The Connoisseur 15 (1754) [ Practices ]
… it now brings in near six times more than it did at first. This will not appear very wonderful, when we confider that gaming is now become rather the bufiness than amusement of our perfons of quality; that their whole attention is employed … of many of our nobility may be said (like Count Basset's in the play) "to roll upon the four aces." This love of gaming has taken such entire possession of their ideas, that it infects their common conversation. The management of a … besides the parties immediately concerned. But the most extraordinary part of this fashionable practice is what in the gaming dialect is called, pitting one man against another; that is, in plain English, wagering which of the two will live …
Gambling | Conversation
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