GamblerCelebrating 20 Years Serving Colorado’s Gaming Communitywww.coloradogambler.com coloradogambler cogambler

yr

Volume 21 • Number 3

C O U P O N S • C O L O R A D O H I S T O R Y • C A S I N O G U I D E • G A M I N G • M A P • E N T E R T A I N M E N T

July 17 - 30, 2012

Check OutValuable Coupons

on page 10

STATEHOODColorado celebrates 136th

birthday Aug. 1Page 8

SUMMERTIME FUNGaming town fun gets into full swing in

July, AugustPage 9

CENTRAL CITYCentral City duo combines history

and beer in new bookPage 14

TRAIL’S ENDColorado’s mining boom

days live onPage 21

www.coloradogambler.com coloradogambler cogambler

PAGE 2 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

The Last Hand

Listen and learnGambler

Table talk while gambling can be fun

Visiting the newly remod-eled Reserve Casino recently one must take note of the nif-ty remodeling of the former Fortune Valley Casino.

A welcoming thick red car-pet feels comfortable walking in from the adjacent free rear parking area. A long guitar bar greets customers in the attractive new casino area.

At the grand opening several months ago, my son and I had a great porterhouse steak at the new restaurant Adore, now open Friday through Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Central City really looks attractive these days; the new main street has been resur-faced and is looking sharp.

As the Central City Parkway drops down the hill into Central there is a huge parking area. Going a block farther, there is a large city-owned parking structure connected to the Century Casino, so easy to park and walk into Century from any garage floor with easy elevator access.

Directly across the street is Johnny Z’s that had recently expanded. From the park-ing lot, it is easy access to the main street and a host of casi-no operations eager to please. The main street is a fun place to enjoy walking along the historic street. Place yourself back in time to 1862 and the miners weighing gold nug-gets and enjoying drinks and

music in the bars that were no doubt like Irish pubs with

most of the miners from Celtic roots.Finding a comfortable casino, I joined

three players with a five deck shoe, the dealer had to hand shuffle the cards even though the casino had Shuffle Master card shuffling machines.

“These cards won’t work in the ma-chine,” the friendly lady dealer explained. “We have to use up these cards and we only use the other cards on weekends.”

I wondered what that all meant, but gathered that when business was slow they were using the older decks of new cards, also there was something about having too

many black decks and not enough red decks that are rotated between shuffles in the ma-chines. I wondered if this was a good or bad thing for the players?

I found out soon that it was good for the players as the cards I was dealt were kind. It was one of those times when the cards were favoring the players. A good indica-tion of your gaming good fortune is mak-ing some blackjacks, nothing better than to hit that mystical “21” – the perfect hand and the name of the game that pays back one and one-half of bets.

Table talk was ongoing with the players along with the dealer. Everyone was just enjoying the afternoon at the $5 table. The three players were from Fort Collins and drive down to Central City/Black Hawk on a weekly basis. Adele, the mother, was on first base and daughter and son were play-ing on the other end of the table – I was in the center.

The cards were just running good and the conversation was pleasant. We talked about the new proposed football stadium in Fort Collins, to build or not to build? No decision reached.

Adele’s husband came by and she gave him some of her winnings in $5 chips. Her daughter and son were well trained in gam-bling at an early age by this mother. She explained that she taught her kids how to

By Bob Sweeney

Continued on page 19

© 2012 Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. Volkswagen of America, Inc. and their respective logos, emblems, slogans and vehicle model names and body designs are trademarks and/or service marks of Volkswagen, its subsidiaries, affiliates or licensors. Actual color and features of car may vary from image shown. Emich Volkswagen gave the Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk permission to use the Emich Volkswagen logo and name as well as permission to use Volkswagen Beetle. Must be 21 or older. Promotions subject to change or cancellation without notice. Please visit the player’s club or cashier services for details. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. www.theisleblackhawk.com

1-800-THE-ISLE • www.theisleblackhawk.com

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PAGE 4 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

Your guide to live entertainment

and events at Colorado’s casinosWhat’s Rockin’

www.reservecasinohotel.com

www.crystalpalacecasinocolorado.com

Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk

Crystal Palace

The Lava Room entertainment – all concerts are free, doors open at 8:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted).

*To puRchase TickeTs: www.reservecasinohotel.com

July 20 – 21: Under a Blood Red Sky Tribute to U2. FREE SHOW!!July 27: Hazel Miller, FREE SHOW

July 28: Fabulous Thunderbirds Aug. 11: Foghat Aug. 25: Pure Prairie League

Reserve Casino Hotel

JV3

enjoy live entertainment on the caribbean cove bar stage each Friday and saturday from 8 p.m. – midnight.

July 20 – 21: JV3July 27 – 28: coverage of the 2012 summer olympicsaug. 3 – 4: coverage of the 2012 summer olympicsaug. 10 – 11: coverage of the 2012summer olympics

www.black-hawk.isleofcapricasinos.com

NUMBER OF DUCKS ADOPTED

QUANTITY TOTALSingle Ducks x $5.00

“Quack Pack”(6 Ducks)

x $25.00

“Pintail Flock”(12 Ducks) x $50.00

“Mallard Flock”(25 Ducks) x $100.00

V.I.D. “Very Important Duck” 60 Ducks

x $250.00

TOTAL DONATIONalong with the form, mail your donation with a check or money order payable to: Peak to Peak Rotary, PO Box 512, Black Hawk, CO 80422

include your Name, address, city, state, Zip and Telephone Number

Adopt a duck for Peak toCreek Duck Race July 28

Cover Story

Quack facts for a unique duck racePeak to Creek Duck Race, July 28By Linda Jones

Spend $5 – win $1,000. Simply “adopt” a duck from the Peak to Peak Rotary to enter in the 9th Annual Peak to Creek Duck Race at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 28, and cross your fingers that your duck is a fast floater. The race has a great “bonus play.” The Rotary club gives the profits from the race to Gilpin and Nederland high schools through schol-arships, monetary art awards, Interact Club sponsoring and fulfilling specific school requests. Increase your chances of win-ning that $1,000 Grand Prize by adopting a QuackPack of six ducks for $25.

First Prize is a season ski pass to Eldora Ski Resort and many other enticing prizes from casinos and businesses will be award-ed to other “fast” finishers.

The main Peak to Creek Duck Race fea-tures the three-inch ducks common in other duck races, but this race has an unusual component; the Sponsors Race features the

large eight-inch ducks wearing sunglasses that are decorated by the casinos and com-panies that sponsor the Race. The decorat-ed ducks are not put in the water – they’re much too “gussied-up.” Undecorated eight-inch ducks with the casino or business name written on their bottoms compete in the Sponsors Race. Surprisingly, even the large ducks get caught in eddies and pools and spin in circles while their competitors float by to victory.

Visit Duck Race Headquarters on the Mardi Gras patio between noon and 2 p.m. on Race Day to adopt ducks and vote for the Best Dressed Fleet before the ducks are dumped into North Clear Creek alongside the patio. Past duck fleets prove that the sponsoring casinos can turn 8-inch ducks wearing sunglasses into anything imagin-able. Sponsors for this year’s race are Cen-tury Casino, the Colorado Gambler, Golden Mardi Gras Casino, IGT, Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk and the Riviera Casino.

Winner of 2011 Quack trophy – IGT’s Star Wars characters

Winner of the Best Dressed Fleet trophy – the Mardi Gras fishers – in 2011.

File photos by Linda Jones

DJ every weekendenjoy a live DJ every Friday and saturday night.

http://www.canyoncasino.com/

PAGE 6 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

www.canyoncasino.com

Summer of Cars and CashThe summer is in full swing and you have

another chance to win a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic. That’s right, July is packed with Cars & Cash. Can-yon Casino will be giving away one more Sonic on July 28, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Plus Canyon Casino giving you more chances to earn entries, On Mon-days earn 3X entries and Wednesdays earn 2X entries. Entries can be earned daily, earn one entry for every 100 base points.

Player Appreciation Day and BBQ

Join Canyon Casino on Sunday, July 22, for a free barbecue and Cash Giveaway. Enjoy a turkey leg or sausage on a stick served with grilled corn on the cob for only 25 base points. The BBQ will be served between noon – 6 p.m. Cash drawings start at 2 p.m. and have a winner every 15 minutes until 6 p.m. Win up to $1,000 cash instantly.

Hubcap MatchPlay Hubcap Match Saturday, July 21. Be one

of seven lucky winners to win a share of $3,000 Cash. Winners will be selected randomly between 6 – 10 p.m. to win between $100 and $1,000 in-stantly. Simply play your favorite slots and video poker with your Canyon Club card for a chance to be selected.

4X Points FridaysWhile playing on your Canyon Club card, earn

4X points on Fridays. Points will automatically mul-tiply as you play.

Big Bang GiveawayWin one of two RCA 46” HDTV’s and Home The-

ater Systems or Cash. Earn entries by playing table games daily. Drawings will be held on Saturday, July 21, 7 – 10 p.m. See table games for complete details.

www.theisleblackhawk.com

Experience the new look of winning

Come to the Isle and check out the casino floor remodel. We have made so many changes, you will have to see it to believe it. It’s everything you love about the Isle – only better. While visiting, be sure to check out the exciting new games like electronic

roulette, craps, Sic Bo, Money Wheel, Wonder 4, Wicked Winnings 3 and Grease.

Beetle Bonanza Don’t miss out on the Beetle Bonanza taking

place at the Isle. Win one of three Volkswagen Bee-tles on Sept. 1 and 2. Receive one free entry daily and earn additional entries for every 30 unadjusted points earned on your player’s card now through Sept. 2. Play on Tuesdays now through Aug. 28 and earn 25X entries. Then be here for 100X entries on Aug. 25. For complete details, visit the Player’s Club or Cashier Services.

$25,000 fun in the sun hot seat Every Friday in July, Isle guests will have the

chance to win up to $1,000 between 6 – 10 p.m. Must be actively playing at a slot machine or table game to qualify for the random drawings.

5X points on penniesThursdays in July from 8 a.m. – midnight,

guests can earn 5X points on all their favorite penny slot machines. Simply register at the Player’s Club or cashier services prior to playing to receive. The point multiplier is not valid on video poker.

