These cards will do it.

In sending for Strippers be sure and state what game you wish to play
with them, so that I can send you cards especially adapted for that
game.

ONE OF THE LATEST—THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE GAME.

This is a new game, and one of the latest out; it is a sure thing for
the dealer. With it you can make any player lose or win the Pool 100
times in succession if you like. It is so finely guaged that it cannot
be detected, and any professional gambler can watch you as much as he
likes. It will be useless, he cannot see anything. You could play all
day with it and never know there was anything wrong with it, or be
able to cheat with it, unless it was shown to you or explained with
the directions that go with it, and yet it is as easy as tossing up a
cent, head or tail, and _anyone_—a child ten years old—can work it as
true and as easy as a professional gambler. No false movements to
create suspicion, everything looks natural and fair and above board,
and anybody will play the game, as it is very interesting and nobody
but the dealer can tell whether it is square or not. Even another
dealer that knows all about it could not tell by looking at you
whether you were dealing square or not, but of course he would know
enough not to play against you, as you have the power all in your own
hands and of course would make him lose. It is a new game, and very
few of the gamblers have got hold of it yet. It is a very fancy
affair, finely polished box, handsome layout and 16 best ivory balls,
all numbered regular, etc. Anyone can make money with it, and one
night’s play will win twice the amount it cost, or in one month’s
steady play anyone could win $1,000 with it. And after you had won all
the money there was to be got you could show and explain it to any fly
man, and if he did not know where to get one, you could sell it to him
for three times the money it cost you, and he would be glad to get it.
It is a good thing for anyone that wants to win. Full and explicit
instructions for working sent with the outfit.

MARKED BACK BARCELONA MONTE CARDS.

The want of this article has long been felt by the sporting men on the
Pacific Coast and South and Western States and Territories. But of the
thousands of gamblers who could win barrels of money with them, none
have been willing to pay the price for them or the first cost of
getting up plates, engraving, printing, etc. Therefore none have been
made for the past fifteen years; and anyone that deals the game or
plays it, or knows anything about the game, will see at once the value
of a pack of cards with which they tap a game for all it is worth, in
a minute, and anyone that will not pay for the privilege of a sure
thing to break a Monte game had better go to work on the railroad, for
he can make more money there than he can gambling. Or any _Great
American Smart Dealer_ that will not pay to protect his game from
being broke, had better go with the other man on the railroad, as he
is not qualified to deal his or anybody else’s money away, for with
these cards the dealer can always tell exactly where three or four
cards lay in the pack all the time, and act accordingly, and such a
percentage with the dealer is worth half a dozen packs of cards each
deal. Some gamblers seem to forget, or never to have known, that there
is only one way to gamble successfully, and that is to _get Tools to
gamble with_.

TO POKER AND SHORT CARD PLAYERS—VEST HOLD OUT.
[NOTE.—This is a verbatim copy of the manufacturer’s circular.]

GENTS: I am now prepared to furnish you with the latest improved Vest
Holdout, which for simplicity finish and Durability is _Par
Excellence_. It will not break or get out of order, anybody can use
it, it works smooth and noiseless and is as perfect as it can be made
after many years of careful study. It does away entirely with the old
fashioned and clumsy Breast Plate, it is now an article of merit and
Value received for the money 10 times over, anybody can use it
successfully with very little practice without fear of Detection for
months in any game where it has not been previously exposed. Like all
modern improvements its simplicity is greatly in its favor, it is
strong and serviceable, no springs to Rust or Break or weaken and get
out of order, in fact it is _the_ Modern Holdout and if the man will
do his work the machine will do its work. N. B. do not confound my
Vest Holdout with the _Sleeve_ machine as I don’t make or sell the
Sleeve machines any more they are a failure and not practical, I have
seen all the different kinds that have been made for years, and I will
give _One Hundred Dollars_ to anyone that will bring me a Sleeve
machine that can be worked effectually without Detection this offer
stands good for one year, _and is open to all Gamblers_. The only
Holdout I now make is the Vest Holdout which I occasionally use myself
as opportunity offers, and I know it is practical and with an ordinary
amount of caution it can be used in 8 out of 10 of all the Gamblers
Games in the country, any old Poker player knows that if he can win 5
or 6 of the Big Pools during the night and play on his judgement or on
the square during the remainder of the night and hold his own he is
bound to get all the money in time. This is the proper way to use the
Vest Holdout and if used on this principle any ordinary Poker player
with a moderate amount of discretion can use it month after month in 9
out of every 10 Poker Games in the country, it is a fine Invention and
any one that plays cards for a living need it more than they do snide
Jewelry or Flashy Clothes with holes in their pockets instead of
Dollars. There is but _one_ way to gamble successfully and that is to
_get Tools to work with and have the best of every Game you get into_.

