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Beind' tke 
 FulfiUtnent at a 
 
 Promise 
 
 
 ^Written by 
 for nis friend 
 
 1 
 

 Copyrighted by Chas. E. Faeth, 1919. 
 
 JAN I2IS20 
 g)C!.A56G474 
 
 tic f 
 
 \ 
 
Of tills edition there have been printed 
 forty copies and this book, which is Num- 
 ber 3, has been especially printed for My 
 Friend, 
 
li WI' ii ^ 
 
THE original copy of tliis book was 
 written in a letter from Santa Mon- 
 ica, California, July 31, 1919, to my good 
 friend, because he asked me to do so and 
 because there was no better way to spend 
 an evening than in thinking of my friends. 
 Moreover, at that time he needed the in- 
 struction. I have found out since, how- 
 ever, that like most tutors, I fall down at 
 the point of practical application. I do not 
 follow my own teaching, and, though the 
 course has not yet been completed I find 
 I am even now excelled by my pupil. 
 
 To Good Fellowship, to hearts that are 
 true, and to my dear friend, client and 
 pupil, I dedicate this vacation effusion. 
 
 <.-.A>-'*^ y^ , 
 
'0^mmm 
 
IT is my good fortune to find that the 
 chief pleasure in the game of life, which 
 is the game of chance, is the welding of the 
 golden binding chain of Friendship which 
 is kept bright by many happy hours of 
 close companionship. 
 
 To show my deep appreciation to those 
 who have so greatly contributed to my 
 prosperity and happiness, I have had this 
 little book put into form and present it 
 to my friends with all my heart. 
 
 It is much to my regret that my dear 
 friend and tutor has not yet completed the 
 instruction of which I was so much in need 
 and he so capable of giving; but if I am 
 ever graduated, I say to my good friends, 
 ' ' Beware, — beware ! ' ' 
 
 ( . . . could it be possible that he delays 
 my diploma because of this anticipation?) 
 
 ^^ 
 
 iiU^. 
 
 CMRi57r\ia 
 
 9i9. 
 
 j\m 
 
I SIT tonight and hear the waves surge 
 back and forth on the sandy beach, and 
 it makes me think of you, "Old Top" and 
 the game you would have me teach. For 
 the restless waves with their restless ways 
 are like you in a certain game, as they 
 flaunt around in their endless plays and 
 accomplish just the same. They splutter 
 and splash and slip and slide, and come and 
 go with the varying tide, and storm some- 
 times — if they feel that way — just as you 
 in your varying play. So listen, "Old 
 Top", what I have to say, as I hear the 
 waves in their midnight play. 
 
 Life's one fine gamble from the day we 
 utter the first wee sound 'til we shrivel and 
 stumble and slip under the ground. For 
 it's a chance we take from the very start, 
 and it's all a chance 'til the time we depart. 
 So, if it's poker or dice, or law or steel, 
 let's play the game from the very first deal 
 with some set rule or plan or scheme. As 
 I write you tonight, let that be our theme. 
 
^h^ 
 
 Call up the boys ! They will come soon 
 enough and gather around for a chance, be 
 it law or iron by the pound. Whatever we 
 have, they want it I 'm sure. It 's simply a 
 question of how strong is the lure. 
 
 Get out the tools! There's a thousand 
 ways to take a chance in a thousand plays. 
 But don't forget, the result's the same. 
 Men have one object in playing the game. 
 Profit, Profit, Profit, just one word — 
 there's no other reason the thought is ab- 
 surd that it's anything else. Yet you hear 
 some say that "for pleasure" is the only 
 reason they play. Nonsense ! Who ever got 
 pleasure from making a loss or being de- 
 feated? Think it over "Old Hoss". 
 
