A gambler native to Cavinaw City, Waller thrives on taking money from rich men who have plundered the town. He finds the perfect victim in John Paul Neal, a rail magnate and compulsive gambler who ends up in Waller's clutches when he comes to Cavinaw City and up losing $700,000 in poker over five-and-a-half months.
Waller is an educated man, enough to know the story of Faustus, and offers to play Paladin for John Neal's "soul". If Paladin wins, then Waller will let John Neal go. If not, Paladin will leave John Neal there to lose the remainder of his fortune. Paladin wins when he calls Waller's bluff after the gambler fails to make an inside straight. However, Waller assures John Paul that there'll be a table for him anytime, and seems confident that John Paul will eventually return.
The gambler's one weakness is that he has bad vision, and without his thick-lens glasses he's practically blind. When he loses them after John Paul flips the table in anger, Waller is blinded until he recovers them.
