Fools of Fortune; or, Gambling and Gamblers. John Philip Quinn
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John Philip Quinn
Fools of Fortune; or, Gambling and Gamblers
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4064066231118
Table of Contents
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN PHILIP QUINN.
THE THREE STAGES OF A GAMBLER’S LIFE.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS—FOOD FOR REFLECTION.
HEBREWS, PERSIANS, CHINESE AND JAPANESE.
ANCIENT AND MODERN GREEKS AND ROMANS, TURKEY IN EUROPE, AND ASIA MINOR.
GERMANY, RUSSIA, ROUMANIA, BULGARIA AND SERVIA.
ITALY, MONTE CARLO, FRANCE, SPAIN, MEXICO, CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
GAMBLING STORIES AND PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
ARRAIGNMENT OF GAMBLING IN ITS MORAL ASPECTS.
PART I.
. … Gambling Historically Considered. …
| CHAPTER I. | |
| PRELIMINARY REMARKS, FOOD FOR REFLECTION. | |
| Gaming Indefensible—A False Idea of Happiness—Oriental Knowledge of Ethics—Origin of the Gaming Instinct—Blackstone’s Definition of Gaming—Gambling and Commerce Contrasted—The Gambler’s Philosophy—His End—The Gaming Table an Incentive to Suicide—Gambling Subversive of Social Order—The Gamester an Ishmaelite—Hereditary Vice—The Practice Condemned by Legislative Enactment—Jewish and Egyptian Statutes—How Gaming was Regarded by the Greeks and Romans—The Code of Justinian—The Common Law and Statutes of England Compared—The Enactments of American Legislatures Examined and Compared—The True Theory of Repression | 67–73 |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| HEBREWS, PERSIANS, CHINESE AND JAPANESE. | |
| The “Lot” Among the Hebrews—The Putative Sacred Origin of Gaming—Egyptian Legends—Mercury Gambling With the Sun—Artaxerxes and Paracletus—An Assassin’s Life at Stake—Gambling Prohibited by the Mohammedan Code—Gaming Among the Hindoos—Worship of the Goddess of Wealth—Ancient Dice Throwing—Antiquity of Loaded Dice—A Game For a Kingdom and a Wife—A Persian Legend—The Wrath of Duryodhana—The Vengeance of the Pandavas—Gambling Among the Chinese—Favorite Frauds Among the Celestials—Chinese Gambling Implements—The “Poetical” Game—Gaming Prohibited by Chinese Statutes—Oriental “Hells”—The Tan-Koon, the N’gan, and the Ho-Koon—Favorite Chinese Games—“Ching Low”—“Nim”—Women as Gamesters—How “Koo Yan” is Played—Betting on Enigmas—Frauds—“Striking the White Dove”Dove”—A Substitute For the Lottery—Cards and Dice Prohibited in Japan | 74–86 |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| ANCIENT AND MODERN GREEKS AND ROMANS, TURKEY IN EUROPE, AND ASIA MINOR. | |
| Gaming a Factor in the Fall of Greece—Dicing at Athens—Gaming an Aid to Despotism—Encouraged by Alexander—Cocking Mains Among the Greeks—Origin of Dice—Roman Dice—Value of Throws—Odd Customs—Roman Laws Regarding Gaming—Infamous Character and Practices of Roman Gamblers—“Cogged Dice”—Ancient Writers Deplore the Prevalence of Dicing—Caligula as a Gamester—Claudius and Nero—Cato’s Infatuation for Play—Corruption of Children—Fighting Quails—Rome at the End of the Fourth Century—Skill in Gaming an Introduction to Society—Gambling a Cause of the Fall of the Empire—The Vice Universally Prevalent—Gambling Among the Modern Greeks—Tricks of Sharpers—Shifting the Cut—Methods of Stocking—The “Bridge”—Fraudulent Dealing—Crimping—Palming—Tricks of Confederates—The “Roof”—The Cold Deck—Finettes—Costieres—Marked Cards—The Bug—Pincers as a Gambling Implement—Strippers—The Chaplet—Degradation of the Turks and Modern Greeks—Gambling a Source of Poverty and Squalor—Wagering One’s Liberty as a Stake—Street Gambling—The “Comboloio”—A Water Jug as a Dice Box—Gambling Hells in Greece—A Multiplicity of “Joints”—Cheating Not Regarded as Disgraceful—False Bottoms—Perils of Travelers—Surprising Cleverness of the Greek Gamblers—Personal Reminiscences—An Ancient Gaming House—A Gambling Hell at Corinth |
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