 So hand me the cards. Cut, shuffle and 
 deal. Let's play a hand and see how we 
 feel. Five cards all around, and after 
 tliey're out let's take a peep — see what it's 
 about. Have we been lucky? How's our 
 stock in trade? AVliat's the result from 
 the plans we have made? AVbat have you 
 in this first play — Nothing? Men often 
 start just that way. Nobody opens! They 
 mutter and grumble and finger the cards 
 
»[»^— i^ai^ii— iiMi 
 
 and slip 'em and fumble — all trying to 
 figure in some foxy way to hook all the 
 others — The same old play. Deal all 
 around. Now, how should we move in an 
 endeavor our game to improve! Play 
 tight, sit steady, don't rock the boat; 
 squeeze 'em, pincli 'em, spring at their 
 throat. For in poker, as in business, the 
 *'rube" that's asleep has but one finish — 
 to awake and to weep. So don't take a 
 chance ! 'Tis thus that I dope 'em : Have 
 aces at least; if not, never open. For 
 Jacks, Queens and Kings are things of tlie 
 past. If you trifle with "shorts" you sure- 
 ly can't last. 
 
 So now, having opened with aces or bet- 
 ter, follow the rules right down to the let- 
 ter. Don't stand a raise on a pair! 'Tis 
 quite foolish and there's nothing to gain by 
 acting mulish. Unless with a pair you 
 have a hunch you can bluff 'em, then bet 
 back, look fierce, stand pat and chunk 'em; 
 for in poker, like business, there's a great 
 deal of buncombe. You'll get caught some- 
 times — they'll see it's a fake, but the best 
 of best men make a mistake. Of course 
 rank suckers quite often play and make rot- 
 
mm 
 
 ten calls, and take your money away But 
 don't fail to remember if they stay to the 
 finish, as the hours pile up their chips will 
 diminish. 
 
 Draw one card to ''threes" on a raise. 
 I'll admit it's deceit, but you must be de- 
 ceptive if in poker you beat. 
 
 Always Taise before drawing to a flush 
 or a straight; bet hard after drawing and 
 you'll win sure as fate 
 
 pon't be a ''caller"! It's a habit, 'tis 
 said, that feeds on the nerve from the purse 
 to the head. 
 
 Be aggressive, be active, change your 
 play, keep 'em guessing! Your opponents 
 will find such a play most distressing. But 
 don't be so foolish as a man once I saw 
 v/ho continually bet 'gainst a one card 
 draw, for before one should do it, I'm here 
 to relate, he should be able to beat a full 
 flush and straight. 
 
 Play the strength that you have and do 
 not depend on some chance weakness in the 
 other man's hand. Unless sometimes, per- 
 chance, you can read a man's face; he 
 might tip off his hand if in a tight place. 
 
mm 
 
 Look at your hand before it's checked up 
 to you and have your mind made what you 
 are going to do ! Then do it or don't, just 
 as occasion demands (you'll enjoy yourself 
 better and play many more hands). 
 
 Don't fiddle the cards; they're just as 
 you got 'em! If you hold them still, there'll 
 be one on the bottom. If you change them 
 around someone might be able to see them 
 slip by from over the table. 
 
 Act when your turn comes, for I want 
 you to know that there are some men who 
 play their hands purposely slow to see 
 what the man on their left's going to do, 
 and thereby take undue advantage of you. 
 Believe me, the game wasn't written that 
 way. Those who do it would steal your 
 gold teeth any day. 
 
 Don't stall! Please, don't stall! unless 
 there's a reason. Don't delay just for fun 
 — the play's out of season. There are oth- 
 ers you know whose time you are taking 
 (as well as your own) and no progress 
 making. 
 
 Five cards all 'round; eight men all 
 'round; the clock's hands all 'round. Last 
 
hand, we must go. The waves on the beach 
 still surge and still toss. Some of us won 
 and some of us lost! The old moon has 
 sunk long since to its rest. No more do its 
 beams light the waves at their crest, and 
 night scurries and hastens far into the 
 west. 
 
0^0mt0mm 
 
 OLD SOL rubs his eyes and awakens to 
 say, with a glow from the east, "My 
 dear friends, 'tis day!" 
 
 Well, well, what a night! Here I sit all 
 alone with my pen in hand and naught to 
 atone for the loss of my sleep and the loss 
 of my rest. Yes, there is! for there's one 
 thing that in this life is best. It's the 
 thought of my friends with their various 
 ways, their various faults and their various 
 plays. 
 
