Casino Legends From Days Gone By

When it comes to casino games and gambling you will find that there are a number of interesting stories regarding people who have played and those who have won big. Whether they are true or not is anyone's guess but they certainly add to the enjoyment the casino brings us all.

Charles Wells

This is a name you might have heard in association with casinos and gambling and is not to be confused with Charles Wells (1841–1926) the large UK brewery company. The man is associated with one casino in particular - the Monte Carlo Casino. Charles Wells is apparently one of the men who broke the bank at Monte Carlo and became the inspiration for the song of the same name.

According to legend, Charles always wanted to be famous and rich from a very young age. He called himself an inventor and spent hours trying to secure bank credit to pay for his inventions. The money he did get however was not spent on his so called inventions but on playing roulette.

Wells came to Monte Carlo in 1891, with £4,000 on him. Within 11 hours it is said that he broke the bank a total of twelve times, winning himself a million francs. Later that year he returned to Monte Carlo and made another million francs in three days.

The following year song writer Fred Gilbert wrote the song The Man Who Broke The Bank at Monte Carlo. It became a hit after the popular music hall star Charles Coburn regularly sang it. After that Wells had become a celebrity. So not only had his dreams come true to be really rich he also was famous, to the extent that we still talk about him today.

Wild Bill Hickok

Wild Bill is another name forever associated with gambling, but this time with poker. His death is probably the most notable part of his career and life, the story goes that Hickok normally made sure that when he was playing poker that he sat with his back to the wall, however on one fateful day this wasn't an option - the only seats that were available faced towards the wall.

During the game, a buffalo hunter named John McCall walked in to the saloon and up to Wild Bill without him noticing. He apparently pulled out a pistol and shouted 'take that' and shot him dead in the back of the head. At the time he has a pair of aces and a pair of eights in his hand. These are now the hand we call 'dead man's hand'.