Jackpot Sweepstakes 3Qualify now – Aug. 18 to win up to $10,000 in

the Jackpot Sweepstakes on Saturday, Aug. 18. Guests of the Isle will receive one free drawing en-try with each hand-paid taxable jackpot of $1,200 or more.

Bus fare refundDo you ride the bus to Black Hawk? The Isle

will refund your bus fare up to $20. Simply earn 35 unadjusted points on your Player’s Card and pres-ent your return bus ticket to the Player’s Club or cashier services. Table games and poker players will receive their bus fare back with four hours of consecutive play.

Paradise 50 Plus All guests age 50 or better can join the NEW

Paradise 50 Plus club Sundays and Mondays. You will receive 3X points on all slots, 2X points on video poker, a free soft serve ice cream and a Free Calypso’s Buffet after earning five unadjusted points. For complete details, visit the Player’s Club.

New members get free buffetAll new members of the IsleOne club will re-

ceive a free Calypso’s Buffet after playing just 30 minutes on their new IsleOne card. Once you have played the 30 minutes, just present your new card to the hostess in Calypso’s to receive.

Play and stay at The IslePlay 30 unadjusted points on your IsleOne club

card on Sundays through Thursdays between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. and stay the night on us. Check with the Player’s Club or cashier services once you have earned your points to receive your hotel offer. This offer is valid only on the day the points are earned.

Table Games The Isle has all your favorite table games, in-

cluding blackjack, three card poker, let it ride, bonus 6, Texas Hold’em bonus, buffalo blackjack, roulette and craps with 10 times odds. New in table games are double deck blackjack, emperor’s chal-lenge and 21+3. New games coming to the in-clude Mississippi stud and ultimate Texas Hold’em, which will be linked to a progressive jackpot with Let It Ride. Three card poker will have a progressive jackpot all of its own.

Tradewinds features burgersTradewinds at the Isle

has a new menu that features what we be-lieve to be the best hamburgers in Black Hawk. Whether you try the classics, a green chile and chipotle, the black & blue or mushroom and Swiss burger, you will not be disappointed. Tradewinds even offers a mouthwatering cheese-burger burrito. So the next time you are hungry for a great burger, visit Tradewinds at the Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk

Isle Hotel is pet friendlyThe Isle Hotel has pet friendly rooms available

for a small fee. Furry friends less than 50 pounds can enjoy a stay at the Isle with you. Pet friendly rooms will offer your pet use of a doggie bed, food and water bowls and a fenced doggie area. Dispos-able litter boxes will be available for feline guests. For reservations in a pet friendly room, call 303-998-7777. Rooms are subject to availability.

www.fitzgeraldsbh.com

$1,000 Thursdays Slot Tournament

Join us every Thursday in July for the $1,000 Thursdays Slot Tournament. Just earn 50 base points and register from 11 a.m. – 12:50 p.m. and the tournament begins at 1 p.m. The top 10 places win cash.

FREE Double Cheeseburger Receive a free double cheesburger at the Blar-

ney Stone Pub in July, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday through Sunday: Earn 20 base points and bring your Key Rewards card to the cashier to receive your free double cheeseburger voucher.

New Bus Redemption ProgramWhen you redeem your bus coupons at

Fitzgeralds on any Monday-Thursday in July, you will receive a FREE select All American Breakfast from 8 a.m. – noon. Gold Key Rewards members earn 300 base points for $20, Platinum Key Re-wards members earn 250 base points for $20, and Access Key Rewards Members receive a free $20 bus refund.

Grand Summer CASH GiveawayThis summer is full of cash prizes at Fitzger-

alds. Win your share of more than $200,000 or the Grand Prize of $100,000. Qualify for the final draw-ing every Friday at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. and every Saturday at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Two qualifiers each night will win $1,000, a qualifying entry to return Aug. 18, and a Grand Summer T-shirt. Qualifiers will return Aug. 18 for a shot at the $100,000. Ten runners up will each win $5,000 and one lucky winner will walk away $100,000 richer. All Key Rewards Members receive one FREE entry; earn additional entries for every 250 base points earned for the drawing week. Additionally, receive one free entry for every day of tracked play during the drawing week.

Spin to Win Point Multiplier Wheel

Spin the Point Multiplier Wheel Wednesday, July 25, and you could multiply your cash back up to 10X. Stop by the wheel before you play. Not valid on video poker or keno.

Fantasy football draft partyBook your fantasy football party at Fitzger-

alds. There are special food and drink packages to fit your group’s needs.

6X Points on Penny SlotsReceive 6X Points when you play your favorite

penny slots at Fitzgeralds every Friday and Satur-day in July from 3 – 7 p.m.

3X, 4X, 5X PointsEvery Sunday in July, Gold Members receive 3X

points, Platinum will receive 4X points, and Access will receive 5X points. Not valid on video poker or keno.

Sun Harley Party Pit $1,000 Drawing

Win $1,000 every Saturday at 10:30 p.m. All Key Rewards members receive one FREE entry; earn additional entries by playing in the Sun Harley Party Pit. Earn 5X entries by playing your favorite table games every Friday in July. Plus, experience More Bang for Your Buck every Monday-Thursday with $2 craps and roulette and $3 buffalo blackjack bonus.

Monday Mania Slot TournamentReel in the cash with our Monday Mania Slot

Tournament every Monday. It’s easy and only 50 base points to sign up, not to mention a ton of fun. Register between 11 a.m. – 12:50 p.m. and the tournament begins at 1 p.m. Top score wins $200 and the next five places all win $100.

Fitz 50 Fitz 50 is now even better, with 4X points on

slots and 3X points on video poker and keno! Every Monday and Tuesday, guests older than 50 will re-ceive the point multiplier and a discounted menu at the Shamrock Cafe.

July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 7

Come Give it a try

Bet Your BootyTM is a multi-level progressive jackpot blackjack game created with all the fun of a Caribbean Pirate theme that keeps track of the growing jackpot, bringing fun and excitement to the game of black jack.

The game is a simple side game to the standard hand of black jack. Once you start the game — five consecutive winning hands later, you have won the jackpot and all the bonus booty paid in all the previous

hands. There are only three wagers in the game, we give you a free ride on the last two hands. only at

AT THE TABLE GAME AREA ON THE MAIN FLOOR

I t’s hard to be a humor writer! I know what you’re saying. You’re saying, “How would you

know?” And that’s one of the hard parts. Humor is very subjective. Just because you didn’t find something funny doesn’t mean no one else did, although it’s certainly possible no one else did.

Another hard thing is that those readers who do think you’re funny, also think you must be a happy-go-lucky person who’s funny all the time. The people who know you well, know otherwise. Once a reader said to my husband, “It must be fun being married to a humor columnist.” And he said, “Why?” And when we got home, it was not fun for him.

And once while I was speaking to a group of elementary students about writing humor, one little boy raised his hand and said, “Mrs. Rosby, if you’re so funny, why aren’t you a comedian?” And I said, “Why weren’t you held back?”

Just because I write humor doesn’t mean I’m funny all the time – or nice. I’m kidding though. I didn’t really say anything about the kid being held back. Ha-ha. See what I mean about humor being subjective.

Another thing that both-ers me about being a hu-mor writer is that occasion-ally I’m forced to exploit the mistakes and misfortunes of others because I have deadlines…and no other good idea. For example, re-cently, not one, but TWO friends told me about get-ting trapped in shapewear – stuck in their Spanx. One friend was in a department store dressing room; the other was in her own home! She was alone and afraid! It was HYSTERICAL! What

could I do? I had to write about it. People should know the dangers of those things.

And once when some dope took an olive from the salad bar with his fingers, exam-ined it, then put it back with the other ol-ives that, only moments before, had looked pretty appetizing, I gave him a piece of my mind – in my column . . . because I was a safe distance away by then.

But the worst part of being a humor writer is that I have to share dumb things I did, because there are way more of them and because my readers prefer it if I pub-licly humiliate myself instead of them.

It’s not easy admitting your mistakes in such a public way, but you get through it by

telling yourself that hardly anyone is going to read about it anyway. And besides, if you did a certain dumb thing, chances are good that lots of other people have done it too. Those people will be, if not amused, at least sympathetic. Only later, after the column has been published and people are looking at you oddly, do you realize that, while you may not be the only one who’s done that particular dumb thing, you’re the only one who did in that particular dumb way.

Lots of other people have driven away with briefcases on the hood of their cars. But theirs didn’t slide off into the storm sewer like mine did. Lots of other people have gotten speeding tickets. But most of them didn’t take a call on their cell phone while they were pulled over. And if they did, they wouldn’t have admitted it.

Recently, my friend got a puppy. It was eight weeks old when I saw it for the first time, and it was so adorable that I wanted to steal it – right up until the moment it bit me in the nose. And I mean IN the nose. Its little puppy teeth went right into my nostril. I pulled back, which was a mistake, because then I had a small dog HANGING from MY NOSE!

Lots of other people have been chewed on by cute little puppies, but most of them have never had one hanging from their nose. I had two thoughts while this was happening. 1) Geez, that hurts! And, 2) now

I’m going to have to write about this. (Contact drosby@rushmore.com or see

www.dorothyrosby.com.)

The hard life of a humor writer

By Dorothy Rosbydrosby@rushmore.com

Humor

PAGE 8 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

By Rosemary Fetter

E xcept for a last minute switch, Colorado would have been named Idaho. Earlier possibili-

ties had included Montana, Shosho-ne, Platte, Cibola (the Spanish word for buffalo) and Pike’s Peak. One prospector lobbied hard to call it “Bill Williams” after a trapper and moun-tain man. Apparently the enthusiast was not Mr. Williams himself.

On Feb. 28, 1861, lame duck Presi-dent James Buchanan signed the legislation creating the new territory after the Senate made an 11th hour name change from Idaho to Colorado Territory. One senator protested that “Colorado, the handsomest of names” should be reserved for what would later become Arizona Territory, but fortunately, he was overruled.

After the creation of Colorado Territory, the acquisition of state-hood took another 15 years. On Aug. 1, 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant signed enabling legislation that finally brought Colorado into the Union and created the 38th state.

Much of Colorado lies in an area once labeled the “Great American Desert” by explorer Stephen H. Long and claimed at various times by Spain, France, Mexico and the even the Independent State of Texas. The sparsely settled land experienced an unexpected population increase in 1958, when exaggerated reports of a gold strike sparked an influx of several thousand gold-crazed miners into the Cherry Creek settlement.

