132 ELDORADO 



The latter consisted of doubling a strap of leather and 

 rolling it in a round form, and the operator offering to 

 bet two, four, or six ounces that no man could so place 

 a stick in the loop in the center of the strap that it 

 would be caught as the strap was unrolled by the sharp- 

 er. Six ounces, or one hundred dollars, were often 

 won or lost on both of the last two simple "dead open 

 and shut games." 



Night was the time for the gamblers' and other low 

 resorts, all of which were run on the high pressure 

 principle. This was true, not alone in the mining 

 towns, but in all cities as well. San Francisco, Sacra- 

 mento and Marysville were wide open towns, where 

 tens of thousands of dollars were won or lost nightly. 



Miners gathered from all the surrounding camps into 

 Hangtown after the dav's work was over, either to bet 

 their dust or witness the exciting scenes in the gam- 

 bling rooms. "Coon Holler," Diamond Snrings, Mud 

 Springs, Shingle Springs, Dogtown. Fiddletown, Yuba 

 Dam, Dead Men's Gulch and the South Fo^k were all 

 represented around the gaming tables at nio-ht. 



Personally, I never took anv part or lot in anv game 

 of chance save that of a spectator. Faro was the prin- 

 cipal ?-ame plaved in all popular gambling houses, and 

 a loud wo''d was seldom spoken. A man mieht st^.ke 

 and lose his last dollar and silently disappear. Pro- 

 fessional gamblers, as a rule, were fine-looking: men 

 gentlemen in apnearance and manners. Lavmen from 

 "awav back east" have been known to meet a former 

 pastor at the gambling table dealing faro. Handsome 

 and well-dressed women not infrequently had their 

 tables of faro or monte in fashionable resorts and public 

 C'amblino- rooms both in the cities and mining towns 



