Any one may visit them, and they keep a regular force of
runners, or "ropers in," for the purpose of enticing strangers within
their walls. They are located over stores, as a general rule, and the
Broadway establishments usually have a number of flashily-dressed,
vulgar-looking men about their doors in the day time, who are
insufferably rude to ladies passing by.

[Picture: THE SKIN GAME.]

Faro is the usual game played at these houses, but it is a very different
game from that which goes on under the supervision of John Chamberlain.
In gambler's parlance, it is called a "skin game." In plain English it
means that the bank sets out to win the player's money by deliberate and
premeditated fraud. In first-class houses a visitor is never urged to
play. Here every guest must stake his money at the risk of encountering
personal violence from the proprietor or his associates. The dealer is
well skilled in manipulating the cards so as to make them win for the
bank always, and every effort is made to render the victim hazy with
liquor, so that he shall not be able to keep a clear record in his mind
of the progress of the game. A common trick is to use sanded cards, or
cards with their surfaces roughened, so that two, by being handled in a
certain way, will adhere and fall as one card. Again, the dealer will so
arrange his cards as to be sure of the exact order in which they will
come out. He can thus pull out one card, or two at a time, as the
"necessities of the bank" may require. Frequently no tally is kept of
the game, and the player is unable to tell how many turns have been
made--whether the full number or less. Even if the fraud is discovered,
the visitor will find it a serious matter to attempt to expose it. The
majority of the persons present are in the pay of the bank, and all are
operating with but one object--to get possession of the money of
visitors. The slightest effort at resistance will ensure an assault, and
the guest is either beaten and thrown into the street, or he is robbed
and murdered, and his body thrown into the river. There are always men
hanging around these places who are on the watch for an opportunity to
commit a robbery. The most notorious burglars and criminals of the city
visit these hells. They keep a close watch over visitors who stay until
the small hours of the morning, especially upon those who are under the
influence of liquor. They follow them down