Although most would-be pros-

pectors soon moved on to more lucra-tive pickings like Gregory Gulch near Central City, the solid citizens in the group gathered in September 1858 to consider lobbying Congress for ter-ritorial status. At the time, most of Colorado was under the jurisdiction of Arapahoe County, which was part of distant Kansas Territory. The fact the 1851 Treaty of Ft. Laramie had al-ready granted that land to the Arapa-hoe and Southern Cheyenne appar-ently was not an issue.

When the settlers sent delegate Hi-ram J. Graham to Washington to ex-plore possibilities for territorial status or statehood, he was largely ignored by a government absorbed with the sticky question of expansion of slavery to the new territories. Undaunted, the representatives from Denver, Auraria (west Denver), Fountain (Pueblo), El Paso and Eldorado met in Denver and created their own State of Jeffer-son, which was twice the size of pres-ent day Colorado and included part of Nebraska, Utah and New Mexico. When the question was put to a vote, the populace voted against statehood in favor of territorial status, for which the U.S. Treasury would bear most of the expense. The illegal Jefferson government stumbled along without federal sanction until the creation of Colorado Territory.

As the gold boom fizzled and min-ers returned back East to fight in the Civil War, Colorado’s population dwindled. Congress rejected the first bill proposing Colorado statehood in 1862. President Andrew Johnson

subsequently vetoed en-abling legislation because of insufficient population and a proposed state constitu-tion that denied the vote to African Americans. In 1867, Congress provided for Af-rican American voting rights in the territories, but statehood still eluded Colorado.

Support from Ulysses S. Grant, the first president to actually set foot in Colorado, eventually made the dif-ference. During an 1873 visit, the Civil War hero was greeted at Central City’s Teller House by a 20 ft. silver pathway promoting the territory’s silver boom. When the president questioned the authenticity of the shimmering wel-come mat, he was told that the bricks were, indeed, made of pure silver. Grant bent over and tested them with his penknife, just to make sure.

He must have been impressed. On Dec. 1, 1873, during his annual message to Congress, he strongly rec-ommended statehood for Colorado. Grant also suggested the construction of a 600-mile irrigation canal from the eastern slope of the Rockies to the Missouri River. His vision was never realized, but thanks to his support, an enabling bill for Colorado statehood made it through Congress despite Southern and Democratic opposition.

On July 1, 1876, Coloradans voted overwhelmingly in favor of state-hood. Although Greeley and Colorado Springs dragged their feet, Denver voted 5,591 in favor and only 37 op-posed. Such a mandate naturally

demanded a spectacular celebration, one of the wildest in the city’s history.

“The day was ushered in at sun-rise with the ringing of bells, blowing of whistles and a salute of 38 guns,” said the Denver Times. “In the morn-ing, a multi-block pageant flowed through the streets, Fraternal orders decked out in brightly colored outfits marched behind military leaders, who sat proudly astride prancing black and white horses. The showstopper was the ‘Grand Car of the Union,’ two wagons hitched together and drawn by six white horses, carrying 38 young women who represented every state. Mary Butler Brown, one of the first children born in Denver, wore a gold crown and carried a scepter as the first ‘Miss Colorado.’”

Colorado waited until 1907 to cre-ate the first official Colorado Day holi-day. Fortunately, many of the early settlers were still around to celebrate when the State Legislature created the first official Colorado Day holiday in 1907.

Thousands flocked to Denver that morning to watch the historic parade, which must have been incredible. Six prairie schooners with ominous look-ing guns hung over the sides vied for attention with scores of decorated automobiles. Floats re-created scenes

from the pioneer days, with rattling old stagecoaches, Pony Express riders and fake Indians. Unfortunate-ly, an ox team couldn’t be

found, even in New Mexi-co. As one old timer com-

plained, “It was like Hamlet, with Hamlet left out.”

That afternoon, celebrants gath-ered in City Park, where pioneers baked flapjacks and told stories. The highlight was balloon ascension by acrobat Wayne Abbott while he was performing on a trapeze. The day concluded with traditional fireworks, slightly marred by light drizzle.

Pioneer Jim Boutwell, a watch-man at the State Capitol building, won first prize for the best decorated prairie schooner, while Mrs. George Prior took the $50 silver cup for the best automobile, decorated with col-umbines and overflowing with chil-dren “with teddy bears close to their hearts.”

Colorado Day has been observed ever since with varying degrees of enthusiasm. In 1935, The Denver Post held a Colorado Day picnic for thousands, while a ceremony at the pioneer monument honored the memory of departed settlers. The Fire Department presented the city mu-seum with the first fire engine used in Denver in 1866.

For information about this year’s events, check local media or contact the History Colorado Center, www.historycolorado.org or call 303-447-8679.

Colorado History Colorado celebrates136th birthday Aug. 1

Denverites celebrate Colorado Day, circa 1928.

Early settlers originally named Colorado after President Thomas Jefferson.

July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 9

By Rosemary Fetter

S ummer swings for visitors to Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek, with great

gaming and lots of events. The fol-lowing are scheduled for late July and August, but check for changes.

BLACK HAWKAnnual Peak to Peak Duck RaceJuly 28, Mardi Gras Casino Pa-tio, Black Hawk

Casino spon-sors each receive a “fleet” of five large ducks to decorate as they choose, the wilder the better. Everyone in the race votes for the Best Dressed Fleet trophy. The race includes trophies for the Sponsors Race and the Quack tro-phy. Peak to Peak Race benefits the Peak to Peak Rotary.

CENTRAL CITYLunch and a Song at the Historic Teller House July 18, 22, 25, 29 and Aug. 8

Lunch and a 30-min-ute performance by a Bonfils-Stanton Foun-dation artist to whet your opera appetite at the relaxed Teller House, 120 Eureka St. Tick-ets at www.centralcity opera.org.

Central City Opera FestivalThrough Aug. 12

Performances this summer include: Oklahoma and La Bo-heme (through Aug. 12), Turn of

the Screw (through Aug. 4.) Tick-ets at www.centralcityopera.org, call 303-292-6500 or 303-292-6500. Free pre-performance preview: Join a member of the artistic staff for a free, short opera preview at 1:50 p.m. or 7:15 p.m. prior to each perfor-mance at the Williams Stables across Eureka Street from the Opera House.

Jazz Brunch Historic Teller HouseJuly 21, Aug. 4, 11-12, 11:45 a.m.

Pop up for a finger-snappin’ great time, featuring fine food and hot jazz. Approximately two hours. Info at www.centralcityopera.org.

Spirit ToursAug. 18 and 25

Doc Holliday’s Casi-no. Tours by Kelley Pat-

terson, angel therapy practitioner. Call 303-330-0565 or visit www. angelreadingsbykelly.com.

Higher Ground Music FestivalAug. 24 -26

More than 30 bands, camp-ing. Begins Aug. 24, 11 a.m. with Kinetiks, ends Aug. 26 af-ter 7 p.m. concert with Fierce Bad Rabbit. Schedule subject to change. www.highergroundmusic festival.com.

Cemetery Crawl at Oddfellows CemeteryAug. 25

Costumed tour of one of Cen-tral’s most fascinating cemeter-ies. Information at 303-582-5283, www.gilpinhistory.org. Tickets: $10 in advance, $12 at the gate, children younger than 12 free.

CRIPPLE CREEK & VICTORTeller County FairAug. 1 – 5, 510 W. Golden Ave., Victor (six miles from Cripple Creek).

Livestock competition and ex-hibits, arts and crafts, free con-certs, rides, food vendors. Call 719-748-3404.

Cripple Creek Salute to American Veterans RallyAug. 17 – 19

Patriotic display that recognizes our nation’s finest. The Traveling Vietnam War Memorial will be set

up at Cripple Creek High School. Several tributes and ceremonies are planned, and visitors to the wall will be provided materials to “rub” the desired names on a commemo-rative paper as a free keepsake.Aug. 17, 9 a.m.

Registration for High Altitude Veteran’s Poker Run, 10 a.m. First Motorcycle out, 11 a.m. Last Motor-cycle Out.Aug. 18, 10:30 a.m.

POW/MIA Recognition Ride, Colorado’s largest procession of motorcycles, Veteran’s Parade, POW/MIA Remembrance Cer-emony and Saturday Night Street Dance.Aug. 19, 4 p.m.

Harley Davidson Fat Bob Give-away from Century Casino.

Festival includes free con-certs, VIP speakers, Aircraft Flyovers, Wild West gunfight-ers, free concerts, food booths and other street vendors. Visit www.TheVeteransRally.org.

Summer FUn

Gaming town fun gets into full swing in July, August

LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU

Reliable • Save Gas • Radio Equipped • Personable, Professional & Safe Drivers • Standardized Routes

Thornton88th & Washington

Behind Wendysat 5:45 a.m. until 12:45 a.m.

303-853-9520

Walmart7800 E. Smith Rd.

Behind Home Depotdeparting every 2 hours starting at

5:10 a.m. until 11:10 p.m.— Pickup & Go —

Sheridan5250 Sheridan Blvd.

Departs hourly24 hours on the hour

720-855-8300

DowntownDenver

15th St. at Glenarmdeparting every 2 hours starting at

5:35 a.m. until 11:35 p.m.— Pickup & Go —

HowardJohnson’s=

12100 W. 44th Ave.Hourly starting at 6:15 a.m.until 9:15 a.m. then every

2 hoursBear Valley3100 S. Sheridan Blvd.

Hourly service starting at 5:10 a.m. until 2:40 a.m.303-935-1043

JCRS(Colfax & Kendall)

6571 W. Colfax Ave.Hourly until 12:30 a.m.

303-232-2569

Ask about ourredemption

program

$20 Round Trip!... RELAX… enjoy the ride to Black Hawk & Central City

BLACK HAWK & CENTRAL CITY

PAGE 10 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

One Coupon per guest, per day, Mon.-Fri. only - Expires 07/30/12

for readers of The Gambler

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with valuable savings – compliments of these leading

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July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 11

www.crystalpalacecasinocolorado.com

$6,000 Summer Beach Giveaways

Start earning entries July through August.

DJ on the weekendEnjoy a live DJ every Friday and

Saturday night.

3X PointsMonday - Thursday (excluding

video poker). Must be a Player’s Club member and have card properly inserted into machine while gaming to receive bonus points.

