In case you haven't noticed this before, I have a soft spot for Silver Striker tokens. There are just so many out there from so many different casinos, and best of all they contain real silver! The ones I tend to collect the most come from defunct casinos. Gaming is a tough industry and you have to compete with the newest and most fancy places if you want to stay in business.
If you aren't familiar with Silver Strikers, they are slot machines that can payout in the form of silver tokens. Although in my experience the silver tokens are cheaper when purchased on eBay or even pawn shops. The house always wins when you play the slots!
The one I have today is cool for a couple of reasons. Firstly the subject of the token is Wild Bill Hickok who was a famous lawman and gun fighter in the American old west. Secondly it comes from Bill's Casino which no longer exists. It was named after William Harrah of Harrah's Casinos and run next to the Harrah's. Opening in 1987 it was more like a sports bar than a regular casino. It lasted until 2010 when it closed it's doors for good after years of poor financial performance. But I have this nice commemorative token as a reminder of the casino.
About the token:
From silverstrikers.com
These are great for collecting or stacking since they contain 99.9% silver, although only about 0.6 Troy ounces. And most of the bigger casinos have had the machines in there at one point or another so there are plenty to be collected. I honestly don't think you could collect them all, but they are cool!
factrepublic.com
Wild Bill in around 1870
Wild Bill Hickok was born James Butler Hickok in Homer, Illinois in 1837. Like many characters out of the old west he wore many different hats such as lawman, gambler, frontier soldier and scout. From a very young age he was well known to be an excellent shot with a pistol. He fled Illinois at 18 after a fight and entered military service fighting for the Union Army in the United States Civil War.
In Springville, Missouri Hickok had several disagreements with local Davis Tutt over gambling debts and over a woman in which they both were interested in 1865. Hickok lost a gold watch to Tutt which finally pushed the two to a duel. It would be the first quick draw gun fight ever recorded. From 75 yards (69 meters) Tutt missed entirely and Hickok shot Tutt in the heart. Hickok was put on trial for manslaughter but the jury decided it was a "fair fight" freeing him.
After leaving Springfield Hickok then became a deputy US marshal in Kansas. Hickok is well known to have embellished his adventures as seen here. From his own account they had been sent to track down Native Americans who had killed four men. He reported that they had killed ten of the responsible and returned with five more. However locals later contended that they indeed went out searching but never actually found any and returned empty handed. But if you're writing your own memoirs one can be creative I suppose!
He continued on as a lawman in Kansas and was involved in numerous gun fights and killed numerous men. His last was in Abilene, Kansas against Phil Coe. Coe had several disagreements with Hickok over several matters. While Hickok was trying to stop a street brawl Coe fired two guns supposedly at a stray dog but quickly turned the guns on Hickok who fired first killing Coe. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another man running towards him so he shot the man who turned out to be his deputy Mike Williams coming to assist him.
The incident affected him deeply and he was soon fired as sheriff for the questionable shooting. It ended his law enforcement career and he soon developed eye problems. He made a living as a gambler and made his way to Deadwood, Dakota Territory. While gambling with a drunk man by the name of Jack McCall, McCall lost essentially all his money. Hickok took pity on McCall and bought him breakfast.
The next night McCall entered the casino finding Hickok playing stud poker with his back to the door. Typically he would take a seat with his back to the wall to see who's coming but none were available. McCall walked up to Hickok and shot him point blank in the back of the head. At the time it was noted his poker hand contained two pairs, black aces and black eights which became known as the dead man's hand. McCall was tried and hanged for he murder.
It was a rather sad end to the famous lawman and gunfighter who died at 39 years of age on August 2, 1876. The American old west was a very dangerous place and lawmen rarely lived long lives or had long careers.
casino.org
The infamous dead man's hand
I hope you enjoyed my Silver Striker token of the day and the rest of the post. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments please feel free to leave them below, thanks for stopping by!
And since I am posting in the #freecompliments community I just wanted to remind everyone to take some time today to be kind. A little kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. Please check out the community and consider joining us!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver collecting and stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
All pictures are mine unless otherwise noted.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok
https://www.silverstrikers.com/Web/Catalogs/SilverStrikes/Nevada/BillsLTnv/Bills-LTnv-Page-01.php/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill%27s_Casino_Lake_Tahoe
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 39 people who re-blogged my post, thank you so much! The people who re-blogged were:
@andres4455
@blitzzzz
@bntcamelo
@bulliontools
@caleb-marvel
@esbat
@evih
@florakese
@ganjafarmer
@henruc
@hjrrodriguez
@jenam
@jhonnygo
@jorgebgt
@kungfukid
@kunschj
@ladymisa
@minecraft340
@miriammarga
@mirroredspork
@necho41
@olaf.gui
@pepetoken
@pero82
@rebe.torres12
@rosauradels
@sayury
@scfather
@screamheart
@servelle
@silverd510
@splash-of-angs63
@stekene
@sylmarill
@trumpman
@vaynard86
@vrezion
@vrezyy
@yova
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it: @ganjafarmer and @sayury
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Winner #1:
Winner#2:
Congratulations @hjrrodriguez you have won 3 HSBI units!
Congratulations @esbat you have won 2 HSBI units!
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win up to 5 HSBI units! New twist, one winner on the first spin wins 3 HSBI, and a second spin for a chance for 2 HSBI, so two possible winners or one really lucky one could win both spins! An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prizes. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.
If you are interested in precious metals or even want to learn more about them feel free to come join us #silvergoldstackers
This is a new group focusing on on boarding and retaining new Hive members. Feel free to ask how you can help out!