When people think back to the Wild West days in American history, they imagine dusty desert towns, brave cowboys, old frontier settlers, and – most importantly – a seemingly lawless land which saw many men make their own rules by way of the gun. But one thing many people often forget about this time period is that gambling played a heavy part in it – most notably poker! The same Wild West legends that made names for themselves with six-shooters, such as Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp, also carved a name out for themselves at the poker tables. Since many of the people who moved out West were already gambling on having a better life there than in the East, playing gambling games such as poker wasn’t a far stretch for them. The people who formed around these tables were a mixed crowd of businessmen, cowboys, lawmen, soldiers, miners, and railroad workers. Most of the games took place within saloons, since these were the dominant setting for poker games in the West. Doc Holliday was one such legend who built up quite a reputation during his travels through the Old West. Suffering from tuberculosis, Holliday would consume large amounts of alcohol to control his cough and would play quite a bit of poker while in the saloons. Eventually, Holliday made his way to the Western mining towns to find legal gambling in these areas. Doc would definitely find his gambling in these towns along with plenty of trouble. In one instance, a noted bully named Ed Bailey was skeptical of Holliday’s reputation and began looking at the discard pile in the middle of their poker game. Despite Holliday’s warning Bailey kept doing it, so Doc raked the pot, causing Bailey to draw his gun. Ed Bailey never got the shot off, though, since Holliday sliced him open with a knife. Holiday was lucky to have the law on his side, too, since fellow Wild West legend and friend Wyatt Earp was on his side. Earp was a poker player as well and known for his various feats as a lawman. In what is his most legendary story, Earp and Holliday assisted Virgil and Morgan Earp at the O.K. Corral gunfight. In the O.K. Corral gunfight, the Earps and Holliday defeated members of a cowboy gang in a huge gun battle. This sculpture was cast using the “Lost Wax Method” and has a brown patina. He is mounted on a marble base and is signed Trask.
Related products
