The name of the cardroom in Deadwood was Big Jake's. I also played at Miss Kitty's too. I'd like to tell you that everything was honky dory after I started playing cards, how I parlayed the money up and became rich....but that's not what happened. I had bad habits like booze. I didn't drink when I gambled but I could hole up and throw money over a bar until the money got short.
I had no concept of money management. I was always playing poker with a short bankroll. So it didn't take much of a losing streak to knock me out of action....and I'd wind up back in a day labor office. Actually, digging a ditch is very good therapy for a loose calling poker player. And sometimes I just felt like hitchhiking off to someplace. I was in and out of action over the next four years.
There were actually some good Stud 8 players in Deadwood. There was a pretty good balance of good and bad players. It was great OJT. Stud 8 is a game where the cards are very unforgiving to bad players. A good player has a huge edge against a bad player. Most of the bad beat stories you hear revolve around holdem, that's because in holdem the cards in the center of the table belong to everyone. But in Stud 8 your cards belong to you and no one else.
But I was only grinding around $60 a day in Deadwood. Here and their a poker player would mention Cripple Creek, Colorado. "Do they play Stud Hi Lo there" I would ask. "Yes, the do" would come the answer.
