author
David A. Curtis
1846–1923
Best known for lively poker stories and practical writing about the game, this American author turned card tables into sharp, entertaining fiction. His work captures the language, risks, and rough humor of late-19th- and early-20th-century gambling culture.
2 Audiobooks
Queer Luck: Poker Stories from the New York Sun
by David A. Curtis
Stand Pat; Or, Poker Stories from the Mississippi
by David A. Curtis
About the author
Born on October 19, 1846, and dying on March 23, 1923, David A. Curtis was an American writer remembered today for books centered on poker and gambling life. Reliable library and public-domain records confirm works including Queer Luck: Poker Stories from the New York Sun, Stand Pat; Or, Poker Stories from the Mississippi, and The Science of Draw Poker.
His writing seems to have moved between fiction and practical explanation. In one mode, he told brisk, colorful stories about gamblers and high-stakes play; in another, he wrote instructional material that treated poker as a game of calculation, rules, and judgment. That mix gives his work a distinctive place in popular American writing about cards.
Although detailed biographical information is limited in the sources I could confirm, his surviving books suggest a writer deeply familiar with poker culture and interested in both its drama and its discipline. Readers coming to him now will mostly find a vivid period voice and a window into the gambling lore of his era.