Taking Chances

In Short

This collection of short stories offers a vivid, gritty window into the American gambling subculture of the late 1890s. Originally published in the New York Sun, these narratives follow trainers, touts, bookmakers, and card sharks as they navigate race tracks, poolrooms, and steamships. Rather than offering moralizing tales, the author presents the raw, cynical, and often darkly humorous reality of men consumed by the "horse bug" and the "poker microbe." It remains a compelling historical artifact, documenting the vernacular and restless energy of an era obsessed with the quick score.

The Story

The narrative arc of the collection is not a single linear progression but a recurring cycle of aspiration, deception, and sudden, often violent, reversals of fortune. We begin in the world of the race track, where the "poor owner" is a master of manipulation. In one representative scenario, a trainer prepares a filly in the "dreamy dawn" to keep her potential hidden from the gambling "plunger." He leverages his inside knowledge to extract a thousand-dollar bribe from the plunger, only to double-cross him by betting on his own horse anyway. The horse wins by fourteen lengths, leaving the plunger with nothing but a "puck in the eye."

As the stories shift from the track to the poolroom and the steamship, the focus moves to the intricate, often lethal, games of poker and faro. We meet a "colored sport" who relies on specific, whispered tips to win a massive accumulator bet, and a desperate, emaciated man on a train who views a poker game as his final act before death. The stakes escalate rapidly. In one instance, two rival businessmen turn their entire professional futures into a high-stakes poker match, betting lucrative contracts against each other’s cash until one man is left with nothing.

The stories frequently explore the phenomenon of the "hunch"—a gambler’s irrational, often fatal, belief in their own inevitable luck. We see a man named Cato Bullman, who, despite being a novice, enters a faro bank and, against all probability, wins over $35,000, only to be strong-armed into surrendering the winnings at gunpoint by his own associate to save him from himself. The collection does not shy away from the darker side of this life; the "finish" of a gambler is rarely a happy one. Whether they are being swindled by "ringers" (horses running under false identities) or falling victim to the "squeeze-spindle" of a rigged game, the protagonists are defined by their refusal to quit even when the odds are insurmountable.

Ultimately, the book concludes that the gambler’s life is a closed loop of misery disguised as excitement. The "wisest veterans" maintain the paradox that "the ponies can't be beat," yet they persist in trying. The stories end where they began: with men sitting in smoke-filled rooms, watching the cards, waiting for a win that will almost certainly be lost by the following day.

How It Unfolds

The track opens The stories establish the atmosphere of the race track, where trainers and owners use deceptive practices, such as "doping" horses or keeping them hidden during early morning workouts, to manipulate betting odds for personal gain.

The poolroom shifts The action moves to city poolrooms, where telegraphic tips from other tracks drive the frenzied betting of young clerks and seasoned "sports."

The ocean crossing Card games on transatlantic steamships serve as a microcosm of the gambler's vulnerability, where professional sharpers systematically exploit wealthy, unsuspecting passengers.

The final hand The collection culminates in high-stakes, two-handed poker games that serve as metaphors for the characters' lives, where immense wealth—represented by business contracts or thousands of dollars—is wagered and lost in moments of intense psychological warfare.

The People

The book is populated by a recurring cast of archetypes rather than traditional protagonists. The "poor owner" is a cynical strategist who views his horses as tools for extraction rather than athletes. He is defined by his ability to maintain a cold, transaction-based relationship with the people around him.

The "plunger" acts as his foil, representing the arrogant, impulsive gambler who believes he can bully the market. He is perpetually looking for a "cinch," and his end is usually characterized by financial ruin and humiliation.

Then there is the "sport," a figure who embodies the romantic, if self-destructive, side of the gambling life. Figures like Cato Bullman or the "red-haired tout" are driven by an unshakable, almost spiritual belief in their own luck. They are often endearing in their optimism, yet their refusal to acknowledge the "handwriting on the wall" leads them inevitably toward disaster. These characters rarely change; they are prisoners of their own habits, cycling through periods of temporary wealth and inevitable destitution without ever gaining the wisdom to leave the game behind.

In Its Own Voice

"The thoroughbred running horse is a peculiar animal. While he is often beaten, the very wisest veterans of the turf have a favorite maxim to the effect that 'The ponies can't be beat'—meaning the thoroughbred racers; which sounds paradoxical enough."

The author introduces the central irony of horse racing.

"'Take her out in front, son,' he said, 'and tow-rope them. Don't let 'em get within a block of you. I'll send your mother a couple o' hundred after you fetch her home.'"

A trainer gives instructions to a young jockey before a fixed race.

What It's Really About

At its core, this book examines the psychological addiction to uncertainty. It argues that the true thrill for the gambler is not the wealth itself, but the act of challenging the impossible. The stories suggest that gambling is a disease of the ego—a belief that one can master the chaotic forces of the universe through a "hunch" or a "tip." It explores the tension between the cold, mathematical reality of the house’s advantage and the gambler’s desperate, romantic hope that they might be the exception. By focusing on the "hard-luck" stories and the inevitable defeat of the player, the author presents a grim, unspoken warning about the vanity of chasing fortune.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate a raw, authentic look at American subcultures will find this book fascinating. It is a time capsule of 19th-century slang and the specific, high-tension atmosphere of the track and the card table. The writing is clipped, cynical, and remarkably effective at conveying the nervous, adrenaline-fueled energy of the period.

However, the modern reader should be aware of the book’s limitations. The dialogue is heavy with period-specific dialect and colloquialisms that can be difficult to parse, and the casual, sometimes cruel, attitudes toward race and social status reflect the prejudices of the late Victorian era. There is no moral arc here; the stories are repetitive by design, mirroring the obsessive, circular nature of gambling itself. You will not find heroes or redemption. Instead, you get a sharp, unsentimental look at a world where "do others or they'll do you" is the only law. It is best enjoyed in small, atmospheric doses, providing a window into a bygone era of American life that was as desperate as it was daring. It is an honest, unvarnished piece of reporting on the "poker microbe" that continues to infect the human spirit.