The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims. Volume 2 (of 2)Steinmetz, Andrew
History
The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims. Volume 2 (of 2)
Steinmetz, Andrew
Gambling
'The evidence of the young man was to the following effect:--He had been
in Morley's house; the game of Hazard was played in the front room on
the second floor; a door led into it from the landing-place, and another
from the public billiard-room, which was the back room on the same
floor; both these doors were during the time of play kept barred and
locked, and never opened except to the voice of some person known to
the master of the house. During the play the door was seldom or never
opened, but before the play commenced there was an understanding given
that proceedings were about to begin.
'In the centre of the room was a large circular table, over which a
lamp was suspended, and round the table the players sat, in number,
generally, from six to ten.
'The play commenced by one of the players taking the dice-box with
two dice in it; two other dice were covered on the table, and might be
substituted for those in the box, upon application to Morley, who acted
as "groom porter." The person who held the box was called the caster,
and he called a main, that is, he mentioned aloud any number on the
dice from five to nine; and throwing the dice on the table, counted the
number on the two dice as his chance, the number which he called being
the chance of his setter. Before the main is called, the caster throws
down his stake, which any person present has the option of covering, or,
as it is called, "setting," by placing a similar sum on the table. For
instance, if the caster, after being "set," call five the main, and
throws immediately four and one, or three and two, he "nicks" it, that
is, wins his money at once. If he throws six and one, five and two, or
four and three, each of which two numbers makes seven, he bets the ODDS,
which are three to two in his favour--inasmuch as there are three ways
of throwing seven, and only two of throwing five; and he continues
throwing until either five or seven come off. By the former he loses, by
the latter he wins.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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