Chapter 3

I was ready when the game started, but Smith did ask me if I really felt like playing after what had happened last night. I thought that was a kind gesture, but I told everybody that I was rested and ready to “take their money!” There was some wry laughter at that, and we began to play. I had drawn $500 from the club bank as had every other player, and we resumed under the same rules as last night.

For the first half hour or so, my luck was as poor as it usually was at the beginning of a game. This time, Beau LeFouche took most of the pots, and I got the distinct impression that he was fully intent on testing my mettle. The other players were all new, so I concentrated on learning their quirks before I began to bet very heavily. As before, LeFouche was the only one who did not have some sort of quirk to tell me what kind of hand he held.

After that initial break-in period, I began to win steadily. Even LeFouche was not able to keep up. My strategy was to fold early when I could not possibly win and not to try to bluff my way through with a mediocre hand. I was able to hide this strategy well enough that the other players did not tumble when I stayed in for a long round.

After two hours, two of the starters dropped out and were replaced by sheep eager to be sheared. As before, only LeFouche stayed with me, even though he was now becoming a steady looser, though not a big one. Smith was still dealing, but he was mostly doing it as a courtesy to the other players: he rarely bet any more.

We broke at 7:00 o’clock for supper and the necessary trips to the jakes, but we were back at work at the end of an hour. Ah, now was when the serious work began. The heavy-weights had shown up and were ready to show me the error of my ways. After about three hours, most of these men had dropped out, and I had a total of $6,500 in the club bank and still had a little over $500 on the table.

At midnight, Smith called a halt to the game. It was the nominal closing time for the club, and he claimed to be exhausted. Not only that, but he looked it, so we all agreed that we had played enough poker for the time being. I now had a total of $8,885 between my winnings, my appearance money, and what I had in my strong box, so I was ready to move on to New Orleans in the morning.

I drew all of my money from the club bank and expressed my regrets at having to move on. I thanked everyone for the very pleasant time I had had at their club and wished them luck with their future endeavors. As I was leaving, Beau LeFouche stopped me long enough to ask if he could talk to me tomorrow before I left town. He had a business proposition to offer me. Hell, one day was not going to make that much difference to me, so I agreed to meet with him tomorrow morning. I left the club with my money in a small carpetbag that I carried in my left hand. I wanted my right hand free to reach for my gun if that became necessary.

I was sure of my prowess with my gun, but I was still very happy that several of the club members volunteered to escort me to the hotel. That was a real courtesy that could save my life! Five men were in my escort, and we did not encounter any problems as we walked to the hotel. I bid the men a good night and went to my room. I transferred the money from the carpet bag to my strongbox and prepared for bed.

I did wake up in time to make it to breakfast in the hotel restaurant before closing time, so this time it was easy for the cook to come up with a very satisfying breakfast along with plenty of coffee. I left a generous tip for the waiter and for the cook: they had both taken good care of me, and I wanted them to know that I appreciated it.

I visited the barbershop for a touch up before heading for my meeting with LeFouche. I was surprised that he did not have a regular office in town, but used a private room in one of the saloons. I understood the details after I met him. It turned out that LeFouche was a speculator of an unusual type, at least in my experience. He did not speculate in land or crops or stocks. Oh, no, LeFouche speculated in people!

His current interest was in somebody to front for him in an effort to cash in on the gambling houses in New Orleans. Specifically, he wanted a good poker player whom he could back with the necessary money to take as much money as possible from the New Orleans establishments. He had watched me play that first game and had influenced Johnathon Smith to set up that set of poker games at the club so that he could take my full measure. He considered himself to be an outstanding player, and he was very impressed at the way I could best him on what was practically his home turf. Anyway, he wanted me to become his partner in his attack on the New Orleans gambling houses.

Well, this was exactly what I wanted to do, so I had no trouble convincing myself that Beau LeFouche would make a good partner. We agreed that he would put up the money and I would put up the skill at poker, and we would split the winnings on a 50-50 basis. He already had a contract written up that only needed our signatures, and I readily signed on as his partner. He said that I should call him Beau and he would call me Prince. The contract had him paying his expenses, and my expenses would come from my winnings. This was a deal where I could not miss, and we caught the train for New Orleans that afternoon.

The trip to New Orleans took two days, even though we only had to change trains one time. Yes, modern transportation was changing the world! Beau knew exactly where he wanted us to put up: it was a top class hotel in the French Quarter. We each had a suite, and that included individual bathrooms with hot and cold running water and flush toilets. Those latter things I had heard of, but this was my first experience with them. Would wonders never cease?

That evening, we visited a gambling house that was very high on the posh list, but not one that had a lot of money. Beau said that this visit was just to get us introduced to the establishment. This was where we could get a reputation established that would get us into the games where there was real money changing hands. Beau had about $30,000 to get us started, but he wanted $100,000 before we went for the really big time. As much as $1million could change hands at some of those games, and that was where he wanted me to cash in.

Beau had given me $2,000 to get me started in a game, and the first thing I did was to break a $500 gold bar into double-eagles ($20 coins). They made a bulge in my pocket, but I could live with that for a little while. We went into the main gambling hall and we saw table after table of poker being played. Mostly, it was draw poker, which I preferred, but there were several tables of stud poker. I figured that stud poker was for amateurs because it let them see some of my cards, and that took a lot of skill out of the game.

We spotted a table with an open place, so Beau steered me to sit there. I was welcomed in and told that this table had a $1 ante and no limit. I agreed and tossed in a silver dollar. I had five of them in my pocket, so I was set for a few minutes. I figured that I could win back my ante in only a couple of hands, and I would be playing with other people’s money after that.

Well, this time, I was luckier than usual. I won the first three hands and was ahead by $37 almost before I was comfortable in my seat. Beau was standing directly behind me where he could see my cards and could watch out for underhanded play. I did not think that was really necessary, but it made him feel better, so I did not argue.

I played at that table for about an hour and had won $211 when I was tapped on the shoulder. A man in a frock coat and top hat asked to speak with me. “Monsieur, your skill suggests that you should be playing for higher stakes. The management of Le Beau Chapeau would like to know if you would care to join a game in one of the reserved rooms?”