Dear Mark,
My spouse and I have a dinner riding on your response. Because we live in
a very small town with limited video rentals, we need an answer from you
to the following question. I say the Cincinnati Kid lost his final wager
in the movie of the same name. My husband believes he won and became the
reigning poker player of New Orleans. Who is right? Lou J. Tawas City, MI
The Cincinnati Kid's (Steve McQueen) full house of Aces and 10's were no
match for the straight flush, eight through queen of diamonds, that Lancey
(Edward G. Robinson) had.
The Kid: "I'll call your five thousand and raise what I have in front
of me."
Lancey: "Call your thirty-five hundred and raise you five thousand."
Great dialog and suspense at the end but by poker playing standards, Lancey,
by raising, then trying to draw to an inside straight flush, would be ridiculed
today by even the most amateur poker player. He should have folded. But
as Lancey said, "It gets down to what it's all about. Making the wrong
move at the right time."
Incidentally, the final wager was not at the poker table but pitching pennies
with a local shoe-shine boy. "The Kid" lost that bet also. "You
try too hard, man" said the shoe-shine boy. "You just ain't ready
for me yet."
Maybe you can squeeze two dinners out of your husband. Enjoy your dinner,
Lou.
Dear Mark,
I deal blackjack as an amateur for a casino rental company. Whether the
evening is a Christmas party at Silicon Graphics, a fund-raiser for the
Harry S. Truman High School band or the Elks Club Father's Day extravaganza,
invariably somebody manages to hit five times without busting and declares
himself an instant winner by using the "five-card-Charlie" rule.
Obviously, the player is dreaming, but it's interesting that this notion
is so pervasive and seems to cut across economic, racial and geographic
boundaries. I even seem to remember it cropping up in my old high school
days back in the sixties in Illinois.
So where did the origin of "five-card-Charlie" come from? I would
love to have a nice historical answer to satisfy and amuse my players, other
than my current "Sorry Charlie." Martha S. San Jose, CA
I'll cut right to the chase, Martha. I don't know! Finding no concrete information
on "five-card-Charlies" in my personal gaming library, local northern
Nevada libraries, inquiries to many individuals in the gaming industry and
an extensive internet search, I came up empty on the genesis of the "five-card-Charlie"
rule. Which leads me to plan B: offering up your question to the readers
of this column. If anyone can send me documented information on where the
"five-card-Charlie" rule came from, I will gladly send you a copy
of my "Hooked on Winning" tapes.
Plan C is the Gaming Resource Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Library. Problem is, I won't be making a trip to Las Vegas until the temperature
drops below 110-in the fall. Unequaled in size and international in scope,
the Gaming Resource Center is the largest and most comprehensive collection
of gaming material in the world. With the earliest work dating back to 1559,
the collection includes over 1,800 books on gambling, monograms, journals,
photographs, pamphlets, posters, publicity releases, recorded disks and
many gaming theses and dissertations. Your answer is there, Martha, and
I promise on my next trip to Las Vegas, I will find it. On the plus side,
Martha, you still get a free set of my tapes because I used your question
in this column.
Before I Shuffle:
He's moved. I've mentioned before what great entertainment the Lance Burton
magic act in Las Vegas is. He's now appearing in his own specially designed
showroom at the new Monte Carlo casino. Priced reasonably at $35, it's still
one of the better bargains in Las Vegas. A "must see" when you're
in Vegas.
Got a question about gambling? Write to: Deal Me In, 774 Mays Blvd.
Suite 10, Incline Village, NV 89451 or e-mail:winners@winner.com
· To order Mark Pilarski's "Hooked on Winning" audio cassettes--laminated
win cards package ($12.95 plus $2. S&H) call (800) WINNERS.
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