Shady Bill

By David Seed

The California Gold Rush of 1849 attracted hordes eager to seek their fortune. They came with all the money they could raise to pursue their dreams of striking it rich. Right behind them, came the merchants, the outfitters, and the suppliers of equipment.
Then, came the gold, out of the streams, out of the ground. The gold camps became settlements. Then, the predators came, providing entertainment, which consisted of women, liquor, and gambling.
Gambling ran rampant with faro, roulette, and pin wheel games, and with draw poker and various card games designed to part the prospector from his gold. The settlements were lawless, and attempts at self-rule often ended in mob-rule.
The wildness of the Gold Rush didn’t last long. A year later, in 1850, California achieved statehood, and the legislature wrote laws into the State Constitution making gambling illegal.
Games of chance that gave the house an edge were declared illegal along with the spinning wheels and other gambling devices. A card game called, “Horse Stud Poker” was ruled illegal but was not described beyond its name, causing confusion and effectively putting a stop to all stud poker games.
Five-card draw poker, America’s favorite card game, was a different story. Everyone knew how to play it, even lawyers, politicians, judges, and legislators. Most of that class believed that draw poker was a game of skill, and not a game of chance. The California lawmakers agreed. They made an exception and amended the law to allow local cities and counties to regulate five-card draw poker.
The Roaring Twenties made the game famous, and World War II created a heyday for poker. By the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s, California had dozens of poker casinos and poker clubs, not to mention hundreds of poker rooms in bars from one end of California to the other. Back in those days, the two games played for money were both five-card draw poker, one was high hand wins, the other was low hand wins (lo-ball).
Back in the 1960’s and 70’s, Shady Bill was a big money, lo-ball hustler, a winning player in his hustling prime, but never far from the destitution of the streets. He was upright, presentable, dressed thrift-store style, and he always wore sun glasses. Playing the poker clubs of Northern California, he awaited the big score. It seemed always within reach, but never in his grasp, or was it?
~~~***~~~

• Language: English
• Publisher: Western Grebe Publishing
• Release date: Oct 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370981335

David Seed

###About the author:David Seed was born August 15, 1931 in Minot, North Dakota. In his eleventh year the family moved to Dunsmuir, California where he graduated high school, believing himself to be a writer. In the fall of 1949 he started at the University of California at Berkeley and did his best to learn what he could of life. He managed to graduate in the spring of 1956 and continued to follow his calling, experiencing a chaotic life as both participant and observer. He is now an old man writing books in Oregon.

Book preview

Shady Bill

by David Seed

Smashwords Edition

Published on Smashwords by

Western Grebe Publishing

Copyright 2007 and 2016 by David Seed

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

About the Author

Chapter One

I know Shady Bill for a long time. He gets the name Shady Bill, because he wears sun glasses day and night. He believes that the eyes are windows to the soul, and the last thing he wants to show is his soul. He plays high-stakes lo-ball and dreams of hitting it big. Like Sisyphus, he pushes that dream up the hill to middle age.

Over the years, I see him come and go like the seasons, but I do not expect to see him again. He is a legend now, and like most legends, he does not achieve that status until he moves on.

Shady Bill has the longest losing streak in the history of the Sportsmen’s Club. He books thirty-four straight losses and does not take off his sun glasses.

I remember the morning after he sets the record when he drags himself into the bar and climbs onto the stool next to me.

Would you believe, he says, thirty-four straight?

We hear about it, I say.

Can I get you something, Bill? Little Doll asks.

Shady Bill throws up his hands like maybe she is holding a gun on him.

Sorry, Doll, he says. I am flatter than North Dakota.

Do not worry about it, she says and brings him a cup of coffee.

I play tough last night, he says and turns his sun glasses toward me.

That is what I hear.

I zig and zag and win a few little pots, he says. I hang around Even Street and wait for the noodles. An hour before closing time, two live ones get in the game. They are half lit and have plenty of money. They pump chips into every pot, and everyone chases them. I win a good pot, and I am ahead of the game. Then, on the very next hand I pick up a pat six-four.

Ernie Sales tells us about it, I say, but I know we are going to hear it again.

Shady Bill practices self-analysis. He is his own therapist and manages to stay sane by recounting his lo-ball disasters with good humor. The more stories he tells about himself, the better he feels.

I squeeze out six-four-ace-duce-trey, he says, and figure my losing streak is over. I have the noodles and the chips to play it. Cigar George is under the gun and opens the pot. One of the live ones is next and raises. I slow play the hand and flat call. Pretty sweet, huh? I get to put in two bets and do not show strength.

You do not lose any customers, I say.

No kidding, he says. "The other live one hops the fence behind me and calls the two bets. Sam Q is on the deal, and I can tell by the way he studies the situation he has a hand to draw to. He figures Cigar George is the only one with a decent hand. The two live ones are idiots, and I look like I am on the come. If he raises, he might shut out Cigar George and have the best of it, so that is what he does, but Cigar George calls the two raises. The live