2X PointsFriday - Sunday (excluding video

poker). Must be a Player’s Club member and have card properly inserted into machine while gaming to receive bonus points.

A good timeEnjoy great food, great drinks

and great music at Crystal Palace.

Massage chairsCome unwind in the new

massage chairs at Crystal Palace, located on the second floor.

ww.reservecasinohotel.com

$225 Summer Extravaganza Cars-Cash-Concerts

May 29 – Sept. 3, earn one free entry per account per day; 200 points will earn additional entries. Drawings are held every Friday

and Saturday at 10 p.m. with 50 winners each night. Winners receive $100 in cash and a golden ticket for the car drawing. Car giveaways on Wednesday July 4, Sunday Aug. 5 and Monday Sept. 3. A Jeep Wrangler was given away on July 4.

Slot TournamentsThursdays in July in the Celebrity

Zone, noon – 3 p.m. One free session per account per day; earn 200 points on your Player’s Card and receive another chance to play. Top 7 scores will be posted at the Player’s Club/Gift Shop at 5 p.m. Top scores will be awarded $20-$100. Prizes must be picked up by 6 p.m. or they will be forfeited.

Food specialsMonday – Friday, enjoy a Big

Plate Breakfast with Player’s Card for only $1.99. With your Player’s Card, pay only 99 cents for a slice of pizza everyday.

Free BingoPlay bingo for free in the

Lava Room every Monday and Wednesday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Table games promotions Thursdays

July 2 – Aug. 30, drawings every Monday – Thursday at 8 p.m. in the table games area. Chance to win $100 everyday - if winner does not claim prize the same night, cash will roll over into the next drawing. Earn double entries Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. See table games area for complete details.

Aces always winMondays-Friday, aces always

win in the poker room, noon – 6 p.m., $25 for pocket aces.

Poker PartiesEnjoy a poker party

every Friday, 7 – 11 p.m.

in the poker room; high hand of the hour gets $50 in cash.

2X TuesdaysEvery Tuesday in July, players

can register at the Player’s Club to earn 2X points.

www.famousbonanza.com

Monday 2X pointsEarn 2X points every Monday all

day on all machines, including video poker. $1 = 1 point

40 and getting betterFor those guests 40 and older,

earn 2X points all day on all machines every Wednesday. $1 = 1 Point. Earn 200 base points and receive half off one menu item at Millie’s Restaurant.

Central City Nuggets

Continued on page 12

PAGE 12 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

www.famousbonanza.com

Join us on your birthdayCome celebrate your birthday with the

Famous Bonanza and Easy Street Casinos and receive 500 free points. Players older than 55 years of age will receive 800 free points.

New PlayersEarn just 250 points on your first trip and

receive a $10 meal voucher to either Millie’s or Stella’s restaurants.

The ParlourLocated on the second floor of the

Famous Bonanza Casino, we offer 2 deck

pitch blackjack, roulette and 3-card poker. A $5 minimum to $50 maximum on 2 deck pitch blackjack and $3 minimum and all shoe games. The Parlour also offers pool and darts.

Dream BigPlay 250 points to earn an entry to win a

fantasy cruise, $5,000 shopping spree or a trip to Las Vegas. First giveaway will be Saturday, July 21.

Monday 2X pointsEarn 2X points every Monday all day on all

machines, including video poker. $1 = 1 point

40 and getting betterFor those guests 40 and older, earn

2X points all day on all machines every Wednesday. $1 = 1 Point. Earn 200 base points and receive half off one menu item at Millie’s Restaurant.

Join us on your birthdayCome celebrate your birthday with the

Famous Bonanza and Easy Street Casinos and receive 500 free points. Players older than 55 years of age will receive 800 free points.

New PlayersEarn just 250 points on

your first trip and receive a $10 meal voucher to either Millie’s or Stella’s restaurants.

Fun for KidsBring your children to the

lower level of the casino to enjoy a wide variety of arcade games for our younger than 21 guests.

Dream BigPlay 250 points to earn

an entry to win a fantasy cruise, $5,000 shopping spree or a trip to Las Vegas! First giveaway will be Saturday, July 21.

Central-city.cnty.com

Cash FrenzyEvery weekend in July, win $200 cash

drawings every half hour, 4-10 p.m., Fridays; and 2-10 p.m. on Saturdays. Earn entries starting at midnight on Sunday. Barrel emptied after each Saturdays’ final drawing.

5X points on penny slots All guests will receive 5X points on

Mondays on their play on any penny denomination slot all day, 8 a.m. – 4 a.m. automatically.

New Members Guests who sign up at our

Player‘s Club for a free club card will get a free spin; win up to $1,500. New members also receive $10 in Insta-Comp after earning 250 base

points on their account on day of signup.

Two Times Tourney TuesdaysPlayers who join us Tuesday July 17, 24

and 31 will earn 2X points on all slots and video poker play, 8 a.m. – 4 a.m., along with 2X entries for Fast Cash Frenzy drawings. Plus get a chance to participate in two free slot tournaments with a $500 cash prize

pool each.

BingoEnjoy free Bingo every Wednesday and Thursday,

with a $100 prize for each game and a Bonus Card Bingo

game played at a random time for a $300-

$500 prize.

Senior CelebrationGuests age 50 or better can enroll at the

club to receive 2X points on their play ALL DAY on Wednesday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 a.m., plus 50 percent off purchases (up to $25 in one day) at the Retro Deli or Mid City Grill.

Score With FourPlayers buy in with a Century Casino

Player’s Card to get their Instant Cash Score Card. If they get all four of the score plays in one game type on that card in one gaming day, they win $10 instantly. Drop your card in the barrel and join us Saturdays in July at 11 p.m. for Second Chance drawings and a chance to win up to $500.

3-card 21Century Casino premieres 3-card 21 in

July.

Win a new iPadPoker players at Century

can win an iPad on Saturday, July 28, at 11 p.m. Entries will be awarded all week during live play, to the high hand every hour. If winner is not present, a new winner will be drawn until someone wins.

Central City NuggetsContinued from Page 11

food specialTry the new shrimp

cocktail for $2

$6000Summer

BeachGiveawayJuly & August

2x Points Fri - sun All Day 3x Points Mon - thurs All Day118 Main St. • Central City 720-253-1669

DJ Music Friday & saturday nights

July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 13

City to allow drinks in the streetsCentral City Main Street is channeling New Orleans’ Bourbon Street during its summer concert series. For the first time, casino guests will be allowed to bring alco-holic drinks from casino bars on to Main Street for these free summer events.

Blues, Brews and BBQ Saturday, Aug. 4, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.Enjoy the best in BBQ, while sampling some of Colorado’s best craft and regional beers. Free live entertainment includes a rare performance by Trez Equis, the country’s leading ZZ Top tribute act. Dave Booker and his large blues band, also fea-turing Boulder’s own, the Riff Raff Trio, will play.

Central City Roots RuckusSaturday, Aug. 11, noon—7 p.m.Enjoy a real roots music throw down as three top roots Americana bands play Central City – The Stone River Boys, Ethyl

and the Regulars, and Arnie Green. Com-pliment the music with some home grown tasty goodness including BBQ, fresh pizza and more.

Great Central City Beer Festival Saturday, Aug. 18, noon—7 p.m.Visitors will sample over 40 of some of Colorado’s best craft and regional beers and enjoy historical hayrides into the backwoods of Central. Enjoy free live entertainment includes a rare Colorado show by Los Straitjackets. The GCCBF will also feature Jewel and The Rough and the Riff Raff Family Band. This event is open to all ages, music is free and beer-tasting tickets can be purchased at www.tickethorse.com for $20.

Grito Central CitySunday, Sept. 16, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.Celebrate Mexican Independence Day with Manuel Molina and his dancers, fes-tive Mariachi bands and special treats. Families of all ages are invited.Visit www.

Central City

Central City kicks off summer events Aug. 4

T he Gilpin County Arts Association’s 66th Annual Fine Art Exhibition is currently running through Aug. 17 in the Central City Gallery located at 117

Eureka St., Central City, CO. The exhibition includes work by artists living in the Rocky Mountain West (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah & Wyoming) and is inclusive of all art and craft mediums. Three jurors were selected to adju-dicate the entries and to select award winners with $2,000 in awards given out at the Open-ing Reception on June 9.

In addition to the Juried Show featured there is a Gift Gallery with creative and at-tractive less expensive original art and craft items priced mostly in the range of less than $50, provided by Gilpin County Arts Asso-ciation Members. Bin Art (unframed flat art such as photos, paintings and drawings) pro-vided by Juried Show participants and current members will also be available for sale during the exhibition.

Gallery Hours through Aug .17, everyday but Monday, noon to 6 p.m.; open until 8 p.m. on Central City Opera performance dates.

Located in Historic Washington Hall, across Eureka Street from the Central City Opera House, the Gilpin County Arts Associ-ation exhibits some of the best artists from the Rocky Mountain region. Thefive5-room gal-lery is comprised of 3,600 sq. ft. of renovated, modern display space and is open to the pub-lic during the summer and early fall months. The association was founded in 1947 by Mar-garet Kerfoot Jennison; Colorado artist Vance Kirkland served on the Board of Directors for twelve years following its inception.

For additional information, call the Gal-lery at 303-582-5952 or go to www.gilpin arts.org.

Artists from all over the Rocky Mountain West are featured at the 66th annual Fine Art Exhibit, now through Aug. 17.

Photo courtesy of Gilpin County Arts Association

Gilpin County Arts Association 66th Annual Fine Art Exhibition, now – Aug. 17

WinnersJosephine Schwartz Award:

Sandi Fasano, “Spilling Swish,”Geode in Sterling Silver

Koropp Award:Francis Marino, “Inlet”

Two DimensionalBest of Show: Steve Griggs, “On The

Corner”1st Place: Laurie Sorkin, “Scalloped

Squash” 2nd Place: Virginia Unseld, “Evening

Flight” 3rd Place: Molly Squibb, “Driving a

Bargain”

Three DimensionalBest of Show: Judi Mitchell, “6 to 3”

1st Place: Ann Fremgen, Body of Work2nd Place: Colleen Heineman,

Body of Work 3rd Place: Harv Mastalir, “Wood Table”

PhotographyBest of Show: Carol Walker,

“Camargue Spray”1st Place: Jim Bennett, “Mt. Evans”

2nd Place: Lena Owens, “Hanging Lake Panorama”

3rd Place: Jill Smith, “Ever Vigilant”

Jewelry1st Place: Susan Phillips, Body of Work

2nd Place: Sandi Fasano, Body of Work3rd Place: Sandy Early, Body of Work

Of Mines & Beer! – 150 Years of Brewing History in Gilpin County, Colorado & Beyond

By Linda Jones

If you enjoy beer or history or just reading an entertaining book, this new read coming from Gilpin County is for you. Of Mines & Beer! – 150 Years of Brewing History

in Gilpin County, Colorado & Be-yond is hot off the press.

