Notorious Gamblers of the Old West

Gambling played a major role in the lives of the men that drove the western movement of Americans across the continent during the nineteenth century. Games of chance were dear to the hearts of most of the men of the American West, even including some preachers. It's true that a large percentage of the people that populated the American West frequently gambled but only a small amount of them were actually professional gamblers. Heralded by some, despised by many, the professional gamblers were often solitary individuals driven by a passion to win - sometimes at all costs. Some came from a background of the well-heeled upper class while most came from meager origins desperate to improve their lot in life. Along the way, they were praised as being "knights of the green cloth" or ridiculed with such pejorative terms as "tinhorns" or "blacklegs." Wherever there were men with money there was gambling - and most of it was crooked. Whether it was rigged, fixed, double-dealt, cold-decked, braced or otherwise manipulated - very little was left to luck and skill. Notorious Gamblers tells the true story of the Old West gamblers and how they used "tricks" to cheat the other players. Along the way you will meet Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holiday, Luke Short, and the rest of the major frontier gamblers. "I always liked to set a lot of silver on the table in front of me all the time. That's the main reason my table always got the biggest play. It was like flies after molasses syrup." - Long John Dunn