AustLit

'RUSSIAN POKER is played by two men with a revolver. A bullet is placed in the gun cylinder, which is twisted. The next step is to cut a pack of cards. The man drawing the higher card gets his choice. Usually he lets the other fellow test the law of averages first.

'When two men, Holden and Pricey quarrelled in a club over a business they agreed to settle their differences, with a side-bet of £25,000 each, by Russian poker. Holden is killed. Price arrested and subsequently released, for it appeared obvious that Holden died of his own hand.

'With a woman’s intuition, Elaine, his daughter, is sure it was murder, and engages Larry Kent, the crime investigator, to prove it.

'It is at first a hopeless task. However, Kent’s enquiries show that as an officer in World War I Price quit after ordering his men to take a certain objective. Kent found out also that Price was a notorious card cheat, and was, as well, very clever at sleight-of-hand tricks, which is, nevertheless, hardly enough to substantiate a murder charge.

'A cleverly planned trap is prepared—as Kent puts it, “a rat-trap, and £50,000 is a lot of cheese.” But before the trap is sprung Elaine and Kent themselves are nearly murdered.'

Source: 'Commercial Radio Plays for Next Week', ABC Weekly, 24 June 1950, p.27.