Everyone in Colorado must know the famous Coors Brewery began operation in 1873, but up in the Gold Rush towns of Cen-tral City and Black Hawk, hard-working miners had been a thirsty target for breweries since 1862. Three breweries began meet-ing the demand that year: Albert Selak in Black Hawk, for whom the street in front of his brewery was named (and now the 1877 City Hall stands on it); the Chase Gulch Brewery, operated by three Englishmen named Hale, Alsten and Eliot; and the Mack Brothers Brewery on Eureka Street in Cen-tral City, owned by the German brothers Jacob, Lewis, Matthias and Martin. Dave Thomas says the English brewery produced ales, porters and stouts. The Mack Brewery lasted the longest, from 1862 – 1898, and the ruins of the large operation can be seen abut-ting Prospectors Run townhous-es, with the Beer Garden ruins on the opposite side of Eureka Street.

During the height of impor-tance for Gilpin County on the state and national scene, 1859 – 1898, 13 dif-

ferent breweries made beer for the miners of the states’ smallest (until Broom-field City/Coun-ty was created r e c e n t l y ) county (158 s q u a r e miles). The book is the result of an-other sesqui-centennial, and a friendship with a shared interest in history, and ques-tions from tourists in Central City.

The concurrent 150th anniversary is that of the oldest con-tinuously-published newspaper in the state, the Central City Weekly Register-Call. The friend-ship is between the owner/brewer of Dostal Alley Brewpub in Central City, Buddy Schmalz, and Dave Thomas, brewing ex-pert. Both are history buffs; Buddy earned his college degree in History and Dave is secretary of the Gilpin County Historical Society. Both are peppered with the same inquiries from locals and tourists about the history of brewing in the area. In research-ing for the answers, they found a

book’s worth of ma-terial and set a goal of publishing it the same summer the Register-Call cel-ebrated its 150th anniversary be-cause they dis-covered a close link between the publishing and the brew-ing business-es.

B e c a u s e of Buddy’s

competing time demands (he was the mayor of Central City and is now a Gil-pin County commissioner and

has school-age children), Dave was responsible for writing most of the book. But there may not be another person in America as

qualified to write a his-tory of beer and brewing. Dave had just earned a Bachelor of Science de-gree from University of

Colorado with a micro-biology major in 1974 when Coors hired him

as a lab microbiologist. Five years later they selected

him as their first “professional student” when they sent him to Heriot-Watt University in Edin-burgh, Scotland, for his master’s degree in Brewing. After a year and a half, he returned in 1982 with his new degree and was im-mediately confronted with the problem of mixing malt for the red color for Killian’s Ale. Dur-ing his 32 years with Coors, Dave was sent to Memphis, to Burton-on-Trent in England, South Ko-rea, where he was responsible for building the Jinro Brewery, and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and transitioned out of the Coors lab and into a brewing role. He retired from Coors five years ago and is now the execu-tive brewing consultant for Eco-lab in St. Paul and senior malting advisor for Colorado Malting Co. in Alamosa. He freelances for the Brewer & Distiller International out of London, the Rocky Mt. Brewing News and American Distiller magazines. I learned from other sources that the mod-est Dave is past-president and honorary life member of the American Society of Brewing Chemists and a member of the Master Brewers Association of

the Americas and the Institute of Brewing & Distilling in London.

Dave seems most proud of his title of brewer emeritus at Dostal Alley in Central City. He moved to Gilpin County in 1980 and when he retired in 2007, he began brew-ing with Buddy, who had started in 1997 with a two-barrel system, making 62 gallons at a time. In 2006, he installed a seven-barrel system that makes 220 gallons at a time.

Dave seized on the opportu-nity of working with Buddy to produce prize-winning beers and the two have done just that. Above the bar in the Dostal Alley Casino are three medals won in the Great American Beer Festi-val in competition with hundreds of other craft beers. More than 2,000 breweries in the U.S. today produce more than 10,000 differ-ent brands.

Dostal Alley sells a Jacob Mack Brown Ale, an 1874 Smoked Por-ter, American City Pale Ale, Sum-mer Wheat Ale, Shaft House Stout and Gilpin Gold American Style Pale Ale. This brewpub can make a boast few can; they harvest the wild hops in the back yards and along fence lines of Central City for use in their brews. Buddy says it takes an average of three weeks to produce a batch of beer, and the two stay in shape hefting the 14 kegs they fill a week. Their labor-intensive method of brew-ing rated an article in the Scan-dinavian Brewer’s Review – A Typical Brewing Day at a Small Colorado Mountain Brewpub.

Come to the Great Central City Beer Festival from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, with nine other brewers taking part and buy your copy Of Mines & Beer.

Dave said, “I wrote up what in-terested me” and the book is filled with tidbits on the historic brew-eries in the county, the historic stills during Prohibition, brewing in Leadville and Golden and much more. For example, the ‘ghost town’ of Nevadaville had three breweries and 13 saloons in the 19th century.

The book can also be purchased in the Gilpin History Museum in Central City and from Amazon.com. Profits from sale of the book benefit the GCHS.

PAGE 14 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

Dave Thomas & Buddy Schmalz, authors of the new book, Of Mines & Beer! – 150 Years of Brewing History in Gilpin County, Colorado & Beyond. Photos by Linda Jones

Central City

Duo combines history, beer in new book

Hops grow behind Dostal Alley, which are used in the brews at the brewpub.

Ron is finalist No. 30 in the Grand Summer Giveaway and a shot at $100,000 at Fitzgeralds Casino.

Steve won a 2012 Chevy Sonic at Canyon Casino in Black Hawk.

Robert won $10,871 playing a Wild Zone 1 cent machine at Century Casino in Central City.

Karen is finalist No. 31 in the Grand Summer Giveaway and a shot at $100,000 at Fitzgeralds Casino in Black Hawk.

Jim won a 2012 Chevy Sonic at Canyon Casino in Black Hawk.

Bernard from Arvada won the 2012 Ford Shelby Mustang at Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk.

July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 15

CRIPPLE CREEK

Casino•Guide

CENTRAL CITY

BLACK HAWK

This information is subject to change without notice.

Ameristar - 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP over 1400 536 rooms B, D, SD, Starbucks free valet and self parking 720-946-4000/.ameristar.com/Black_Hawk.aspx

Black Hawk Station VP 120 No SD,SB city lot 303-582-5582/ blackhawkstationcasino.net

Bull Durham VP 188 No SB city lot 303-582-0810/.bulldurhamcasino.com

Bullwhackers - 24/7 Fri/Sat VP 400 No SD free valet and self parking 1-800-GAM-BULL/bullwhackers.com

Canyon - 24/7 Fri/Sat BJ, C, R, VP 415 No SD, SB free valet and self parking 303-777-1111/canyoncasino.com

Fitzgeralds - 24/7 Fri/Sat BJ, C, R, VP 700 No SD, SB on weekends free covered valet 303-582-6100 (1-800-538-LUCK)/fitzgeraldsbh.com

Gilpin - 24/7 BJ, C, R, P, VP 460 No SD free valet across the street 303-582-1133/thegilpincasino.com

Golden Gates - 24/7 BJ, P, C, VP 280 No D free valet and covered self parking 303-582-5600/thegoldengatescasino.com

Golden Gulch VP 140 No V free self/free valet 303-582-5600/thegoldengatescasino.com

Golden Mardi Gras - 24/7 BJ, C, R, VP 680 No SD,SB,D free valet and covered self parking 303-582-5600/goldenmardigras.com

Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk - 24/7 BJ, C, P, R, VP 1308 238 B,D,SD free valet and self parking 1-800-The-Isle/theisleblackhawk.com

Lady Luck - 24/7 BJ, P,C, R, VP 500 164 SD,SB free covered valet and self parking 1-888-Lady-Luck/ladyluckblackhawk.com

Lodge - 24/7 BJ, C, R, P, VP 975 50 B, D, SD, SB free valet parking 303-582-1771/thelodgecasino.com

Red Dolly VP 149 No SD free self parking 303-582-1100/reddollycasino.net

Riviera - 24/7 BJ, C, R, VP 766 No B free valet and self parking 303-582-1000/rivierablackhawk.com

Sasquatch No 70 No D No 720-880-1616

Wildcard VP 220 No D city lot 303-582-3412/thewildcardsaloon.com

Century Casino - 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP 520 26 SD,D free covered self parking 303-582-5050/cnty.com

Crystal Palace VP 101 No D free city lot 720-253-1669

Doc Holliday VP 178 No SD free city lot 303-582-1400/dochollidaycasino.net

Dostal Alley - 24/7 VP 64 No SD free self parking 303-582-1610/dostalalley.net

Easy Street VP 205 No SD free self parking 303-582-5914/famousbonanza.com

Famous Bonanza BJ, P, R, VP 244 No SD , D free self parking 303-582-5914/famousbonanza.com

Johnny Z’s BJ, C, R, VP 288 No SD, D free covered parking 303-582-5623/johnnyzscasino.com

Reserve Casino Hotel - 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP 700 118 SD free valet and self parking 1-800-924-6646/reservecasinohotel.com

The Brass Ass - 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP 250 No SD free covered self parking 800-635-LUCK/triplecrowncasino.com

Bronco & Buffalo Billy’s - 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP 750 23 SD free self parking 877-989-2142/broncobillyscasino.com

Century Casino - 24/7 BJ, C, R, VP 437 21 SD free self parking 719-689-0333/cnty.com/casinos/cripplecreek

Colorado Grande - 24/7 BJ, R, VP 211 5 SD, SB free self parking 877-244-9469/coloradogrande.com

Double Eagle & Gold Creek - 24/7 BJ, P ,C, R, VP 700+ 158 SD, SB free valet and covered self parking 800-711-7234/decasino.com

Johnny Nolon’s - 24/7 VP 255 No SD free self parking w/validation 719-689-2080/johnnynolons.com

J.P. McGill’s - 24/7 Fri/Sat VP 300 40 SD validated self parking 800-635-LUCK/triplecrowncasinos.com

Midnight Rose - 24/7 P, VP 400 19 SD, B validated self parking 800-635-LUCK/triplecrowncasinos.com

Wildwood Casino- 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP, TH 530 68 SD, D, B Climate controlled self parking 877-945-3963/playwildwood.com

Casino Table Slots Lodging Food Parking Contact Games

Table Games Key

BJ - Blackjack, P-Poker, C-Craps, R-Roulette, TH - Texas Holdem’, VP-Video Poker

Food Key

B-Buffet, D-Deli, SD-Sitdown, SB-Snackbar, V-Vending Machine

I remember first looking into blackjack as a possible viable way to have fun and make money and how hard it was to find useful information and effective meth-ods to beat the game. In fact, looking back on it, much of the literature out there was mislead-ing and outright wrong. Even today, decades later, the same is true.

