about midnight
This proposal decided every one to remain . The company returned to the large dining-room , which , in the mean time , had been again transformed into a gaming-hall , with the usual accessories : a frame for the tally - sheet , a metal bowl to hold rejected playing-cards set in one end of the table , and , placed at intervals around it , were tablets on which the punter registered the amount of the stakes . On reentering this apartment , Henri de Prerolles approached a sort of counter , and , drawing from his pocket thirty thousand francs in bank - notes , he exchanged them for their value in mother-of-pearl `` chips '' of different sizes , representing sums from one to five , ten , twenty-five , or a hundred louis . Paul Landry took twenty-five thousand francs ' worth ; Constantin Unaieff , fifteen thousand ; the others , less fortunate or more prudent , took smaller sums ; and about midnight the game began . It began quietly enough , the two principal players waiting , before making any bold strokes , to see how the luck should run . The first victory was in favor of Henri , who , at the end of a hand dealt by Constantin Lenaieff , had won about three hundred Louis . Just at this moment the two women returned , accompanied by Desvanneaux .