Professional gamblers on the Mississippi
by Stanley Nelson - posted Wednesday, February 20th, 2013 @ 12:55 am

Professional gamblers working the Mississippi River steamboats in the 19th century were not always easy to spot. Some resembled farmers or laborers although others wore the garb made famous in novels: knee-length broadcloth coats, a "headlight" (diamond) on the chest, fine leather boots and a European-made Jurgensen watch that cost $1,000.

Yet professional gamblers, no matter the dress, had many things in common: they were con artists and cheats, often working together to beat a man out of his money with cards, dice or other devices in games of poker, keno, roulette, faro, three-card monte, rondo and so on.  

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