So I thought I’d give people who are thinking about playing the game some info I would have loved to have when I was start-ing out.

• Blackjack is the most win-nable game in a casino – if you are willing to put in the time to learn the game properly. It’s not a game of chance, like slots. It’s more like bridge or poker. But it requires thinking and prepara-tion and practicing and honing your skills. If that sounds like a lot of work, the game is not for you. If, however, the game thrills you, then you won’t mind putting in the kind of effort any worthwhile pursuit – such as skiing or golfing – demands of you, if you want to be good.

• Unlike many other games

where it’s easy to find good books on the subject, blackjack is pecu-liar in that book-store bookshelves and newspaper columns are filled

with methods written by people who are not true experts – many of which aren’t even true play-ers. So be especially careful in choosing the books you decide to read. If the writer, for instance, has books out on every possible casino game, he is unlikely to be an expert. You cannot be an expert on much more than one game. Speaking as a game strat-egy innovator who’s done more than 10 years of blackjack and card behavior research, I can tell you that a researcher and strat-egy innovator has little time to research more than one game in a lifetime if he really wants to become a cutting-edge expert capable of creating better ways of beating a game. So beware the multi-game “expert.”

• Blackjack, like Bridge and poker, requires you to watch what cards have been dealt in order to make smart decisions. If you come across advice in a book, on a website or in a col-umn that tells you that you don’t

need to watch the cards in order to make the most precise and correct move possible, then it’s not giving you the state-of-the-art modern blackjack advice you need in order to win consistent-ly, and to the max.

• Blackjack requires you to remember a good amount of what’s gone on at the table since the last shuffle, including - at the very least - a good general idea of what cards have been dealt. Any method that tells you the opposite is lying to you. So if you have a horrible memory, forget it; you cannot win very much at blackjack except on occasion due to chance. Conversely, you can view the game as an op-portunity to stretch yourself by learning to expand your mem-ory - a very healthy thing to do. I read books on improving my memory before I went to college and their methods can be ap-plied to blackjack.

• Any method that tells you “always” to make a certain card move or “never” make a certain card move is not for you. The correct move varies depending on the cards that have been dealt and therefore what cards are left among the cards that have yet to be dealt. And you cannot make the correct choice simply based

upon the dealer’s up card (the one card showing) or the first two cards you’re dealt. (Don’t let anyone tell you that you can.) If you want a simple game, it’s not blackjack. It is not difficult to play properly, though - but you must take the time to study it, just as you might any com-plex game, like Bridge or poker. I don’t know why so many black-jack players are so lax in learn-ing the game. Poker players cer-tainly know they need to read good books and even take a few good seminars - by true winners - in order to become winners themselves.

The underlying forces that rule the game, which make it pre-dictable and profitable, involve math and (this is something few others will tell you) science (as in the study of the science be-hind casino-style shuffling, deal-ing and the collection of cards). If you love the game and have a decent understanding of simple math and scientific concepts, you should have no problem. Though the word “probability” might at first seem daunting, it is a necessary concept to under-stand and, ultimately, not hard to comprehend and apply. But, again, you need to learn what this is all about. And, again - on the upside - tackling something new is a mind-expanding pro-cess and good for you

• Great blackjack players also watch how the dealer shuffles, deals and collects cards. These standardized processes give away a lot of information that enables you to predict certain events - including your likeli-hood of winning and where you should place the cut card (the cut card is a plastic card you place in the just-shuffled cards, which determines which cards will be dealt first).

• Finally, blackjack is not a game you can figure out at the table. While some dealers are well-meaning in trying to help players: 1) if they were great players they wouldn’t be deal-ing, they’d be playing the game; and 2) if they gave out great ad-vice they’d be fired (they cannot tell you how to take money from the house; they work for the house). So don’t rely on dealer help to make the correct moves. Nor should you rely on the ad-vice of players who freely offer it. Serious players like myself would never give you advice. We’re trying to stay anonymous, under the casino’s radar because - unfortunately, winners can be barred from playing. So win-ners are not going to give you any advice at the table. There-fore, the advice you’ll get is al-ways suspect.

www.blackjacktoday.com.

PAGE 18 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

Gaming

As brought forth oc-casionally in this col-umn, I’ve mentioned that when I am un-able to play as often as I wish, I return to those “…thrilling days of yesteryear” [any-body remember where that phrase came from?*] and re-search my collection of books. The reason? To return to the basics of poker; review ideas, thought pat-terns, behaviorisms that contrib-ute to knowledge of the game.

There are myriad strategic and tactical differences in playing a tournament versus playing live action; not the least being when you bust out of a tournament [un-less it’s a rebuy or re-entry tour-nament] you’re out. In live action you can merely dig into your wal-let, get more chips and keep play-

ing. However, there are numerous similarities as well; mostly in the basics of play. From a number of sources in the vast Gilpin County Poker Library high atop Pickle Gulch and the Missouri Lakes

[where, by the way, the only sub-marine sunk at 8,900 feet above sea level was, ahhh, sunk], I sub-mit to you the following:

Wait to look at your cardsThere is a great temptation to

look at the cards dealt the mo-ment we receive them. We’re there to play; we want to see what we have, begin calculating hand strength, position, trapping pos-sibilities, etc. The trouble with this is if other players are watch-

ing us to see our reaction to the cards, we give away informa-tion. How we like what we see, if there’s a positive or negative reaction, if we’re interested in playing further or not; all these and more telegraph to our oppo-nent something valuable about our hand. We should be watching the other players ourselves to see what their reaction(s) are. Then, when play comes around to us, we then look at the cards, proceeding from there. One side-bar to this: always take the same amount of time when looking at your cards. I usually quietly tap my toe three times before commencing any action, including mucking the cards. The same amount of time considering the cards, be they Pocket Rockets or 7 – 2 offsuit. I do not want to give away free in-formation to my opponents – let them work for it.

Look downstreamThat is to say, keep an eye on

what’s happening to your left. You’ve already witnessed what those to your right have done; keep a lookout to your left for any tells of future action by those

waiting to act. Sometimes you can snipe your opponents’ inten-tions, which can have an impact on what you plan to do. Is some-one reaching for chips? Are they holding enough to merely call or do they have enough in their mitts to make a raise? Is someone preparing to muck their cards while their interest has returned to the ballgame on the telly? You won’t always be correct with your read but again, your opponents are presenting you with the gift of information to their actions before they act. That’s the kind of intelligence that can confirm, or even change, the action(s) you planned to make. If you do not do this, you’re depriving yourself of knowledge about your oppo-nents; since poker is a game of partial information, all the In-tel you can get assists in making good decisions.

Don’t look at flop as it’s floppedPlayers do this all the time

and it still amazes me. There they sit in rapt attention waiting to see what comes. Their instanta-neous reaction to what they see is almost always an indication of

their true feelings about the flop. You can argue that some players can fake their reactions, put out “false tells;” but really, are your opponents indeed that skilled in emitting misinformation? Are the normal Friday night players that aware of what other players are aware of, to then mislead with a false reaction? And done enough times, can a savvy player read your false reaction as being what it is, a false reaction? Well, then he will act accordingly?

Look at the other players as the flop comes – pay attention to your first and second-most dangerous opponents, then work your way around the table. The flop will still be there five seconds after it is laid out, but your oppo-nents’ reactions won’t be. Which bit of Intel is more valuable to you at that point? Plus, by not looking at the flop until it’s your turn, you avoid the possibility of giving away tells about your hand to your opponent who may be watching you!

More next time…* Intro to the old Lone Ranger

TV show of the Late 1950s.

Poker Basics 101

FULLHOUSEBy Drew Chitiea

If you’re thinking about playing blackjack

By Richard Harvey

July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 19

Gaming

S ay you’ve played out your own hand at blackjack. The

dealer didn’t have a blackjack (or the round would have ended before it be-gan), and you didn’t bust. You’re there-fore at a moment of truth, anticipating how the dealer will fare.

If your total is 21, you’re in fine shape. You can’t lose. At worst, you can push. The probability of pushing is least (3.76 percent), so your prospects of winning are best (96.24 percent), when the dealer has 10-up. Expectation for even-money bets equals the chance of winning minus that of losing; since 21 can’t lose, expectation and chance of winning are numeri-cally the same – a positive 96.24 percent, average earnings of 96.24 cents per dollar at risk over many instances of this situation. The chance of a push is highest (11.83 percent), so your prospects of win-ning and expectation for profit are lowest (88.17 percent), when the dealer has 2-up. Intermediate po-sitions, from strongest to weakest, occur for 9-, 8-, 7, ace-, 6-, 5-, 4-, and 3-up.

You’re also sitting pretty with totals of 20. But maybe not as pretty as you think. A 20’s best chance of winning is against 8-up – 86.13 percent. Expectation is great-est against this up-card as well, but ow-ing to possible push-es it’s less – 79.18 percent. Chance of

winning and expectation are both least against a dealer’s 10-up, at 59.33 percent and 55.57 cents per dollar up for grabs, respectively, but this bad news results more from pushes than losses. The ac-companying table gives the prob-

abilities of winning, pushing, and losing as well as the expectation for a player’s 20 against all up-cards. The data show why solid citizens with 20s shouldn’t count their money before the dealer acts, especially with 2- to 6-up which almost everyone considers busts-in-waiting. In fact, dealers are more apt to reach 21 and edge out player’s 20s with 2- through 6- than with 7- through ace-up.

