BLIND CARD PLAYER

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19835, 26 June 1934, Page 2

BLIND CARD PLAYER

SKILFUL AUCKLAND MAN One of seven players of a recent poker game in Auckland was blind. In spite of this handicap he played for four hours and held his own; just as he is able to compete successfully at the game of solo whist Cards marked at the edges on the Braille system were used. The indentations are invisible from the backs of the cards, so that the players with their sight had no unfair advantage over the blind man. By his sense of touch the sightless player knew his cards and the games pioceeded as they would with four ordinary players. When it came to the show-down, the blind man would indicate, “I have a pair of aces” or whatever it might be, and the other players were there to see fair play to the blind man when the players left in placed their cards on the table.

The game of solo whist would, to the average person, present a great deal more difficulty than poker, but the blind man played it like a champion in full possession of every faculty. His sorting of his hand of 13 cards into their various suits presented no difficulty. As each of the other three in the game played his card he would indicate its nature to the blind man to enable him to know which cards had been played. In short, he had not only to keep track of the. 13 cards in his own hand, but also the 39 held by the other players. He never faltered.

This blind player is not a man who had been sightless since birth or childhood. Now between 60 and 70 years old, he lost his sight only a few years ago, being deprived of the use of one eye and then the other. Though his sight failed him his mental vision did not, and by perseverance he was able to so perfect himself in the use of the marked card?? that he can “sit in” with confidence and enjoyment in the best poker game.