CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Gambling Spirit in the United States—The Features Which Characterize It—The Green Cloth and the Stock Exchange—Greed for Gain and a Spirit of Recklessness—“Margins” and Stakes—“Profits” and Winnings—Various Forms of Gaming—Bucket Shops—Policy Playing—The Louisiana Lottery—Aim of Part II—Gambling in “Hells” and on Fair Grounds—“Banking” Games—Their Popularity—Percentage of the Proprietors—“Draw” and “Stud” Poker—“Square” and “Brace” Houses—“Plucking Pigeons”—Dishonest Devices Employed at “Square” Houses—Tacit Toleration of Gambling Rooms—Poker a National Pastime—Gambling at Fashionable Clubs—Play at Semi-Private Club Rooms—Police Indifference—Itinerant Gamblers—Inefficiency of Prohibitory Legislation—The Johnson Law—Gambling and Drunkenness Twin Relics of Barbarism 185-190