"This volume ' examines the role of gamabling on the American fronter: among the Indians, on the rivers, in the mining camps, and in the boom towns....The book is packed with interesting anecdotes, and covers the race track and boxing ring, lotteries and steamboat racing, as well as all of the traditional card and table games. The text is arresting with well-placed illustrations.'" Libr J.

Includes index.

A frontier gone gambling mad -- Dirty dealing on the wide Mississippi -- Betting fever in gold-rush country -- Cheating and its perils -- Booming business for boomtown gamblers -- Thundering hoofs and hammering fists.