Queer Luck: Poker Stories from the New York Sun — John Shaqi
Queer Luck: Poker Stories from the New York SunCurtis, David A.
General
Queer Luck: Poker Stories from the New York Sun
Curtis, David A.
Poker -- Fiction; Poker players -- Fiction; Short stories, American
“One night a young law student from Columbia, who had gone West as I
had for his health, joined our game, taking the sixth hand. Davison
didn’t like that, either, as I noticed by his expression, but Harry
Storms, the student, was a general favorite, and the rest of us all
welcomed him, although we were a little surprised when he offered to
play, for he generally spent his evenings poring over a law book, and
we had thought he didn’t know the cards.
“We speedily found out that he did, though, and that he was not afraid
to back his hand for what he thought it was worth. We played only a
quarter limit, and as a rule we kept pretty well inside of the limit,
too, so that it was not often that there was more than two or three
dollars, even in a jack-pot. Storms, however, generally bet the limit
when he bet at all, and as the boldest player generally sets the pace,
we were soon playing a stiffer game than had been seen before in the
camp.
“It was stiffer than I was used to, then, for I was only a youngster,
and hadn’t played much, so I was naturally too much absorbed to notice
for some time that we had attracted the attention of a number of other
men, who crowded around us, watching the play in silence. When I did
look up I saw Aleck White, our foreman, looking on with an expression
of profound dissatisfaction, but as he said nothing I did not feel like
quitting the game, especially as the luck was a little in my favor just
then.
“Presently there was a jack-pot of one dollar and fifty cents on the
table, and as it went over three or four deals without an open, it was
sweetened up to three dollars and odd before Storms threw in a quarter,
saying, ‘I open.’ I sat next to him, and, looking at my hand, I saw
that I had aces up, so I stayed, of course. The next man stayed also,
and then Davison, who was next, raised it a quarter. There seemed to be
some good hands around, for everybody stayed, even after the raise, and
there was nearly five dollars on the board before the betting began. It
does not sound very exciting now, but, as I tell you, we did not play
heavily. There were no professional gamblers among us, and the men were
all working for day’s wages. A dollar meant more then than it does now
to me, and it was a respectable sum to any of us.
“Before anybody drew cards Storms said: ‘Is there any reason why we
shouldn’t raise the limit for this one hand?’
“I had suspected him of bluffing once or twice before that, and I
thought this was surely a bluff. Moreover, I had a fool sort of
confidence that I was going to get another ace, so I said promptly: ‘I
haven’t any objections.’ Davison spoke quickly, too. ‘Suits me,’ he
said, and the others, with a little hesitation, agreed: ‘Make it fifty
cents for this hand only,’ said one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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