The ultimate bet,old west gunfight.Anyone research old west gambling?People liked it.

[BrentCrude]

Anyone here a big fan of westerns like Gunsmoke,Bonanza and the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns and all that good stuff?You have to separate fact from fiction as to what really happened in the old west but gambling sure did.

Has anyone here ever driven from Vegas to Reno and stopped in a near ghost town called Goldfield?Fascinating old mining town with a boot hill and ancient mainstreet hotel that's always on the haunted shows on t.v.It went from zero population to 40 thousand overnight and back to almost zero now.In between Jack Dempsey fought a prize fight outdoors there.

Anyone been to the town of Blackhawk west of Denver where casino gambling was legalized a few years back?Talk about a spookey town with a major boot hill.

How about Oatman,Arizona which is a really old mining town just a few minutes from the casinos of Laughlin,Nevada right on old route 66?They have the wild jack asses that you can feed.Clark Gable used to play poker there at the old hotel and honeymooned there.His wife got killed in a plane crash not too far away and they claim the hotel is haunted.

How about Searchlight just south of Vegas heading to Laughlin where the ass Harry Reid is from.A few casinos there in what's close to being a ghost town.

Then you have Deadwood,South Dakota.Anyone been there gambling?Fascinating place.The Sturgis bike rally is going on there about now.

It seemed like people did alot of gambling of every kind back then from betting on horses,boxing,poker and games you don't hear much of anymore like pharoh and a few more.I wonder how much betting took place on gun fights?Talk about a bad way to win a bet where your guy kills another guy.I think the whole gun fighting thing was blown out of proportion where it didn't happen the way they make it out to be in the movies.

Anyone fascinated by the old west and look into any of this stuff like gambling and gun fights etc?Hang around ghost towns collecting stuff?Might be a good hobbie to take stuff found there and selling it on e-bay.Old tombstones and such.Ya right,get arrested for that.

[Panic]

And their liver looked like a black piece of swiss cheese by the time they were 30.

[Willie Bee]

Mmmm, swiss cheese

They probably didn't have to worry about cell phones and texting at the Faro tables either.

[Panic]

I want to live then. No airconditioning, outhouses, and 2 dollar whores. The 100 proof alcohol and absence of cologne and deodorant are just icing on the cake.

[Bread]

I wish someone could text me some swiss cheese right now!

[Willie Bee]

Panic, you ever been out to the Big Bend area, specifically Lajitas and Terlingua? Old mercury mining boom towns at one point, and a lot of the little adobe brick shacks from then are still standing. Can't imagine how tough that must've been back then, especially with nothing to protect you from the liquid silver you were breathing and getting all over your body.

[Willie Bee]

I wish someone could text me some swiss cheese right now!

I'll shoot the holes over to you in just a minute.

[Panic]

Willie, I've never been to Big Bend. The closest I've gotten is driving I-10 to El Paso. Never stopped off at any of the little towns.

[Willie Bee]

You should go sometime. Camp up in the Chisos instead of down along the river. The river rafting trips you can take are also pretty cool. And the drive from Big Bend up to Presidio is amazing along the Rio Grande.

[Panic]

I'd like to rent a cabin if I do that. Do they have any that you can recommend?

[Willie Bee]

I think there's just one 'hotel' inside the park, the Chisos Lodge, and it's nothing fancy though it is probably better than just tenting it like we've always done. You can stay in Lajitas or Terlingua as well, or the famous Gage Hotel up in Marathon though that's a hard hour-plus drive to the heart of the park. The reason I'd suggest staying up in the Chisos is the temperature, especially during the summer. It will get to the upper-90s during the day, but at least it cools off to the mid-60s at night if not lower. If you stay down-altitude, it won't cool off as much during the evenings in the summer as you well know.