Men who make a business of conducting and playing poker games stop at
nothing to get the money. The expenses of running the place, and the
free lunches, drinks and cigars dispensed must be paid for by some
one, and the proprietor is not in business to lose money. The game in
which there is no rake-off cannot possibly be square, and where there
is a rake-off the odds against you are prohibitive, if you play fair.
With seven men in a game of "draw," three of whom are "house" men, the
amount which goes into the "kitty" nightly is usually about equal to
the losses of the other cheat who dares not be found out.