Probabilities of winning, pushing, and losing with player’s 20 against various upcards, and resulting expectations

Bettor 19s have less chance of winning than 20s or 21s – from

highs of 76.90 and 73.26 percent against 7- and 8-up, to lows of 47.22 and 46.73 percent against 9- and 10-up, respectively. Ex-pectation is always positive, though, running from a maxi-mum of 61.64 percent against 7-up to a minimum of 6.55 per-cent against 10-up.

Blackjack buffs typically over-estimate the strength of 18s. Chances of this total losing ex-ceed 50 percent and expectations are accordingly negative against 9- or 10-up; the probability of 18 losing against ace-up is less, 45.57 percent, but expectation is negative here, too. An 18 is most promising against 7-up, with a probability of winning equal to 63.11 percent and an expectation of earning an average of 40.01 percent.

A 17 is, arguably, the most frustrating stopping point. Ba-sic Strategy is to stand on hard 17, so players who finish at that level often blithely believe they’ve squeezed by. The mistake is that, like totals of 16 or less, a 17 can’t win unless the dealer busts. It differs from lower values only be-cause it has a chance of pushing and not losing if the dealer also gets 17. Probabilities of winning are below 50 percent for all up-cards and expectation is negative

except against 6-up, where it’s a paltry 1.15 percent average profit on the dollar. The worst upcard to fight with 17 is an ace, where expectation is to lose an average of 47.79 percent – followed by 9-, 10-, and 8-up.

With totals from 12 through 16 against dealer’s 2- through 6-up, Basic Strategy is to stand. Not that it’s profitable owing to the dealer being apt to bust; rather, because it’s riskier to hit than stand and lose because the dealer made 17 through 21. In these situ-ations, players’ highest hopes are against 6-up which has a 42.29 percent chance of busting, de-creasing from there through 2-up where the dealer’s probability of breaking drops to 35.35 percent.

Given that the probability of winning and the expectation aren’t equal other than for play-er 21s, enquiring minds should want to know whether the maxi-ma for the two the occur with dif-ferent upcards for any totals. The answer is “no,” they always coin-cide. A phenomenon foretold by this vague yet veracious verse by the venerable virtuoso of casino cadence, Sumner A Ingmark:

‘Though winning and los-ing don’t cover all bases,

Don’t count on “no ac-tion” to overturn races.

How good is your total against various dealer upcards at blackjack?

gamble and drink at earlier ages so they would and could control their urges to do both. It was her philosophy that teaching kids about drinking and gambling at an early age prevented abuses at later stages in life. I somewhat share that same belief.

They unloaded on a certain casino buffet stating how bad the food was about one month ago, not naming names, they were re-ally unhappy with a certain meal. Table talk can be very detrimental to any casino as word of mouth travels fast and can be devastat-ing. Taking good care of custom-ers is rule No. 1 for all casinos.

This family once lived in Boul-der and ran the Hi Lo Restaurant and Bar and then moved to Fort Collins where they continued in the food business for another 15 years.

A young man with a baseball

hat jumped into the game betting $100 and won the bet. He bet an-other $100, had a double down, so he doubled with another $100 and lost to the dealer. He walked away quickly when the dealer flopped a draw to make “21.”

It usually doesn’t pay to be a wandering player, bouncing from table to table, interrupting play and making a large bet, play-ing a few hands and moving on. The best way to play is to hunker down, read the cards, make small bets until the flow of the cards is revealed and there are other play-ers winning at the table.

The friendly dealer made a comment that it is important to always look at the chips on the ta-ble and see if you’re joining a win-ning group with lots of chips in front of them, which means you’re teaming up with a winning table. I thought that was really good ad-vice and will follow it in the future, so should you.

I got a few dollars ahead,

placed a final bet and decided to let it ride, hit va blackjack, than a 20 and then busted. Walked away a winner and headed to the ca-shier. It was a fun couple of hours in one of my favorite cities.

Back down the Central City Parkway, watching out for cops and troopers, not to get a speeding ticket that would take more than my meager winnings, but a really nice highway with a great view of the quaking aspen trees, so green after our recent rains. This fall will be golden in just a few short weeks as summer starts to fade.

It was a good couple of hours in the mountains.

P.S. We received a call from the Burlington visitor center request-ing more bundles of the Colora-do Gambler that are distributed there, along with all the other visi-tor centers in the state. As tourists arrive in Colorado, “love the pa-per” is the comment they receive day after day.

Continued from Page 2

up-card probabilities expectationwin push lose

2 75.77% 12.40% 11.83% 63.94%3 76.44% 12.07% 11.49% 64.96%4 77.18% 11.65% 11.17% 66.01%5 77.98% 11.21% 10.80% 67.18%6 80.12% 10.16% 9.72% 70.39%7 84.75% 7.87% 7.39% 77.36%8 86.13% 6.93% 6.95% 79.18%9 81.89% 12.03% 6.09% 75.80%

10 59.33% 36.90% 3.76% 55.57%Ace 73.33% 18.93% 7.75% 65.58%

Stay and play till the flow of the cards is revealed

PAGE 20 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

By Anna lee Ames Frohlichwesternfootprints@comcast.net

16th Street in Cheyenne, c. 1867Photo courtesy of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum Archives

Edward L. Berthoud

Union Pacific Railroad President Oliver Ames

The race to The race to A m o n g

things t h a t p r e -

cipitated the race for Cheyenne were the 1859 discovery of gold and silver in the Rockies, espe-cially along Clear Creek, which was followed by the development of the mining indus-try and towns in that region. Next came the begin-ning of the transcontinental railroad, which became official with Lincoln’s signing of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 (this year is the 150th anniver-sary of that event).

In 1865, the route of the Union Pacific Railroad over the Rockies had not been de-termined. W.A.H. Loveland, an enthusiastic resident of Golden, had big dreams for that city, in-cluding running the transcon-tinental railroad through his Golden City. As early as 1861, he headed up a railroad survey from Golden up to Central City and Black Hawk. Also in 1861, Loveland’s friend Edward L. Berthoud had discovered a pass over the Continental Divide while on an exploration with Jim Bridger. Berthoud, a sur-veyor, felt it would be suitable for a wagon road but not for a railroad over the pass to Middle Park and on to the Pacific.

In 1865, Nathaniel P. Hill, having done much research on the subject in England, started a smelter operation in Black Hawk. Colorado’s sluggish min-ing economy needed this boost. That same year, Loveland, de-spite Berthoud’s opinion, ap-proached the UP about direct-ing the line through Golden. The encouragement of the UP led him to organize the Colora-do and Clear Creek Railroad Co.

with eight back-ers from Colo-rado and 14 from the East.

The backing of eastern capi-talists was es-sential to the western economy at this time. For one thing, placer gold, the surface ore that was easi-est to access was disappearing fast. This necessitated hard rock min-ing, which was

far more costly. Add to that the many other costs of building this new country, such as de-veloping roads and stage lines, grading, laying track, purchas-ing rolling stock for railroads, and a myriad of other expenses. One might say that the West was developed by the grit of the people who moved here and the financial backing of investors in the East. Each side took a dif-ferent kind of risk.

Back to the Colorado and Clear Creek RR - they were now able to raise funds by issuing capital stock that municipalities and coun-ties could subscribe to and pay for in bonds. The railroad could build their line up Clear Creek as far as Em-pire City and to the north-west as far as the Cache la Poudre River. Love-land paid for a thorough job of sur-veying and then headed east again to seek more

funding. Disappointed in this, he had to approach the Union Pacific again. The Union Pacific took the stance of more control for more help. It would not pro-vide money but would provide track and cars and engines. In truth, they were limited by their charter in how much they could do. They could not own the CCCRR but it remained a thinly disguised subsidiary of the Union Pacific, and thus be-gan a more than 10-year battle for control of the little railroad, which did not at this point exist except in intent.

In 1866, the name of the railroad was changed to the

C o l o r a d o Central and Pacific, re-flecting their thoughts of crossing Ber-thoud Pass and continu-ing on to the Pacific. (It would be an interest-ing study to see how many rail-roads with Pacific in their names and as their i n t e n d e d destination ever actually made it to

the Pacific.) The big blow to the supporters of the Colorado Central and Pacific came in August 1866 when UP Chief Engineer Gen. Gren-ville Dodge came to look over Colorado’s proposed route and announced he found Wyoming’s route the best. This completely dashed the dreams of Loveland and the Terri-tory of Colorado.

In 1867, Oliver Ames (my Great Great Great Great uncle), then President of the Union Pacific Railroad, took two trips from Massachu-setts to look over the line. As of Jan. 17, 1867, getting to Council Bluffs to cross the river to Oma-ha would have become much easier with the completion of the Chicago and North Western RR, the first to be completed across the state of Iowa. Ames’ diary tells of a trip in April when the End of the Track was just 17 miles west of North Platte, Neb. When he returned west again in late October, the End of the Track had moved on to Hillsdale (Wyoming Territory in 1868). Hillsdale was about 25 miles east of Cheyenne, and Ames describes arriving by train in Hillsdale and leav-ing “in Team” to continue to Cheyenne. After a trip to Dale Creek, he returned briefly to

Cheyenne on Nov. 2 where he observed the bridge going over Crow Creek and comment-ed that the town of Cheyenne was “growing rapidly.”

The plans of the Colorado Central and Pacific to build up Clear Creek Canyon to the min-ing towns remained intact, but first they wanted to connect Golden with the Union Pacific in Cheyenne to complete the route for shipping the product of the mines to other markets. In June 1867, the Union Pacific signed an agreement to support the project, again by supplying rolling stock and rails. Plans were for Denver to have only a branch to Golden and nothing to Cheyenne.

Denver was not going to stand for this. W.A.H. Loveland

July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 21

Trail’s End

Try your hand at mining during events in July, August

Colorado, born of a gold rush, still honors the traditional industry that settled mountain towns into mining districts and that prospered Denver,

Colorado Springs and other cities into major supply points. Mining remained the state’s major economic engine from the 1860s into the 1920s. Resource extraction (including gold,

copper, iron, zinc, tungsten, uranium, molyb-denum, coal and gravel) has boost-ed our economy since then and continues to cre-ate many jobs. Mining in Colora-do is not dead and is not even dor-mant. According to the Colorado Mining Associa-tion, the industry

employs more than 20,000 workers in our state and produces $3 billion in annual sales.

