HIS POKER

During Bret Maverick's first visit to San Francisco,[2] he learned of the Ring, an exclusive group of investors that bought shipwrecks at auction and profited greatly at their salvage. Discovering the members of the Ring were also poker players, he reasoned he could win his way into their organization at the poker table with the help of Brother Bart. Bret sent for Bart, who joined him on the fourth day of an extended poker game at the Hotel Bossert. Bart arrived too late to be of assistance, but soon enough to witness his brother win his way into the Ring with "a pair of aces and a fair knowledge of the grand game of poker."[1]

A STEADY JOB

Bret Maverick intentionally won his way into the Ring, becoming business partners with an exclusive group of high-stakes investors in San Francisco.[1] The decision seems to rail against the prevailing Maverick philosophy, but perhaps the idea of great profits, backed by bottomless pockets, and involving no physical labor or other danger, appealed to Bret. After narrowly paying off an incredible debt of $21,000, however, and nearly losing his Brother Bart in the bargain, Bret sold his interest in the Ring[2] and returned immediately to his preferred career as a professional poker player.[1]

MY OLD PAPPY ALWAYS TOLD ME

During a bidding war for the wreck of the Flying Scud with Bret Maverick, Thomas Bellairs had driven the price from $300 up to $20,000. Considering the mystery as to why anyone would bid so high for a wreck that shouldn't be even $5,000 to the Ring, Brother Bart reminded Bret of Pappy's maxim, "A faint heart never filled a flush." Bret succumbed to the advice and continued bidding, eventually winning the Flying Scud for $21,000.[1]

LOSSES

Bret and Bart Maverick paid $21,000 for the Flying Scud, $500 to Thomas Bellairs for the name of James Dickson and $100 to Jamie Craven for the name of Jerome Braus, a total of $21,600. On top of that, Bart made a deal with Captain Nares to pay him 35 percent of the take from the salvaging of the Flying Scud, but due to Bart's falling out with Nares, the salvage was never completed.[1]

WINNINGS

Adrift at sea, Paul Carthew wrote a bank draft out to Bret and Bart Maverick for $25,000 which — upon their return to San Francisco — would reimburse the Maverick Brothers the $21,000 owed to their creditors and the $600 in expenses to find Carthew, giving them a meager profit of $3,400, much less than than the $9,000 in IOUs Bret had won in his poker game with the Ring.[1] Lesson learned: Stick to your own game.[3]