Frontier gambler

Lore & Background

The heyday of gambling in the West lasted from 1850 to 1910. Gambling was the number one form of entertainment, and nearly everyone—cowboys, miners, lumberjacks, businessmen, and lawmen—engaged in it. Gambling halls were often the largest and most ornate buildings in a town, housing bars, stages, and hotel rooms, and were a driving force behind local economies. Towns friendly to gambling were called 'wide-awake' or 'wide-open.' Professional gamblers, known as 'sports,' ran straight games, did not drink, cheat, or swear, and were considered reputable merchants. Historian Hubert Hoover Bancroft distinguished three types: the 'free-floating professional,' the 'established legit,' and the 'recreational gentleman.' Women gamblers such as Eleanore Dumont, Alice Ives, and Kitty LeRoy achieved monetary independence and social stature. Many nationalities were represented, including Mexicans, Chinese, Australians, and Peruvians. The game Monte originated in Mexico, and the Chinese brought Fan Tan and lottery variants. Faro was the most popular game, though poker grew in popularity over time.

Reader's Guide

The frontier gambler's significance lies in its reflection of the West's association with risk-taking and chance. Gambling was ubiquitous in Western society, as common as cowboys or lawmen, and appears frequently in books, movies, and TV programs. The character is often depicted as a tall, thin, mustachioed man in a black suit, calm but quick to violence when crossed. This stereotype persists in popular culture, where gambling serves as a plot device for high-stakes games or gunfights. The article notes that gambling's strong association with extralegal activity suggests a popular view of the West as having lax legal and moral codes. The character embodies the gamble of moving west itself, and its enduring presence in mythology underscores the West's identity as a place of opportunity and danger.

Did You Know?

• Gambling was considered a respectable profession by most Western citizens.
• The overland route to California through Panama was known as the 'Gambler's Route.'
• Faro was called the 'King of all games' and was the most popular gambling game.
• Kitty LeRoy of Deadwood had a reputation for shooting men as well as marrying them.