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Fate Deals a Hand – Titanic’s Professional Gamblers
£16.76
When Titanic struck a North Atlantic iceberg on the night of 14 April 1912, the gentlemen of the first-class smoking room barely noticed.
Quickly returning to their games of poker and bridge, they failed to realise that playing among them were three professional gamblers, American con men who had travelled to England for the sole purpose of returning on the ship’s maiden voyage.
George Brereton, Charles ‘Harry’ Romaine and Harry ‘Kid’ Homer were part of a whole complement of ‘sporting men’ who worked the lucrative transatlantic crossings of the early twentieth century. From port to port, they mingled with their fellow passengers and manipulated unsuspecting targets into high-stakes card and dice games they were guaranteed to lose. These men were such a scourge in White Star Line smoking rooms that the company repeatedly warned its passengers about them.
The result of years of research by historian George Behe, Fate Deals a Hand tells the slippery stories of Titanic’s infamous sharps, including their true identities, backgrounds, methods, wins, losses and – ultimately – their fates after tragedy struck.
Description
George Brereton, Charles ‘Harry’ Romaine and Harry ‘Kid’ Homer were part of a whole complement of ‘sporting men’ who worked the lucrative transatlantic crossings of the early twentieth century.
From port to port, these gamblers and cardsharps mingled with their fellow passengers and manipulated unsuspecting targets into high-stakes card and dice games they were guaranteed to lose.
These men were such a scourge in White Star Line smoking rooms that the company repeatedly warned its passengers about them.
This new book also delves into the practice of card gambling during the era of transatlantic ocean liners and the methods of dishonesty commonly used on shipboard.
This study by legendary Titanic author and researcher George Behe, determines the true identities of Titanic’s fabled gamblers and uncovers the truth about their lives.
A unique insight into both the professional gamblers aboard Titanic and their individual backgrounds and their ultimate outcomes.
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Encyclopedia Titanica –
This slim but attractive hardback volume, with The History Press’s customary production values, Fate Deals a Hand is always an enjoyable and illuminating read which, while leaving many mysteries unsolved, reveals these shady passengers in a brighter light than ever before.