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Volume I

The Gaming Table by Andrew Steinmetz, Volume II

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Anecdotes Of The Passions And Vicissitudes Of Gamesters

Three stages of that species of madness which attends gaming are
there described. On the first shock all is inward dismay. The
ruined gamester is represented leaning against a wall with his
arms across, lost in an agony of horror. Shortly after this
horrible gloom bursts into a storm and fury. He tears in pieces
whatever comes near him, and, kneeling down, invokes curses on
himself. His next attack is on others--on every one whom he
imagines to have been instrumental in his ruin. The eager joy of
the winning gamester, the attention of the usurer, and the
profound reverie of the highwayman, are all strongly marked in
this wonderful picture.

HOW MANY GAMESTERS LIVE BY PLAY?

It is an observation made by those who calculate on the gaming
world, that above nine-tenths of the persons who play LIVE by it.

Now, as the ordinary establishment of a GENTEEL gamester, as he
is commonly called, cannot be less than L1000 per annum, luck,
which turns out EQUAL in the long run, will not support him; he
must therefore LIVE by what they call among themselves the BEST
OF THE GAME--or, in plain English, cheating.

So much for the inner and outer life of gamblers. And now I
shall introduce Mr Ben. Disraeli, recounting, in the happiest
vein of his younger days, a magnificent gambling scene, quite on
a par with the legend of the Hindoo epic before quoted,[12] and
which, I doubt not, will (to use the young Disraeli's own words)
make the reader 'scud along and warm up into friskiness.'

[12] Chapter II.

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