He was not using any trickery--and he had stopped one man in the middle of a deal, with a certain look in his eye remarking that he'd rather have the top card than the bottom one, so that he was satisfied they were not trying to cheat.
There came a deal when Irish looked at his cards, sent a slanting look at the others and laid down his five cards with a long breath.

He raised the ante four blue ones and rolled and lit a cigarette while the three had drawn what cards they thought they needed.

The man at Irish's left had drawn only one card.

Now he hesitated and then bet with some assurance.

Irish smoked imperturbably while the other two came in, and then he raised the bet three stacks of blues.