This is a collection of wonderful poker stories, some obviously pure fiction, some based on true facts, at least some of the actors are historical figures that did indeed exist. It reveals a good amount of how card sharps plied their trade, and illustrates many of the local differences in playing draw poker.
- CHAPTER I
- What Is Poker
- Its Origin, And Why We Like It
- CHAPTER II
- The Early Days Of Poker
- Steamboat Games
- A Mammoth Raise
- Bowie's Good Deed
- CHAPTER III
- Poker In Washington
- A Story Of Henry Clay
- Cabinet Players
- Mahone's Rule
- When Reed Was Called
- CHAPTER IV
- Poker In London And Paris
- John Bull's Two Pair
- A Game With The Prince Of Wales
- CHAPTER V
- Poker And Jurisprudence
- Various Decisions By Legal Luminaries
- How The Judge Overruled The Motion
- The Sheriff Took The Pot
- CHAPTER VI
- All About Jack Pots
- A $1,200,000 Jack
- Didn't Know Greenbacks
- Won On Two Deuces
- A Boston Man's Narrow Escape
- CHAPTER VII
- The Scheme For A National Jack Pot
- A Jack Pot Without Cards
- CHAPTER VIII
- Women And Poker
- Arguments To Show That They Can't Play And A Story To Prove That They Can
- CHAPTER IX
- Old Time Poker In The South
- A Jack Pot Of Niggers
- Colonel Rafael And His Honor
- CHAPTER X
- Poker And Hypnotism
- A Young Man Who Can Read Cards
- How Five Aces Were Beaten: Callaway hypnotises his opponent to see four aces and a joker (five aces) as nothing but a full house, and Callaway's bobtail flush as four aces. Callaway takes the pot.
- The Man Who Laid Down A Straight Flush
- CHAPTER XI
- A Life-Long Game
- The Great Morgan-Danielson Betting Match
- Four Hours To Open A Jack Pot
- Three Thousand Dollars For A Nap
- CHAPTER XII
- About Bluffing
- $200,000 On A Pair Of Tens
- A Bluff That Turned Into A Flush
- Major Edwards And The Tenderfoot
- CHAPTER XIII
- Tom Custer's Luck
- A Girl Makes The Best Draw On Record
- How A Townsite Was Won On Two Deuces
- Lucky Baldwin's Big Play
- CHAPTER XIV
- Six Cards In One Hand
- Two Games Wherein Six Cards Figured
- What Became Of The Extra One
- CHAPTER XV
- Poker In The Centennial State
- Big Betting On Small Hands
- How Three Klondikers Played Cards
- CHAPTER XVI
- Children And Poker
- Too Much Frankness
- Daddy And Dinah
- How The Tom Fool Had Them "All Alike"
- CHAPTER XVII
- The Police And The Gamblers
- A Down East Selectman
- A Bunko Game At Los Angeles
- Story Of The Short-Card Man
- CHAPTER XVIII
- Superstitious Players
- Queens And Tens
- Louis Laid Them Down
- Euchre And Poker
- An Old Story
- CHAPTER XIX
- Reminiscences Of William Hurt, Reformed
- John Dougherty's Bet Of Arizona Territory
- His Adventures In Persia
- CHAPTER XX
- Now The Bear Spoiled The Jack Pot
- Touching Tale Of A Dog That Tipped Off Poker Hands To His Master
- CHAPTER XXI
- Practical Joking
- How The Dentist Was Fixed
- The Fresh Baseball Reporter And The Players
- CHAPTER XXII
- Crooked Gambling
- An Expert Explains The Mysteries Of Second Card, Paper Men And Hold Outs
- CHAPTER XXIII
- Classic Tales Of Poker
- The One-Eyed Man
- Origin Of The Looloo
- Four Kings As Bank Collateral
- Jay Gould As A Philanthropist
- CHAPTER XXIV
- The Poetry Of Poker
- Ditties, Wise And Otherwise, About The Great National Game
1st edition 1900; 342 pages; PDF 187 pages.
word count: 75387 which is equivalent to 301 standard pages of text
