by Ray Herbeck, Jr., Historian, Western Heritage Center
When Prescott was wild and woolly, gambling was not considered a vice.
As a dour Wyatt Earp famously told a judgmental young reporter late in life, “We did not have Y.M.C.A.s.”
Wyatt, his brother James, and their former saloon girl “wives” arrived in Prescott in 1880 to convince their brother Virgil, a Prescott constable, to make a family move to the new boomtown of Tombstone. Virgil’s wife opposed the move.
To escape heated family “discussions,” Wyatt probably escaped to Whiskey Row to indulge in “bucking the tiger” at faro — his favorite game.
Faro was even more popular than poker, its closest rival, and the game of choice of Wyatt’s friend John H. “Doc” Holliday, then a Prescott resident. Holliday had taken down his shingle of “Dentist” and flaunted the sobriquet of “sporting man,” or professional gambler.
The miners’ favorite game was faro; the cowmen’s, poker. Games demanding either skill or intelligence were not popular.
In faro, bets were placed atop a green felt layout of the complete suit of spades, glued down and lacquered. Players put coins or chips on the card or cards they thought would be pulled first or second from a box or “case” into which the cards had been placed after shuffling.
The box from which the cards were dealt traditionally had a tiger painted on its lid; hence, “bucking the tiger” meant betting against the faro bank. Cards were drawn from a slit in the side of the case in pairs, face up. If the card a man had bet on was drawn first, he lost. If it came up second, he won. And if neither, he could bet again. Cards already drawn were exhibited by the dealer’s casekeeper, who kept track of the game and gave players a chance to figure out the odds as the game progressed.
On Saturday, Aug. 15, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Elks Crystal Hall, locals can immerse themselves in just such a 1880s gaming parlor. The Western Heritage Foundation and the Western Heritage Center invite all to celebrate Doc Holliday’s birthday as would the sporting gentleman himself — gambling.
Locals can compete against Lady Luck in eight-period games of chance for raffle tickets and valuable prizes. Tickets are available online at VisitWHC.org or at the Western Heritage Center on Whiskey Row.
