This is one of the latest innovations in the game of Draw Poker, and in New
York is accepted as an integral part of the game. It was invented to meet
the not unfrequent case of the whole table declining to "go in," in which
case the Age simply repocketed his ante, and the deal passed, nobody being
either the better or the worse. In such a case, instead of the Age
withdrawing the ante, each of the other players puts up a like amount
(single, _not_ double). The cards are then dealt by the next player. There
is in this case no Age, but any player who chances to hold _a pair of
jacks_, or anything better (according to the scale already given), puts
down any stake he pleases; thereby "opening the jack-pot," as it is called.
The player to his left must either make good the stake or go out, and so on
round the table in the usual way, any player having the privilege of
raising, in which case the raise must be made good by the other standing
players. And so the round proceeds, till some one brings it to an end by
"calling," _i.e._ declaring that he will "see" his predecessors, when the
best hand wins. Should no one "go in" save the original opener of the
jack-pot, he takes the pool; but in this case he is bound to show, to
preclude fraud, that his cards really did include a pair of jacks, or some
higher combination.
It may, however, happen that the second round passes without any player
holding the needful cards {133} to open the jack-pot.[39] In such case each
player puts another chip in the pool, and there is a fresh deal by another
player. This is repeated until the jack-pot is actually opened.