I visited Deadwood in the early 1990's (I think it was 1992) to promote the Queens Poker Classic the 2nd largest poker tournament in the world at the time. Deadwood had a city wide poker tournament in those days. You paid and drew a seat that could have been in any casino in the city. Most only had 2 or 3 tables. Seats and casinos were combined as players were eliminated. If I remember right I played in 3 different casinos before busting out. The final 3 tables were in 1 casino. It was a lot of fun and I got several casinos to run satellites for the QPC. I made sure I visited all of the casinos and got a chip. The Bodega had BJ coin inlays at the time.

I did not realize the history of the Bodega at the time. I did not check this fact but IMO it has to be the longest running gambling joint ever featured in an "Illegal Of The Day,"122 years, 98 as an illegal and 24 as a legal casino.

Enough of that:

Enter our "Friend Of The Hobby."

Bodega
These two chips were among many recently offered on eBay by a seller in Colorado who said the chips were picked-up by his dad who had told him they were “from old gambling joints around the state.”

Several of the chips which were offered by the eBay seller are confirmed Colorado chips. However, the Mason & Co. manufacturing records show that the BB in horseshoe chip was delivered in 1939 and 1940 to Ike Shalhoob at the Bodega Bar in Deadwood, South Dakota. There are no records for the B. C. Wills small key ($5 on back) chip but it is most likely also from the Bodega in Deadwood.

My note: I have 1 Bodega $5 Skey to trade, if any one needs it,

A legendary town of the old “wild west,” Deadwood was the scene of one of the most famous incidents of that era when Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back of the head while playing poker at a Main Street saloon in 1876.

pic of Wild Bill:

Just prior to the parting of his flowing locks with lead, the long time gambler was dealt his final hand: aces and eights, the famous “dead man’s hand.” No one knows for certain if Hickok actually held those cards. A lesser known detail of Wild Bill’s moment of departure is that seconds before being shot,
Hickok asked the saloon’s bartender to bring him some poker chips. The bartender brought the chips, placing them on the table in front of Wild Bill. Before the bartender could return to his place behind the bar, the fatal shot was fired. In a newspaper account written 2 days after the shooting, the bartender is quoted as saying he delivered $15 worth of chips. The same bartender, in his memoir of 1915, says it was $50. So, take your pick--either a $15 or a $50 stack is the “dead man’s stack”.....

My note: If Wild Bill had waited fifteen years to get shot he could have joined 2 other famous Wild West people at the Bodega. Read on.

In 1880, four years after Hickok’s murder, a new 3 story brick building was constructed about a block down Main Street from where Wild Bill cashed-in. In 1891 the structure’s first floor address, 664 Main Street, became the home of the Bodega—and it's been there ever since, doing business today as the
Buffalo-Bodega Gaming Complex. Here’s an image of Main Street from 1883; 664 Main marked with an X:

Two of Deadwood’s most famous characters are known to have spent time in the Bodega: Martha “Calamity Jane” Canary (1852-1903) and Alice “Poker Alice” Ivers (1851-1930).

pic of Calamity Jane:

In 1960 a 94 year old who had been a working cowboy in the 1890’s recalled going to Deadwood in his youth:

My note: "She was a pretty good looking woman." But IMO, not exactly a pin up girl.

pic of Poker Alice:

My note: I would be scared to death if I had drawn out on her 2 wired A's.

This snip from a 1957 article quotes a man who had lived in Deadwood from 1886 to 1910; he worked at a bank next door to the Bodega:

Here’s a pic of Main Street from around 1900; note the Bodega name painted on the top of the building and sign on the 2nd floor—reproductions of both are on the building today:

1895:

My note" "OUCH."

ad from 1909:

In the 100 plus years that the Bodega’s been around it’s had numerous owners and operators (an enormous variety of chips must have been passed around there in that time). Izise “Ike” Shalhoob, the guy who ordered the BB in horseshoe chips, was associated with the Bodega in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Shalhoob, born at Omaha, Nebraska in 1898, was brought to Deadwood around 1903 by his parents who had emigrated from Syria in the 1890’s. Ike’s father Carl operated a pool hall in Deadwood for several years next door to the Bodega.

Prior to his association with the Bodega, Ike Shalhoob was arrested for operating a gambling establishment called the Silver Dollar. His father Carl helped pay for his bond.

March 29th 1932:

During the years of Shalhoob’s association with the Bodega, Deadwood was pretty much a wide-open town. In the rooms above the Bodega one could find female companionship at a place called the “Mecca Rooms.” Like many places in the US after WW2, Deadwood was hit by a reform movement and in 1947 it came down on the gamblers.

August 21st 1947:

pic of the Bodega from the 1950’s:

Several years later, in 1976, the Bodega appears to be catering to a somewhat different clientele:

pic of the Bodega’s storefront from the 1970’s--Bar on the left and Café on the right:

Pistol fire at high noon by guns in the hands of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane echoed down Deadwood’s Main Street. The shots were blanks, the shooters were actors and the date was November 1st 1989. On that day legalized gambling commenced in Deadwood, the shots signaling operators to let the games begin (poker, blackjack and slots).

The Bodega was one of several dozen Deadwood businesses which received a gaming license. Looking towards its new future as a gaming room, the Bodega took a look back and restored its exterior to the way it appeared almost 100 years prior.

My note: This is the way I remember it.

According to The Chip Guide, this chip was issued for the Bodega in 1989:

Today the Bodega is part of the Buffalo Bodega Gaming Complex: http://www.buffalobodega.com/

One last article. This one datelined Deadwood, October 1, 1876 (two months after Wild Bill’s death).
The article demonstrates that whether its Deadwood in 1876 or anywhere in the world today, this will always be true: "It ain’t easy bein’ green."

My note: I would love to know what was on the chips this "Green" gambler was shuffling at a Faro bank in Deadwood in 1876. I wonder if some of those hustlers could do the chip shuffling tricks some poker players can do today.

BTW, I agree with him, "It ain’t easy bein’ green." when it comes to gambling. I learned the "Hard" way to watch carefully and always know what they were doing to you. Once you knew what was going on, it was easy to play it back over them. I had a good teacher.