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WHY TURFMAN DISCARDED POKER. Perhaps the most extraordinary vicissitude that cm 1 IhC.11 : poker pliver came ihe way of Duncan F. Kenuer. of Ixmisiana. in ls.V.l. or then .1 » ut ■. Mr. Kennel iraa a famous man in that state, lie lived ilien in Ascension Parish, and In- l.iudiiiiT v as about inn-y miles ::bove New Orleans. Of course, there wei e no railroads along the river in thaat dara. so the MMCat Maatera, like the cotton planters farther ii|i. had to go and return Inuii "the city" by heat. Duncan F. Kenner was a vary rich man far those jay. U owned large plantations and many slaves, and he prospered mightily. Moreover, he was a karat fancier, a bleeder of thoroughly ed~ and ■ promoter of races on the old Metallic brack at New Orleans. It may be remeniber-d that he was the owner of the famous Ins, f.ecompte. which once w.ai a four -mile race against Lpxfagtaa over the Metairie course. l.evingtoii afterward b.al tie-winners time, running alone, and thereby tatak-lisle .1 the four uiile reoud: but Mr. Kennels harae, Licouipte. beat hiui iu the coutcst aud wou the 23Q.000 slake that the two owners had pat 1111. This by way Of introduciiou and to ace unt for Mr. KetV per. It has nothing to do with fhe aafcw story that follows, but is intended only to establish Mr. Kennels status and to illustrate his social place. In those lush days, the big sugar planters along "the- upper coast" — meaning the river stretch from New Orleans up to Bavou Sara — were in the habit of going to New Orleans every winter, putting an at the old St. Louis Hotel, spending lie- sea ■ 11 0 opera, etc. there and returning to their respective homes immediately after Mardi Iras. Upon these return trips a certain number of them played poker from tin- time the boat pulled out at the head of tanal street until they were doiiosited at their various landings. They would assemble according to Ifcllk respective destinations, t lie lower dweller- here and Ihe further voyagers there, and so on. Thus it luipix-ncal that our friend Duncan 1". Kenner fell In with his usual companions on that fatal night and the game began before the heal passed arrollton. There was no limit, of course, and eighl were playing in tuu game. This required ou occa sion a dealing from the discards in order to meet the deaaaade af Ihe players. That, however. Battered nothing, for they were all old friends: tliey knew each other and with reason. We may dismiss, as they did. the Id a of a crooked deal. After playing fat some hours with the usual alternating fortunes Mr. Kenner picked up his hand and tonal there lour kings and an ace - -a practically invincible hand in those days before the proclamation af the sequence ■ask. Nothing could beat it but four aces and a king, and a; lir-l he thought of standing pat. The lictting began briskly, however, and after raising hack a number of times it occurred to liini to draw one card to "fool Yin." as he put it. Some thousands of dollars were wagered on the deal, all sorts of "draws" were made, the discards were shuffled and an elderly sugar plant, r liwng near Domildsonville "took two." after much high lMttiiig the show -down disclosed the fact that while Mr. Kenner has his four kings, the elderly sugar planter, with three ace. at the outset, had drawn Mr. Koniiers discarded ace and so made four. Mr. Kenner never played poker after that. In 1MI he told the writer of this article that: he would not pursue a game susceptible to such extraordinary developments, lie admitted that it could not occur again in a thousand years. The fact remained that it had o: a lined in his case, and that was enough for him. In 1S72 and thereafter he was a calm and undisturbed old gentleman, very rich, surrounded by the luxuries of life, and open to almost all its opportunities, but he didnt play poker any more. He was lull of reminiscences and content. He simply didnt play.
