THE LADIES HE'S KNOWN

Bart Maverick's initial interest in Belle Morgan was her ability to get him invited into a very exclusive high-stakes poker game. By the time he was able to romance her into the invitation, they both found they were strongly attracted to each other. Belle so much that she offered Bart a high-paying job that would keep him with her in King City. Bart declined the job offer, but still wanted Belle to accompany him to New Orleans. Belle began to suspicion all Bart wanted was the poker invitation and, feeling snubbed, decided to punish him by rigging the game. Bart was tricked into accepting $5,000 worth of devalued stock in Brasada Spur, and Belle put a lien on all of his cash, stranding him in King City. Bart's motivation shifted from spending time with Belle to getting his money back. Once he was satisfied, he moved on to New Orleans, only to learn that Belle had reconsidered and joined him on his trip after all.[1]

NEVER TAKE A STEADY JOB

in order to keep Bart Maverick in King City with her, rather than moving on to New Orleans, Belle Morgan offered him a job that promised to make him rich in only a few years. Bart declined the offer by recalling the words his Pappy said to him before he left home:[1]

MY OLD PAPPY ALWAYS TOLD ME…

"The two greatest evils are hard liquor and hard work." Aside for a reluctance in employment, Pappy's advice to Bart Maverick[1] also explains why the Mavericks were hesitant to imbibe in alcohol.[3]

HIS POKER

After deciding that Bart Maverick's interest in her was only to get a seat in Rufus Elgree's nightly poker game, Belle Morgan arranged for Adam Sheppley to "lose" $5,000 of Brasada Spur capital stock to him, legally strapping him with a large portion of the company's debt. Bart "won" the hand, and the stock, with two pair, jacks up.[1]

THE CON

When Bart Maverick realized Belle Morgan had rigged a poker game for him to "win" capital stock in Brasada Spur, forcing him to assume  a large portion of its liabilities, and at the same time impounding $13,000 of his money, he began to take steps to regain his lost assets.[1]

With the help of Brasada Spur President Roy Stafford, he formulated a scheme: He sent telegrams to a number of well-known millionaires in Chicago and New York City to make it appear that he had wealthy connections, and then left King City for ten days "on business." While he was away, Stafford began dropping Brasada Spur's shipping rates, knowing that Great Western Railroad would undercut them, taking a significant loss for the short term. Bart sent Rufus Elgree a telegram from "Blackburn" in Chicago, luring Elgree there to get him out of King City for at least ten days. While Elgree was gone, Bart and Stafford were buying cattle and shipping them to market on the Great Western at their extremely under-cut rates, making back the money their own lowered rates had been losing, and then some. They also continued to sign binding contracts with Great Western, obligating them to continue shipping at the lower rates for weeks to come.[1]

When Elgree returned to King City, he realized what was happening. The only way out of his legal obligations to honor his signed contracts was to remove his competition. So, he plotted to destroy the Brasada Spur's stations along its route. After violence and vandalism ensued, Bart had strong enough witness against Elgree and forced him to accept all liability for damages to Brasada Spur, as well as pay hefty punitive fees.[1]

WINNINGS

Over the course of a couple of poker nights with Rufus Elgree and other King City millionaires, Bart Maverick had $13,000 to his account, as well as $5,000 worth of Brasada Spur capital stock.[1]