The Marked Cards of Walla Walla
A pinochle game and a swindle lead to a high-stakes legal battle over the finer points of gambling law.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Friday's court docket includes the trial of Saul Simon, charged with grand larceny. The complaining witness, traveling salesman Sidney Homer, alleges that Simon swindled him out of $140 in a pinochle game using a marked deck of cards. The case is attracting significant attention among the legal community, as it is expected to raise complex legal questions regarding the nature of gambling. The marked cards are currently being held by the state's attorney, and Homer is expected to return from Portland to testify.
“The case is attracting much attention among the legal fraternity as many nice points of law regarding gambling are expected to come up.”
This case highlights the transition of gambling from a rowdy frontier dispute to a serious matter of jurisprudence. Today, while pinochle dens are rare, debates over the legality of skill-based gaming and online wagering continue to test the limits of modern gambling regulations in Washington.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.