THE LATEST AND BEST ATTRACTION OUT—NEW STOP WHEEL.

The attention of all outside men, and of all who make it their
business to work the fairs, races, bathing places, picnics, watering
places, excursions, etc., is called to this wheel. It is invaluable,
and is undoubtedly the cheapest and most attractive wheel made in this
country for the money. It is a _sure thing_, and can be completely
controlled by the dealer so as to defy detection, who can make it stop
at any point desired. You can let the players spin it if they wish; it
makes no difference, you can control it all the same. It is very
simple, and anybody can work it to perfection with the instructions
that are sent with each wheel. It is about two feet in size, and the
whole weight does not exceed eight pounds. The whole apparatus can be
carried with ease by one man; picked up in a second and moved to
another place, and set down and started again without a minute’s
delay. I have no hesitation whatever in saying that any man with as
much sense as a monkey, with one of these wheels at any fair or race
track, or any place where a large crowd is assembled, _must_ get a
game, and to get a game is a sure thing to get the money.

----------

GAMBLING AT NEWPORT.

There is only one gambling house in Newport. It maintains a genteel monopoly of all business in this place. It is an old-fashioned looking building far back in the shadow of its grounds and garden, looking quite as respectable in its sombre age as the most respected of Newport villas. I do not think many of the residents are aware of its existence. Of course the diplomats and American swells have discovered its locality, but they are pledged to the secrecy of its interior as securely as the front door. It is very difficult to get in during business hours, and the little slide shutter is carefully opened before the latchet of the front door is raised. No one knows how much money is lost or won in this select quarter. Its mysteries are equal in their methods of secrecy almost to the system of Nihilism in Russia. The man who is the “responsible party” in the concern is a Mr. Abel. If he had been called Cain he would probably have been a Sunday school superintendent, such is the irony of fate. I think that if these summer resorts must actually have a gambling house, it would be advisable to use the exclusive methods that control this Newport establishment.

Of course, this statement does not include gambling at the great caravansaries and in private cottages. As to gaming of this character—which is essentially and necessarily private—it is impossible to do more than guess at its extent. Rumor has it that stakes running up into the tens of thousands are nightly lost and won, and that more than one member of the mythical “400” has found it necessary to abridge his stay at this famous watering place in consequence of losses at poker. These private games, however, are played among gentlemen, and “professionals” are strictly excluded. Yet the inherently corrupting influence inseparable from gambling is always present; nor should it be forgotten that a pill is none the less efficacious as a medicament because it is sugar-coated.

GAMBLING IN SAN FRANCISCO.

Gambling has existed to a greater or less extent on the peninsula on which stands the present great city of San Francisco, ever since the Spaniards first settled there. In the ’30’s and early ’40’s, whalers and trading vessels made the bay of San Francisco one of their regular stopping places, and when in port the captains of these vessels and the Alcalde of the place—then called Yerba Bueno—had many “hot rubs” at “monte.” It was not, however, until the great influx of gold seekers in 1848-49, that gambling obtained any marked prominence. But with the stream of gold that soon began pouring into the young metropolis of the West, there sprang up, as if by magic, games of chance of every description, which were kept running night and day.

