Holiday gambling in Rollinsville
In the days of “Party Central”
Ever heard of Barbooth? How about a Rollinsville Craps rule? How about “Gilpin County Stingers?” If you’d been around Rollinsville prior to about 1955 or 1959 those would be familiar games and drinks to you. Rollinsville was once something of a “party central” for Colorado. For several decades the train would pull into Rollinsville and the happy party goers would cram into the Pirate’s Den to gamble, drink, or possibly to hook up with some of “the girls.” The girls were up from Denver for a couple of days of business over at the Red House by Manchester Lake. Today the old dance hall and the Pirates Den downstairs, is converted into an apartment, one which gives much needed low income housing to the county.
Henry, who worked security at various casinos until a couple of years ago, told me all about those good times. Henry, by the way, was happily working floor security in Black Hawk well into his eighties, an inspiration to us all. Upstairs over the Pirate’s Den, as he recalled, was a fine dance floor and bar. Some said the dance floor was one of the smoothest in the west. Locals would come from Central City and Nederland, some even from Boulder to dance and eat and party there. The drinks they served in the forties and fifties were pretty strong. “Old Overshoes” (really Old Overholt) rye whiskey was prominent. Something called “the Rollinsville Stinger” sounds deadly to me. It had three kinds of cheap liquor plus sugar, plus lime juice all served with ice cubes from the ice ponds up the tracks aways. Stomaches must have been tougher then.
When the night train went back downhill to Denver many a happy party goer would sleep till one in the morning in those over heated coaches. If you stayed too late, however, you’d end up taking the mixed train called the “Hog ‘n Human”. This originated down the line, probably in Craig, to the west, but usually did not hit Rollinsville until at least three in the morning. You’d get to sit in the “baggage car and human coach” for a time while they switched out, but there was only one stock yards to switch before Denver. Probably worth it if you really wanted to keep winning money.
Many Stories about the Pirate’s Den
Norman Blake wooed his wife here and told many a story about the Rollinsville dance hall, though he was always coy about whether he went inside or not. One time he stayed in Rollinsville till almost dawn. That was back in his courting days. Mildred must have had tolerant folks, or else they didn’t know what was up. But as he started back to Black Hawk the snow began to fall. By the time he hit the crest there was easily a couple of feet of snow on the level. He had to go to work the next day too. Somehow he happily dug his way back to Black Hawk and was on time for work. Folks must have been tougher in those days. There are many stories about the Pirate’s Den, but it’s interesting to think about what kind of gambling went on there, and how folks celebrated the holidays then.
The Smaldone’s Ran It All
The Smaldone family ran gambling here in Rollinsville as well as in Central City, Denver and much of the rest of northern Colorado. “Checkers” and the “father” of the clan, Clyde Smaldone, also known as “Flip Flop” were well known around this part of the world, and were seen here from time to time. Clyde hated to be called Flip Flop as the locals soon learned, but Checkers didn’t seem to mind his nick name. If there was to be a big all night game only the select few were invited to the “mountain place.” This was a house over near Thorne Lake in mid-county where the high rollers were wined and dined. Mostly the gamblers and party goers in Rollinsville were ordinary folks out for a good time. There was money to be made here, but it was small money. Interestingly enough, none of the Smaldone’s carried guns when up here. They were “perfect gentlemen,” and if Frances, wife of Checkers came, she’d dress like a queen complete with a jeweled cigarette holder.
Naturally, illicit whiskey and wine were served prior to the 1933 end of prohibition. Once at a Rollinsville Neighbors fall potluck in the Stage Stop, we heard how some of the old timers around here were involved in the liquor bottle return business. The party goers would throw their whiskey bottles into ditches or off the front porch of the dance hall. Then kids would retrieve them for re-bottling and earn a nickel for each. That was big money in those times. The Smaldone family often bought whiskey from local bootleggers and shipped it down to Denver, usually on the train. The only time the federal agents actually busted the Smaldones for running a still themselves, it was for one located near Rollinsville. Apparently few folks around northern Gilpin County had any problem with the bootleggers. The general attitude was that prohibition of alcohol was a flop and a generally silly law. That view was nicely summarized in a 1931 poem in the Rocky Mountain Herald.
A Poem about Prohibition
By Franklin P. Adams
Prohibition is an awful flop.
We like it.
It can’t stop what it’s meant to stop.
We like it.
It’s left a trail of graft and slime,
It don’t prohibit worth a dime,
It’s filled our land with vice and crime.
Nevertheless we’re for it.
The Holidays Meant Parties Here
The holiday season was always a big time for the Smaldone organization. Several representatives would come up to make sure things were running well in the Pirate’s Den. I often wonder if anyone worked in Colorado during the 40s and 50s. They sure seemed to have a lot of time to party. Over the holidays everything apparently shut down. I once asked a prominent Boulder businessman about all of that. “We didn’t work as hard as you younger folks do today,” was his answer.
How to Play Barbooth
Ordinary craps was one of the games played here, but with a sort of “Rollinsville twist.” Clyde Smaldone always insisted that nearly half of the proceeds from any of his games would go to charity. He was particularly concerned about kids going half-fed and half-clothed during the long Colorado winter in Rollinsville, and winters were definitely tougher in those days. When certain rolls of the dice came up, every dime on the table went to local families having a tough time of it. Some of the really old-time games persisted around the holidays. Even Faro was played once in awhile. You’d have to talk to Ed Quillen to find out how Faro worked, or at least worked in some of the westerns he wrote. This game went out of style completely after World War I, but there was still a “set up” in Rollinsville. That was a felt board on which you placed your bets. One rumor is that Bill Russell, Jr. inherited it over in his museum in Central City. We’ll probably never know now that Bill has passed away, but we do know about Barbooth.
The most popular game in the thirties and forties was Barbooth, which was a dice game and really fast. There are four winning numbers, 3-3, 5-5, 6-6, and 6-5, but you can lose on 1-1, 2-2, 4-4, and 1-2. Nothing else you roll means anything. The shooter does all the work (closely watched by the come-out man). The come-out man puts up a stake which the shooter can cover all or part of. Everyone else around the table makes side bets on what the shooter will roll. If the shooter wins or loses with a 1-2, or the come-out man wins with a 5-6, the shooter stays on. If not, the come-out man gets what he wants. He becomes the shooter. Every twenty minutes or so would be time for “holiday cheer.” This could be a free drink or candy, but to stay in the game every player had to pay a little “pinch.”
Old Times In Rollinsville Meant Gambling And Party On!
These days there’s little gambling in local bars. Here and there there’s a poker game where the players are all known to one another, hence part of a social game. Local friends keep the little poker game going in The Stage Stop (now called The Trackside Inn) back in the day, however, the holiday season meant the fun of low stakes gambling. When the players trundled through the crispy snow to pile on the old Hog ‘n Human car for the dawn trip home there were surely some who said, “It’s a wonderful life in Rollinsville!”