Date:  Sat, 27 Dec 1997 10:31:26 -0500
From:  Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Betting pot (Was Re: Christmas Potpourri....)

At 03:50 AM 12/27/97 EST, you wrote:
>POT
>
>   This is from the New York Sun, 5 June 1871, pg. 1, col. 3. In describing
>a game of dominoes, "he who has the best hand takes the money in 'the
>pot'--that is, the money to which each player contributed at the outset of the
>game."
>   The word "pot" is explained as a new or unfamiliar word would be.
>

OED2 pot n.1 meaning 9e has citations back to 1847 (beginning in the US) in
the sense of the stake or pool in a betting game, based on the older idea of
"pot of gold" etc. (see 9a through 9d).

Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu