Collecting all his forces, counting the chances coolly, he played a steady, consistent game.
The reckless plunging ceased so far as it was against him.

The others, for most part, merely called his tentative bets with wary respect.

Men of his type are never so formidable as in defeat.

Things had come to such a pass that many good hands netted him little or nothing.

Then came a rally; his pile crept slowly up until he was nearly even.
With twenty dollars each in a jackpot, the Eminent Person dealing, the Stockman modestly opened for two hundred.