WINS AND LOSSES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 47, 19 November 1907, Page 5

WINS AND LOSSES.

One of the best individual "runs of luck" was" the.'olearing of £1000 .in a fortnight. Other big wins are on record amongst the gamesters. Likewise there are many big losses; but;they do not count,' except to the loser."': > The siihple little gamo known as i iaro ; bank is the most popular method of gambling at tho establishment in question. Thore. is no game simpler or . more quickly played.; Its simplicity is such that a child otinld;»'play it. At tho same time, ample opportunity exists to rogue a "new chum" is' jsd desired. Thirteen cards are arranged on the table. The banker holds tho.rest of the -pack. Those desiring to participate place. ..their money on whichever of tho thirteen cards they, fancy, and the banker then ideals ■ out cards rfrom the pack. Tho first card drawn represents his interests, the second the punters. If the banker wins ho scoops 'lit the money placed on the beaten card; if ho loses he pays out its equivalent. It takes two seconds to decide each gamble, and about seven minutes to deal right through the pack. During this time the consistent player-, may . negotiate somewhere about; twenty-eight coups should ho by any remote' chance be, successful each time. It is possible, of course, to back pretty well evcty-'card on the table at onco. It is. quite a common thing to see an individual player yrith nearly every card going—that is, with a sum. of money on each piece of pasteboard. Half a dozen players can back the one card if so desire. They sit round the ,gr.een table, silent and intent, the grimy hand of the. workman coming in contact with that of the well-dressed business man, as the one speculates a half-crown and the other a sov-, ©reign on-the same card; Now-and again tho silence is broken by a string of oaths, and possibly, an altercation. 1 The language is of * colour, but .all arO: too intent on watching ..the turn-up of the cards to waste fcimo. - vi v; PILES OF COLD AND SILVER. Now and again the banker stops to wipe the perspiration from his forehead and rearrange the piles of gold and silver beforo him. All lose or win with a quiet stoicism born of long experience. At times there is as much as £60..m,notes, gold, and silvor on the table. Players generally stick to the one thing, one man playing with notes, another with gold, a third with silvor, so as to distinguish theirf bets. Occasionally, the bank gets the worst., of it. Perhaps the banker sits down with a pile of coin in front of him, and luck is agiinst him. As his cash diminishes he cries Table talks, 1 ' which moans that tho money ,before, him {speaks for itself, and ho is not prepared to meet ■ liabilities, beyond that amount. When mulcted he retires, and someone else takes ovor tho bank. To run an establishment of this kind naturally costs money. At'the samo time tho "thugs" and pugilists, who make up the staff of "attendants," find a very fat living in the business. ' Every hour the "manager" collects a shilling as gas money from all present. Lucky players are compelled to hand over a very fair porcentago of their winnings, and the "thugs" are not slow in asking for it. The air becomes sultry on such occasions, . especially when a player thinks he,is being" bled." All tho same, ho pays up /janco' he has no option but to do so. PICEONS TO PLUCK.

Then' thero are. always "pigeons" to pluck, and tho "rooks" have a merry time whon a callow youth with monoy to spend falls into their hands. As before stated, it is a cosmopolitan crowd which wends .its way to. this den, and amongst-the number aro often to be found more boys speculating their " halfrdollars." Now and again tho rooks strike " a anag." This happened some tiiiio back .when a young fellow was fleeced of a laTge sum. The game had been going on All night,: and it was nearly 6 o'clock in tho morning whon tho youth realised 'that his monoy had gono, and also that ho had beon victimised. The young man carried a gun, and for a .while mattors wore vory lively. When, he loft, after displaying somo prowess with'"tho six-shooter, ho had most of his monoy back in his pocket. The gamblers are cnsconced in a stronghold that is almost ;m----pregnablo, so woll protected is it against all possibility of intrusion. From tho windows at tho rear it is a sheer drop of 40ft. The only entrance js by tho shop door at the front, and'all intrudors are carefully scruti-

niscd through a peep-holo beforo being ad-, mitted. Tho lock is then withdrawn from a second door, and tho systom of olectric bells thrown out of action. The ground floor space is devoted to the fitting up of a gymnasium, and tho way is shown upstairs. ALARM BELLS. The whole plaeo. is alivo with hidden alarm bolls. In tho gaming room part of the space is cut off as a boxing arena and roped oft'. Attendants aro always ready in the case of an alarm to spring into tho ring and go on with a boxrng match, tho gloves always lying handy. Occasionally also in this ring are fought some battles of which the police have no knowledgo, and which aro not always in accord with what tho law domands. Tho wholo establishment is a thoroughlyequipped gaming hell, and for three and a half years has had a.prosperous career. To its harmful influence may bo .traced moro than one case in which young mon have gone seriously wrong, and several instances can bo quoted .in which victims of tho faro bank aro now paying the prico of their folly in Mount Ederf gaol..