True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young. Page: 41
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HOUSTON AND HOUSTONIANS 41
was too big for the bank and considerable argument took place,
the stranger trying to get the bank to raise the limit and let
him bet his money. At last the limit was raised to $200, except
on "case cards," when it was fixed at $100.
"When the game got to going good, the proprietor took Limpy
off on one side and told him he was glad to see him and his
friend, and that he was going to be liberal with him and give
him 20 per cent of all the house won from the stranger and that
he would do the same thing on all customers like this one he
could bring him.
"The stranger was a big cattle man who was famous for his
big bets and gambling. In an hour or so it looked like he was
going to break the bank. He had about $8000 worth of chips in
front of him and was scattering them in heaps of $200 all over
the table. Then for a few hours luck went one way and then
the other. It was daylight now and the game was just warming
up. By 10 o'clock the stranger was in the hole for about $20,000,
but still bought chips and showed no signs of quitting. Limpy
sat there, half dead for sleep, but afraid to go to sleep or to
leave for a moment. The luck changed and the stranger began
to win again. By 5 o'clock the stranger had all his money back
and was a few thousand ahead. Then he struck a good deal
and quit it about $18,000 ahead. Limpy was crazy for him to
cash in and quit, but was afraid to say a word, so all he could
do was to sit there and suffer. The game went on, first one and
then the other being ahead. The dealers and lookouts had been
changed two or three times, of course, but Limpy and the
stranger had to stay there in person.
"For convenience's sake the value of the chips had been placed
at $100 each, so it was not hard to keep track of the winning
and losses. About 4 o'clock the second morning the stranger
took stock and found le was just $900 ahead of the game. He
said to the proprietor: 'If you say so I will make one bet of this,
for I'm getting tired. It's double. or nothing. Shall she go?
The proprietor agreed, the bet was made and the stranger lost
He got up and quit, exactly even, and poor old Limpy fainted.
He had sat there for two nights and a day, drinking coffee to
keep awake and with a sure winning for himself in sight all the
time, until the last minute.
"That," said Frank, "was the toughest luck I ever heard oL"
+ + +,
A PRE88 CLUB EVENING.
HE HOUSTON PRESS CLUB is rather a remarkable
aggregation. More so than the memrbe themeles
realize. Seated around a table in the readg room a
few evenings ago was a representative of Grant' army of the
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Young, Samuel Oliver. True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young., book, 1913; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24646/m1/41/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.