 There sits Gus, Fussy Gus, Princely Gus ! 
 May he stay on this earth to be in at the 
 very last play. 
 
 There sits Frank ! Nature made him and 
 said, with a smile, "I am sure I've accomp- 
 lished a task that's worth while." 
 
 There sits Dan, Wily Dan, Foxy Dan, 
 Stylish Dan! In this big round world 
 there's no other such man. 
 
 There sits Fred of the Steel, and Fred of 
 the Ice, — both bully fellows and equally 
 nice. A little eccentric and really live 
 sports, but both tied for tightness^ (I get 
 from reports) 
 
i^^ 
 
 ««■ 
 
 Then there's Charley the Silent, the oily 
 magnate, — and you at my left, let me see, 
 that makes eight. 
 
 There are others, of course, in my fancy 
 tonight. Tim, let's have two tables, some 
 chairs — there, that's right. 
 
 Look! there sits the Judge, "P-a-s-s", 
 hear him exclaim, *'I can't get a full, I 
 don't like the game." 
 
 There sits Ira! Lignum-vitae, Lord Al- 
 mighty, Gee, how tighty! Won't play till 
 he gets 'em, if he sits up all nighty. 
 
 And there sits Jim, '* Jackson Jim", last 
 card Jim, ''Ain't it tough to call when he's 
 got 'em and lay down on a bluff!" 
 
 Then there's William, the genteel, cour- 
 teous, fair, who handles the cards with dex- 
 trous care. But when he chances to bet on 
 
 a fight he's out of his class ! Am I right? 
 * 
 There's Beau Brummel Cy, of remark- 
 able luck, whose first half of his last name 
 tells us why we get stuck. 
 
 Then there's George, who looks silly and 
 bets you a 'gob', and the Prince of quick 
 
«■■ 
 
 ({uitters, Jimmy de Rob. 
 
 There's Ed, the cigar man, who early did 
 learn that the way to get rich was to make 
 money burn. 
 
 There's Harry the wise man — as white 
 as he's black — who swears off quite often 
 but always comes back. 
 
 There are others, of course, but I haven't 
 the time to mention each "Bug" and put 
 his name into rhyme. 
 
 There are two "Bills", however, when 
 presented we pay. They're not tight or not 
 close, but discreet let me say. One got his 
 eye-teeth cut while out on the range, and 
 the other, well he just likes to keep his 
 loose change. 
 
 So, good day, Idle Fellows ! Begone idle 
 thought ! See of my time what havoc you've 
 wrought. How many moments I've wasted 
 with thee; as many I'm sure as the sands 
 of the sea. 
 
^^^im^ 
 
 Well, I guess I'll quit. No, I won't ! Yes, 
 I will. But there's no other game that 
 gives such a thrill. There's something 
 about it I can't understand, — why I can't 
 tell before hand when I 've got the best 
 hand. It's the guess that's exciting in all 
 things in life. It's the guess that brings 
 pleasure, it's the guess that brings strife. 
 iSo, I say, life's a gamble from the first 
 joyous sound till we shrivel and stumble 
 and slip under the ground. 
 
 So, good day, Bully Fellows, run along, 
 don't forget that as long as life lasts I'll 
 make you a bet; and when it's all over and 
 life's cards lie still, I know kindred souls 
 will be seeking a thrill. Stock up on as- 
 bestos! There's a chance, don't you know, 
 that some of. your lots may be cast down 
 below. If such be the case and I'm riding 
 high, setting out stars far up in the sky, 
 just send me a wireless that the best of all 
 men are about to convene in some cavern- 
 ous den, and all earthly papers at that time 
 will say, "Something happened last night. 
 'Tis said, by the way, a star fell with a soul 
 hanging on, and St. Peter knows not where 
 in Hell it has gone." 
 
Here then endeth ''Play the Game" as 
 written by Chas M. Bush and printed pri- 
 vately and hand-illuminated for Chas. E. 
 Faeth by The Grafters Publishing Com- 
 pany at their Shop which is in Kansas 
 City, Missouri, at the close of the year 
 Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen. 
 
/ 
 

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