These gaming houses were conducted on the main floors of the most pretentious houses in the infant city, and were really palaces in their way. A description of one will serve for a description of all, so we will glance into the “El Dorado,” located at the southeast corner of Washington and Kearney Streets, on the spot where afterwards stood the old “Jenny Lind Theatre,” which was eventually sold to the city and used as a City Hall, and now serves as the City Receiving Hospital. In its early days, it was a large square room, the walls of which were covered with costly paintings; at the farther end was a raised platform, on which was an excellent orchestrion; in one corner stood the bar, behind the cut glass bottles on which were arranged costly plate-glass mirrors. A side board, loaded down with choice viands, occupied a prominent place, while scattered through the room were tables, on which were kept running every known game of chance. Faro was the principal game, although the “monte,” “roulette” and “chuck-a-luck” tables were always well patronized.

Speculation in those days ran riot, and everybody gambled. The miners, after making a successful “clean up,” would go “down to the bay” to have a little recreation, or, perhaps, to send their earnings to dear ones in the far off States. But a visit to one of the gaming houses, which was generally the first place called upon, together with a free indulgence in liquor, usually resulted in the miner’s seeking some friend who might “stake” him with enough money to enable him to get back to the mines, and the wives and children in the East were compelled to wait until more dust could be gathered. Merchants, after they had closed their stores, would risk their day’s profits, which often amounted to thousands of dollars, on the turn of a single card, and if they lost, would go to their homes, hoping for better luck the next day. Mechanics, artisans, laborers, tradesmen, all risked their wages in the games, and won or lost with equal indifference.

The quantity of coin in circulation was very limited, while greenbacks were unheard of at that time. Gold dust and nuggets formed the principal medium of circulation, and nobody was over particular about giving or receiving the exact weight. An ounce, (Troy weight), was worth $20, and all payments were based on that scale. Shop keepers took their pay in dust, and laborers received their weekly wages in ounces. Each table in the gambling houses had its tiny scales for weighing gold, and the players, no matter what their condition was, were sure of receiving their just dues.

All the big games were “square,” and woe betide the sharper who attempted his tricks on anybody and was caught at it. If not killed, he was run out of town, nor did he dare soon to return. Occasionally a “sure thing” gambler would start a house, but as soon as suspicion was aroused that he was not running a “square” game, his tables were deserted and he was soon starved out.

Besides the “El Dorado,” the “Bella Union,” on the north west corner of Washington and Kearney, the Union, on Merchant and Kearney streets, the “Parker House,” “Meade House” and “Bill” Brigg’s place, on Montgomery street, near Pine, were some of the largest gambling houses that were running in 1849-50. In the latter year these were nearly all destroyed by fire, but were immediately rebuilt, and the number increased by the erection of several other places. During the early 50’s the “Mazourka,” “Arcade,” “Varsouvienne,” “Fontine” and “Meade” Houses were in full operation and doing a thriving business.

FARO.

Among the ranks of the old-time San Francisco faro dealers, death has wrought sad havoc and but few are left of the men whose tables were nightly piled with tens of thousands of dollars worth of yellow dust.

Of the living gamblers, perhaps the best known man is “Ed.” Moses, who may be seen around the Occidental and Palace Hotels every day. His short, thin figure is bent with age, while the eyes that have so often in the past watched the sliding of the cards from the little tin box, are dimmed and sunken. The hands that years ago handled those same cards with marvelous grace and dexterity are swollen to enormous size with rheumatism. Mr. Moses enjoys the distinction of playing the heaviest game of faro on record. It was one day, years ago, that he dropped into one of the gambling resorts—not his own—no limit was placed on the betting in those days, but the dealer soon became frightened at the size of Moses’ bets. His signature was good for any amount under $1,000,000 for if he did not have money himself, he could easily raise it. The play grew stronger and stronger; everybody else dropped out of the game and left Moses a clean field. At first, luck was with him and he won heavily, but the fickle goddess soon deserted him. With his losses, his bets increased until at last he drew an I. O. U. for $60,000 and played it straight on a single card. It lost, and “Ed.” Moses sauntered up to the bar and asked all hands to drink, $200,000 poorer than when he entered the room an hour before. Moses has long since ceased gambling and is now living quietly on a snug little income. His fortune is not great, but large enough to grant him every luxury he desires.

