PLAYING THREE AGAINST ONE.

Wherever gambling is carried on, there is always more or less partnership existing. When gamblers are in cities, they frequent those places of resort that arc most likely to furnish them with the greatest number of victims, and where they can best carry on their nefarious occupation to the ruin of all whom they may be able to seduce into play; and where there is a great deal of travel, there are, on nearly every train, some of this class of men. By travelling, they fall in with many business men who have money, and many who, for sport, or with the hope of gain, will play cards almost at any time. And if they have not before fallen in company with gamblers, they are very apt to consent to play readily. As this class of men are generally as cautions, polite, and genteel in their manners as possible, in order that they may the better conceal their true character, and as there are, mostly, several of them in partnership, they will not be long without getting up a game. Three of them will get to a card-table, and as they will want four, they will politely inquire of a gentleman if he plays whist, this being a game very generally understood, and considered genteel; and hence they will have very little if any hesitation in asking a gentleman to play it. And if he consents to play, but protests against betting, they will content themselves with a proposition to play for the cost of the cards, or for glasses for the company. This will hardly be objected to; but the next sitting, having become somewhat acquainted, they will insist on playing for a sufficient sum to make the game interesting; and there are few men who, under such circumstances, play cards, that will refuse to play for a shilling each, in order to render the game of some interest. Now, when a man sits down to a table where there are three secret partners, it makes no difference whom he draws for his partner: he will, of course, get one of the three. He is then at play with three well-skilled adversaries, and the man who is perforce his partner will play as much as he can that he may lose, that he may in the end win; for whatever the other two win will be divided after the game is closed.

A man can never win against such odds; and after losing a few games, he will become somewhat excited, and think himself unlucky, as all men like to win, whether it be little or much they are playing for. A man will, in cases like the above, be apt to propose doubling the bet, and if he does not, his partner will do it. holding out at the same time the probability of winning some of the games; and every game which they may win that has been doubled, will make up for two that were lost before. This is generally enough to do away with his predeterminations, and he puts up again and again, but still continues to lose as long as he has anything to lose and will play : and finally gets up from the table bitterly regretting the unlucky moment he suffered himself to be beguiled into the commission of an act he had ever considered as sinful and ruinous in the extreme.

I have known young men to be invited to play whist, and at first they would play for sixpence a game. They would lose, and become excited, and then double, in the hopes of winning, thinking it unreasonable that they should not win a single game: but still they lost, for they could have no chance of winning a game against the professional skill of the old gambler, and played on till penniless.

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