Gambling Memorabilia Auction Features Rare Relics from Poker's Past
Making a living playing cards in the Old West wasn’t an easy job. Marked cards, cheaters, excessive whiskey, and gunplay were just a few of the aspects of the game that could be a bit problematic. Gambling in the 1800s and early-19th Century didn’t have the fineries of today’s high-falutin joins like the Wynn or Aria or Bellagio.
Players battled it out on riverboats, bars, and smoky backrooms. Cheating was common and hucksters were ready to take advantage of those new to the game – by hook or by crook. Most of those old card decks, poker chips, cheating devices, and even vintage instructional books haven’t survived through the decades.
“We conduct a similar sale once every year, but this is our best offering to date.”
But those items that survived those backroom games are sought after by savvy collectors and a few fetch a pretty penny. Those looking for that perfect item of poker antiquity will have the opportunity on May 19 at Potter & Potter Auctions' Gambling Memorabilia Sale. The massive auction will feature more than 500 lots of books and catalogs, cheating devices, poker accessories, and gaming rarities.
The auction will be held at the company's gallery in Chicago, and all lots will be on display and available for public preview May 16-18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A highlight of this signature annual event offers a range of materials from the San Francisco firm of Will & Finck, one of the most important knife makers and gambling suppliers of the American West. That includes the only Will & Finck catalog in private hands.
Overall, Potter & Potter President Gabe Fajuri expects the auction to bring in as much as $400,000. “We are offering rare books on poker, rare playing cards, dice, chips, and even vintage poker and gaming tables,” he said. “We conduct a similar sale once every year, but this is our best offering to date.”
Book It
Some of the biggest sellers and most sought-after in the poker and gambling world are rare books and catalogs. In the 19th Century, finding a new decks of cards and chips wasn’t an easy proposition. The general store usually didn’t trade in gambling accoutrements, but a few companies specialized in gambling equipment.
“Early poker manuals will do exceptionally well, as well as ivory poker chips, devices used for cheating at cards, and a few rare books will definitely be highlights,” Fajuri said.
Poker in the Old West was not the game it is today. Finding a square game wasn’t easy. Decks were marked and like Ed Norton’s character "Worm" in Rounders, regular players often looked for an edge that wasn’t legal. “Advantage players,” as they referred to themselves, looked beyond the cards for an edge and amazingly there were companies there to help them.
One of those is a device that could be worn under the arm and along the wrist. Need an ace to complete that hand? Move your hand just right and the device moves a card right into the palm of your hand. In the 1800s, a player really might have had something up his sleeve. Fajuri believes the device should be one of the more popular in the auction and a target of poker player collectors.
Another item of interest is F.R. Ritter's “Advantage Card Playing and Draw Poker,” a vintage book from 1905 about how to cheat at poker that focuses a lot on how to mark cards and use them in play. In those days, decks weren’t changed often as they weren’t easy to get. The book also features the first photo ever printed of a “Jacob's Ladder-style” holdout to conceal cards as well as Ritter’s 20 rules for playing poker.
Ritter beat Penn and Teller to this topic by about 100 years – the magicians’ “How to Cheat Your Friends at Poker” debuted in 2005. The Ritter book is estimated at $6,000-8,000, and is expected to be popular at the auction as very few originals remain in print. For those looking to start their own collection, you can pick up Penn & Teller’s guide for about $10.
An Item for Every Poker Room
How big is the market for gambling antiquity collectibles?
“It’s hard to estimate – but certainly broad, since it crosses over in to people who collect cards, chips, books, dice, Old West items, and even knives and advertising collectors,” Fajuri said.
Some of those items include indictments against gamblers for playing poker that go back before the game was ever even mentioned in print in English.
One lot includes Alfred Trumble's book “Faro Exposed; or The Gambler and his Prey.” The 1882 publication is the rarest of all books dealing with the subject of advantage play. It provides a candid explanation of the origin, nature, rules, and history of Faro, arguably the most popular card game of the Old West and one of the forerunners of poker. Its text and visually stunning wood-engraved plates detail the methods (both mechanical and sleight-of-hand) by which unsuspecting “suckers” and their money could be parted.
Potter and Potter’s offering is the only known copy in a private collection. The Library of Congress doesn’t even house an edition as its copy was destroyed in the process of converting the text to microfilm. Only two other examples of the text have been located in institutions, one of which is incomplete. The lot is expected to bring more than $20,000.
Another lot features a collection of seven late-19th Century poker magazines. Estimated at $2,500 - $3,500, the group includes a complete set of all six “Poker Chips Magazines” ever published from 1896 and the July 1897 issue of “The White Elephant,” its successor publication. All were published by Frank Tousey, famous for chapbooks and street literature. This is the first complete set of “Poker Chips” to come to auction, and is one of only a handful in existence.
A Life Collecting
Most of the memorabilia came from a single lifetime collection assembled by Bob Rosenberger, 72, one of the premier historians and collectors in America. Rosenberger has always had an interest in gambling items even from an early age.
“I’m a collector at heart,” he says. “I have admired risk-taking in general as long as I’ve been alive because by nature, I don’t think I am a risk taker.
“When the odds didn’t necessarily favor gamblers in the past, an awful lot of them resorted to ways to improve their situation through cheat, card manipulation, and other things. When statistics wouldn’t deal them a fair hand, they kind of went other ways to improve their lot.”
While Rosenberger’s collection includes cheating devices, the cards, chips, and even a table-top felt also display amazing artistry. One of his favorite items in the collection is a copy of the book “Faro Exposed” by Richard K. Fox. Faro was a precursor game to poker, and the book is so rare that it was the only item in the auction he put a reserve on.
Another of his favorites is a gambling layout felt for dealers to practice. The layout in the auction is extremely ornate and meant for a gambling game called Diana. The felt shows the craftsmanship to producing gaming items at the time.
“Aesthetically it’s just gorgeous,” he says.
As a youngster, stamps and coins were his passion and that moved to slot machines as he got older and was living in Chicago. With a house too small for a “reasonable collection of slot machines,” he moved on to gambling and poker literature and equipment.
The enthusiastic collector was born in San Antonio, but grew up in New Orleans. He now is retired and lives in Cincinnati. Rosenberger attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a degree in chemical engineering. He later changed careers and moved into management and strategic planning.
A busy business travel schedule allowed him to search throughout the country for items. While he plays a few card games including poker occasionally, Rosenberger considers himself mostly averse to risk – but admires the quality in others.
“I admire the hell out of people who are risk takers,” he says. “That’s part of the reason I’ve liked collecting these items.”
“I admire the hell out of people who are risk takers."
The book and catalog side of the collection features some of the rarest of early books on poker. Amassing such a huge collection came from a lot of effort, scounging antique shops, auctions, and every place in between.
“When I get into something, I tend to research the hell out of it,” he says. “Like most people, the way to win anything is to know more than the person you’re competing against. I started doing that. I scoured. I did my homework.”
The collecting began in the early-1970s and continued throughout the next few decades. He sold pieces occasionally through the years, but generally held on to the vast majority. Rosenberger may be seeing his pieces of gambling history going away, but just gathering so many interesting pieces was always the fun.
“I enjoyed collecting thoroughly and only considered myself a temporary custodian,” he says. “One of the things that I’m comforted by is that even though my collection will disappear, I’ll still have the memories of collecting and the pursuits and captures I’ve made and the friends I’ve made. And that won’t go away.”
Some More Auction Items
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions. He is also the host of the True Gambling Stories podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, PokerNews.com, and HoldemRadio.com.