Another old timer and a boon companion of Moses, is Colonel “Jack” Gamble. Col. Jack’s principal occupation is drinking the mellowest “bourbon” to be had and longing for the days of the Argonauts. “Bill” Briggs, who was well known throughout the country for his charitable deeds, died a few months ago. He was the last of the old timers to abandon faro in San Francisco. “Tom” Maguire, of theatrical fame, also kept a gambling palace in ’49-’50. Thomas J. A. Chambers kept the old “El Dorado.” “Put” Robinson, another dealer, is lying on his death bed at the present writing. “Bill” Barnes, Mellus, White and J. B. Massey are names well known to old Californians. These men looked upon gambling as being as honorable as store-keeping. They were all men of honor and in the turbulent times of the old vigilantes were arraigned on the side of law and order.

Other men who followed gambling for an occupation were Judge McGowan, S. M. Whipple, of Sacramento river steamboat fame, and Tim McCarthy, afterwards State Senator from San Francisco. They were all welcome visitors among the best families in town and were a power in the political affairs of the then territory and even after California had been admitted into the Union.

Their generosity was limitless, as a single illustration will show. Briggs used to leave his rooms about four o’clock in the morning, but first, he would gather up all the small change that had been taken in, i. e., quarters and a few dimes, for half dollar pieces were about the smallest coins in general circulation. He would fill his pockets with them and go down to the vegetable market, where the gamins assembled every morning to gather up the refuse to feed their goats and cows. Briggs would stand on the sidewalk, pitch a handful of coins into the street and laugh until his sides ached to see the little fellows scramble for them. He would repeat the operation until the last coin had been gathered in. In this way he would throw away from twenty-five to fifty dollars each morning; but he knew it went to families who had recently arrived and who found the money a most welcome aid to their support. Similar stories—and true ones, too—might be told of many of the men above named. Men used to take their children into the gambling houses of an evening to see the sights and listen to the excellent music; and not infrequently highly cultivated and respected ladies visited these places, as they do the salons at Baden-Baden.

After a time it became the rage to have female game-keepers, and many of the houses had at least one beautiful siren to aid in bringing men to their ruin.

The first woman to engage in this sort of employment in San Francisco, was Mme. Simon Jules, who made her appearance one night at a roulette table in the “Bella Union.” She was a pleasant-faced woman, of medium height, with large black eyes and hair as dark as the plumage of a raven. The place, as usual, was crowded, and Mme. Jules’ table proved the center of attraction and did an enormous business. She spoke English imperfectly and accompanied each remark with the expressive shrug of the shoulders peculiar to her nature. The _Alta_, the only newspaper of the day, criticised her severely, but this only advertised her, and it was not long before other houses followed the lead of the “Bella Union.”

In the winter of 1854-’55 the legislature passed the first anti-gambling law, making gambling a State prison offense. Up to that time all games had been regularly licensed. The legislation had the effect of closing some of the smaller houses, and making the remainder a little less public; but the law was never enforced and there was only one conviction in the state under it; that of a “brace” faro dealer in Tuolumne, who was sent to prison more to get rid of him than to inaugurate a crusade against gambling.

In 1859-’60, Col. Jack Gamble went to Sacramento and mainly through his personal efforts and influence, secured the repeal of the law. Faro, monte and roulette were then revived, but not to so great an extent as in the olden days. In the meantime poker had made its appearance and grew so rapidly in public favor that at the time of the repeal of the law in question, it had become a formidable rival of faro and other banking games. Monte and roulette began to wane, and the year of 1873 saw their demise in San Francisco.

In the winter of 1873-’74, the legislature passed another anti-gambling law which was supplemented by sundry municipal ordinances. A lively crusade against the faro games was at once commenced, but as the only penalties imposed consisted of light fines, the games usually reopened immediately.