The Frontier Gambler is one of the most recognizable stock characters of the  American West, usually portrayed as a gentlemanly Southerner living outside of the law. Historically, gamblers were both men and women, came from various professions and class backgrounds, represented many nationalities, and were part of a well-respected profession. As the West became more populated and settled, public perception of gambling turned negative, leading nearly all state and territorial legislatures to pass anti-gambling laws to “clean up” their towns. The gambler continues to be a captivating figure in the imagery of the West, representing the openness of its society and invoking its association with risk-taking.

The heyday of gambling in the West lasted from 1850 to 1910. Gambling was the number one form of entertainment in the West, and nearly everyone living there engaged in it at one time or another. Cowboys, miners, lumberjacks, businessmen, and lawmen all played games of chance for pleasure and profit. Whenever a new settlement or camp started, one of the first buildings or tents erected would be a gambling hall. As the settlement grew, these halls became larger and more elaborate. Gaming halls were typically the largest and most ornately decorated buildings in any town and often housed a bar, a stage for entertainment, and hotel rooms for guests. These establishments drove the local economy, and many towns measured their prosperity by the number of gambling halls and professional gamblers they had. Towns friendly to gaming were often known as “wide-awake” or “wide-open” for their acceptance of gambling.

Most Western citizens considered gambling a respectable profession, and those who made a living doing it were respected members of society. “Gambling was not only the principal and best-paying industry of the town at the time, but it was also reckoned among its most respectable,” wrote Bat Masterson in 1907. Professional gamblers ran their games by renting a table at a gambling house and banking it with their own money. As a result, many professional gamblers settled in one place. To be successful as an established businessman, a gambler needed to cultivate a reputation for fairness and running a straight game. These men were known as “sports” and did not drink, cheat, or swear; they paid rent and licensing fees, encouraged customers to run up bar tabs, and did their best to act, as historian Hubert Hoover Bancroft put it, as “reputable and respectable merchants.” Bancroft distinguishes between three types of professional gamblers: the free-floating professional, the established legit, and the recreational gentleman.

The California Gold Rush of 1849 created one of the largest draws for migrant gamblers, and San Francisco soon became the gambling hotspot of the West. Famous gambling houses included the Parker House, Samuel Dennison’s Exchange, and the El Dorado Gambling Saloon. Portsmouth Square was famous for the many houses that clustered closely around it. Gambling was also popular in the many mining camps throughout California and the Southwest. Gambling was so closely associated with the Gold Rush that the overland route to California that passed through Panama became known as the “Gambler’s Route.” Dealers lay in wait everywhere, and many an expedition to the goldfields ended in camp before it even began. Mining towns outside California also developed large-scale gambling. Deadwood, South Dakota; Silver City,  New Mexico; and Tombstone, Arizona were all as well known for their many gambling halls and saloons as they were for their rich mineral deposits.

Cattle towns in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska became gambling centers. Thanks to the railroad and cattle industries, many people worked in and around these towns and had plenty of money to wager. Abilene, Dodge City, Wichita, Omaha, and Kansas City all had a convivial atmosphere for gaming. Not surprisingly, that atmosphere also invited trouble, and these towns developed reputations as lawless and dangerous places.

Men were not the only ones who played games of chance; women placed bets, and the sight of petticoats at the table was common. Many women played, dealt, or ran their own houses; this profession offered them the chance to gain monetary independence and social stature. One of the most famous was Eleanore Dumont, known more crudely in her later years as “Madame Mustache.” Miss Dumont ran several different houses in Nevada,  Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota. Another, Alice Ives, started gambling after the death of her husband. Known more popularly as Poker Alice, she was a readily recognized figure in the West for her nearly 40-year-long career. Kitty LeRoy used her sex appeal, flamboyant personality, and excellent gambling skills to become a force of nature in Deadwood. She had multiple husbands and didn’t hesitate to get rid of men once she got tired of them. Perhaps they were lucky because Kitty also had a reputation for shooting men.

Frontier gamblers represented many nationalities and races. Especially in California during the gold rush, prospectors came from all over the world in search of gold and naturally played games of chance. This included Mexicans, Chinese, Australians, and Peruvians. Anglo migrants to areas of the Southwest with pre-established Mexican populations discovered gambling there waiting for them. Most towns had at least one or two salas or gambling houses. One of the most popular games, monte, originated in Mexico and was adopted and later modified into three-card monte. The Chinese were avid gamblers who brought various games to North America, including Fan Tan and several lottery variants. Chinatown in San Francisco contained many gaming houses and was a popular destination for those seeking to play.

Gamblers preferred fast-paced games, which gave them the chance to turn a profit quickly. Faro was the most popular game and was known as the king of all games. People played more than one game, and monte, Vingt-et-Un (twenty-one), roulette, and chuck-a-luck were all popular ways to take a risk. Poker was not initially popular because of its slow pace, but it gradually gained popularity over time. Not all games required playing cards; dice games such as craps were common, as were games involving a wheeled device, such as roulette or hazard. However, saloons and gaming tables were not the only places to bet, and Westerners had a well-deserved reputation of being willing to bet on anything. Horse races became an enormously popular way to wager, and foot races and boxing matches offered similar opportunities. Fights between animals were popular, whether cockfighting, dogfights, or even a panther-vs.-bear battle.

The popular stereotype of the frontier gambler presents a tall, thin male wearing a mustache. He is well-groomed and wears a tailored suit, usually black. Often from a Southern background, the frontier gambler is presented as a gentleman in manner and custom, concerned with maintaining his honor. The gambler possesses a calm demeanor and is cool under pressure, but when crossed, instantly becomes a cold-blooded killer.

The persistent presence of gambling in Western mythology shows a strong association with the risk-taking and chance involved both in coming to the West and in everyday life there. In a sense, those who chose to leave their lives and come West were taking a considerable gamble to begin with. Gambling is also strongly associated with extralegal activity, and to have that activity practiced so frequently suggests a popular association of the West with a state of lax legal and moral codes.

Several well-known gamblers in the Old West included Bat Masterson, Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday, Lottie Deno, Luke Short, Poker Alice, Soapy Smith, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Kitty Leroy, Billy the Kid, and Ben Thompson.

 

Compiled and edited by Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated September 2026.

Also See:

Adventures in the American West

Faro, or “Bucking the Tiger”

Gambling in the Old West

Saloons of the Old West

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