But today’s mining processes are very dif-ferent – far more technological and on a much larger scale than – in yesteryear. The hardrock mining days come alive again every summer in the mountain towns that flourished during Colorado’s first gold and silver booms.

Mining competitions demonstrate the hard labor, brute strength and technical skills used by the underground miners. The Colorado circuit of drilling and mucking contests takes place in 10 or so towns. These competitions preserve mining culture in the hardrock towns founded by gold and silver mining. And each

mining contest is at the heart of a weekend-long festival, surrounded by a potluck of fun events and small-town family traditions.

Tommyknocker Days just took place in Idaho Springs July 14 and 15. The Idaho Springs Chamber of Commerce helped coordi-nate the festivities in this town where revived molybdenum mining, nearby, is again creating jobs.

“It’s a celebration of what our town is based on, where the gold rush began,” said Dawn Dash, executive director of the chamber. “It helps us keep our history. Mining has been a huge job source. People come out and have a good time.”

Mining contests were held in the lot next to the Elks Lodge. Children’s mining events made

Tommyknocker Days a family-oriented event, and sanctioned burro races were added this year.

Upcoming is Victor Gold Rush Days, July 20-22, where wild and wooly events in-clude gold panning at the Lowell Thomas Mu-seum, shoot outs in the town park, chili dinner at the Elks Club, a Friday night street dance, pancake breakfast served by Victor’s Volunteer Fire Department, Sunday morning parade and even a historic home tour. The mining contests, held on July 20, include drilling and mucking (ore-shoveling) as in decades past. The double-jack drilling contest is the most grueling. One partner takes mighty two-armed swings at a steel head with a long-handled eight-pound hammer. The other partner holds the long drill steady hand-turning it slightly after each stroke as the “steel” descends inch-by-inch into hard granite.

Nederland’s Miners’ Days, July 28–29, features mining competitions such as spike driving, mucking, jack-leg drilling, single-jack drilling, double-jack and team jack-leg drill-ing. A children’s mucking contest gives kids a chance with the shovel. Festivities also have in-cluded a dance at the Pioneer Inn, gold panning for children and the Old Timers Picnic. The Nederland Mining Museum is the focal point for the event.

Leadville’s Boom Days takes place Aug. 3-5 and revolves around the International Pack Burro Race. Rules require that each burro must bear a packsaddle and a 33-pound load of min-ing gear that includes a pick, shovel and gold pan. The lead rope must be no more than 15 feet long. This is one of several traditional pack bur-ro races in Colorado (others include Fairplay, Cripple Creek, Central City, Frisco and Lead-ville). Weekend events, organized with the help

of the Leadville Elks Club, include a pie eating contest, 1880s costume contest, annual Rod and Gun Club Show and Saturday night dance at the Elks Lodge.

Buena Vista Gold Rush Days, Aug. 11-12, includes pack burro racing – a 13.5-mile running event with rules similar to the Lead-ville race. Live music, storytelling, mountain men, gem panning, kayak racing, craft vendors and a toilet seat race help round out the week-end.

Down in the San Juan Mountains of south-western Colorado, Silverton’s Hardrock Holiday unfolds Aug. 10-12. Mining compe-titions bring a large contingent of miners over Red Mountain Pass from Ouray and down from Leadville. The pentathlon awards a major cash prize to the best all-around miner in five mining events – machine mucking, machine drilling, hand mucking, single jacking (hand steeling) and the wheelbarrow race. Traditional family games include tug of war, horseshoes, softball toss, sack race, three-legged race, shoe search, peanut race and arm wrestling.

Ouray’s Highgrader Holiday takes place Aug. 24-26 in the Miners Heritage Park as part of Heritage Weekend. Mining contests typically include double-jack, single-jack, spike drilling, hand mucking and machine mucking. Both men and women compete in hand muck-ing and spike driving. The prize for All Around Miner has reached as high as $10,000. In years past, children’s events included mini-mucking, egg toss, treasure hunt and hammering.

So, feel free to come up and take part in the festivities and traditional events. Hard hats and steel-toe boots are optional.

HardroCk Mining Contests Colorado’s mining boom days live on

By Cathleen Normancatnorman@earthlink.net

Mining contests were a long-standing Colorado tradition. In 1910, this Leadville com-petition drew enormous crowds.

Photos courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History Collection

The double-jacking contest in Eldora southwest of Nederland in 1906. One man holds the drill steel while another hammers it into the granite. A Silverton contestant lost two fingers in this competition in the 1990s.

In the 1960s, the Colorado School of Mines perpetuated the mining contests.

Results of mining competition of Colo-rado State Mining Championships in Creede. Photo by Cathleen Norman

PAGE 22 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years July 17 - 30, 2012

Horoscope

Contact Mary Nightstar at marynightstar@yahoo.com and type “horoscope” in the subject line.

CANCER - (June 22 - July 22)You may be going through a life changing process involving relationships. The key is to find a comfortable situation where you can express who you truly are. Your moods may change with the moon’s tide, but your loyalty and love does not. Being steady in heart produces results. Lucky Numbers: 5, 13, 30, 41, 52, 67 LEO - (July 23 – Aug 22)You are eager to take on a new subject or path in your life. Education, either higher or self-taught will bring you great satisfaction. Love and relationships hit you close to home and the heart. Someone is ready to take your breathe away. Breathe deeply, wait and watch.Lucky Numbers: 7, 22, 34, 46, 53, 65 VIRGO - (Aug. 23 - Sept. 23)A sibling or close friend may invite you to celebrate something really important in their life. Find a special gift to share with them. You may be making long range plans in a financial venture. Remember, it will take some time to see the turn around in your investment. Patience is the key. Lucky Numbers: 1, 24, 35, 48, 58, 74 LIBRA - (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23)You may feel more vivacious and be seen as more attractive than usual. You may also be seen as «the life of the party» or come across as being more popular. A strong desire for affection may make you seek approval or the acceptance you already possess. Examine what makes relationships last. Lucky Numbers: 12, 21, 33, 45, 54, 66

SCORPIO - (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)Some adjustments to your living situations or a relationship will occur. Any questions or confusion about a love or partner decisions will clear up within the month. It›s a busy time and your plans are still being formed. A whirlwind love affair or friendship may end quickly. Lucky Numbers: 4, 20, 26, 43, 61, 72 SAGITTARIUS - (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21)News from a distance may bring you extra responsibility. Your finances may bring unnecessary stress. Seek out the simple things in relationships that bring a smile and joy. Take things a step at a time and watch things bloom especially towards spring time.Lucky Numbers: 3, 17, 36, 40, 49, 60 CAPRICORN - (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20)If you›re feeling on top of the world, it’s because you›ve worked hard to achieve your position. You›ve climbed a few mountains but this one should bring you your hard earned rewards. If a deal sounds too good to be true, proceed with caution. Seek professional advice or knowledge from a trusted one. Love enters your life. Lucky Numbers: 2, 15, 27, 38, 55, 69 AQUARIUS - (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19)Slow things down if they›re moving too fast especially if it›s a new relationship. Take a step back to see what›s really going on. If they can’t respect your need for caution, danger may be lurking and they may be able to give you the respect you need. Work may demand extra effort.Lucky Numbers: 8, 19, 28, 42, 57, 79

PISCES (Feb 20 - March 20)It’s time to examine a few pressing problems in the face and deal with them. It’s time for a new chapter or star in life. The smallest things may seem bigger than they really are. Stop worrying about matters you can›t control, or being sucked into a drama that›s just not real. Lucky Numbers: 9, 18, 31, 44, 56, 71

ARIES - (March 21 - April 20)Confront any feelings that come concerning the past. Do not cave in and let anything get you down. You are an inspiration to others around you. Your charm and energy are contagious. Decide for yourself if you are moving in the right direction.Lucky Numbers: 6, 14, 25, 39, 51, 73 TAURUS - (April 21 - May 21)You may encounter someone really stubborn who may test your patience. However, know your own will and rise above anything thrown your way. Your senses are in tune with nature. A drive to the mountains to take in the summer is suggested. It will be more than you›ll expect. Lucky Numbers: 10, 16, 29, 37, 60, 77 GEMINI - (May 22 - June 21)Your creativity comes alive this week. There is something you’ve wanted to do that could produce income, and it’s your own little secret. Challenges and responsibilities hit hard, but you can handle more than one thing at a time. This is where you›ll shine.Lucky Numbers: 11, 23, 32, 47, 50, 61

Lila Taylor Stratton, CO

Lila Taylor sent us a couple recipes for our Rollin in the Dough column. She says she gets the Colorado Gambler from a friend in Golden and one of the first things she looks for are the recipes.

“I prefer simple recipes where I don’t have to buy fancy ingredients or spices that I will never use again,” Lila said.

Lila says she got the Buttermilk Pie recipe more than 30 years ago at a family reunion.

“It has become a family favorite. My grandkids expect it at every holiday,” she said.

Send usyour recipes!

To be featured in Rollin’ in the Dough: Send us a recipe, your name, a little about yourself, why you chose that recipe, a little about your cooking style, and of course your phone number in case we have questions. Email gambler@villagerpublishing.com or mail to 8933 E Union Ave., Suite 230, Greenwood Village, CO 80111. Questions? Call Sharon at 303-503-1388.

Easy MonkEy BrEad

ButtErMilk PiE

3 cans biscuits½ cup sugar½ to 1 tsp nuts (if desired)

¾ cup sugar½ teaspoon cinnamon1 stick butter

1 cup buttermilk1 cup sugar½ stick butter – melted

1 tsp vanilla1 heaping tbsp flour3 eggs

Mix together ½ cup sugar and cinnamon. Cut biscuits in quarter halves. Melt butter. Dip each piece in melted butter and then in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Layer in greased Bundt or angel food cake pan and sprinkle nuts on layers.

Add ¾ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon to melted margarine. Heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over biscuits. Bake about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Let set 10 minutes and then turn out on plate.

Put all in blender and mix well. Pour in 8 inch unbaked piecrust. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until knife inserted comes out clean. Cool before cutting.

Rollin’ Dough

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July 17 - 30, 2012 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 23

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