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 The Wild West period is one of the most attractive in the modern history. The cowboys, the outlaws and the sheriffs all gathered at a table, playing poker in a noisy saloon is the most representative picture of those glorious years of poker.
After the Civil War ended, many Americans moved to the western part of the United States that was mostly uninhabited. The small towns were built along the railroads and in mining zones, usually having at least one saloon where everyone could enjoy drinks, women and gambling. The booze and the poker were the only things that could bring together so many different characters.
The poker game was the most popular gambling from, but unfortunately many games ended in death. There are many stories and legends dating from that violent period, all of them surrounding the most famous poker players of that time. Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok and Bat Masterson are just few of the legendary characters that lived and played poker in the Wild West. In the late part of the 19th century, due to the extreme violence that surrounded poker games and in a desperate attempt to take out some money from gambling, local governments created special laws and gambling restrictions. The attempts to implement these laws brought more violence and in many towns the gambling became strictly illegal. In the early years of the 20th century, the Old West period came to an end, but the legendary characters and their stories lived out through centuries in books and movies that show us the true stories that represent the real history of the United States. One thing is for sure; no other time in the American History was so full of gambling related life and death stories like the Wild West period. |
