Saddlebag Dispatches—Autumn/Winter 2019

Page 51

N

OBODY EVER DAYDREAMS AS a kid about becoming a professional gambler. It’s something one just drifts into, by luck and by chance, and I have to admit, I lead a fascinating life. I grew up in Kentucky, the second son of a farmer who didn’t have much to his name, except that small farm. I hated cows, pigs, hay, and everything else associated with a farm. I guess I was lucky to be the second son, because I would have hated to be stuck on that farm my whole life. I didn’t begrudge my older brother his birthright, and I knew I’d have to make my own way in the world. I guess it started with horses. Horse races were exhilarating and exciting to watch, and there were scheduled races and impromptu races happening every other week it seemed. I won a dollar on a race where I’d only wagered on the horse because I liked the way it walked. It was the first money I’d ever won wagering, and I guess I fell in love with the whole prospect of games of chance right then. My father had named me Chancellor for some odd reason, and I guess it was prophetic, because everyone called me Chance. After those first few times

betting on horses, I became a young man who would generally bet on anything. Cockfights, the races, cards, dice, hell, I’d even bet on which bird would take flight first. As soon as I could, I left the farm and got a job on a riverboat on the Ohio, which led me to the Mississippi River. I learned how to gamble for real in places up and down that river, and I won more than I lost. I fell in love with the idea of being a free-floating gambler, and as cow towns and mining towns sprang up, I started floating West from St. Louis and I never looked back. I’d learned with experience to be on the lookout for scam artists, stickup men, and sore losers. Men who sat down at the poker table with shiny watches on, or illfitting long sleeves made me even more wary of how I bet, because more than likely, they were cheating. I watched a man get bludgeoned almost to death by the men he was gambling with, because his four aces were duplicates of the aces found in the hands of his rivals at the table. Cheaters never prosper. As things got better and better for me, I had to devise ways to carry huge sums of money on me without visibly giving away the fact I had that kind


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Saddlebag Dispatches—Autumn/Winter 2019

1min
page 1

THE PBR TY MURRAY TOP HAND AWARD

7min
pages 92-101

Cactus Charlie's Obituary

1min
pages 168-169

What Matters

1min
pages 112-113

DESTINATION PARRIS

6min
pages 82-91

Long May it Wave

1min
pages 62-63

How White

1min
pages 18-19

THE LEGENDARY GEORGE ROSS

11min
pages 114-120

LOS HERMANOS Y LA ÚLTIMA VERÓNICA

13min
pages 74-79, 81

Out of the Chute

2min
page 6

Best of the West

4min
pages 178-181

Let's Talk Westerns

5min
pages 176-177

Shortgrass Country

6min
pages 170-175

True Grit

4min
pages 154-157

Black Joe

28min
pages 141-145, 147-151, 153

The Wrong End of a Bullet

17min
pages 159-161, 163-165, 167

The Last Photograph

17min
pages 133-139

The Murder of Pauline Purple

18min
pages 123-125, 127-128, 130-131

Trouble in Lonely Valley: Part One

16min
pages 102-103, 105-107, 109-111

The Last Rider: Part One

20min
pages 64-65, 67-68, 70-73

The Movie That Never Was

4min
pages 58-61

Another Look at Ned Christie

10min
pages 28-33

My Grandfather's Henry

18min
pages 43-49

Indian Territory

12min
pages 12-14, 16-17

Deadman's Hand

14min
pages 51-53, 55, 57

Eye for an Eye

11min
pages 35-39, 41

Somebody Else's Gold

13min
pages 21-24, 26-27

Heroes & Outlaws

6min
pages 8-11
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.