Lottie Deno, otherwise known as ‘Lottie Dinero’ or simply ‘The Poker Queen’ – her real name was believed to be Carlotta Thompkins – was an infamous female gambler in the American Old West. Born in Kentucky in 1844, Deno was introduced to gambling by her father – a wealthy tobacco plantation owner and racehorse breeder – at an early age. By the age of 16 she was already a skilled card player and, two years later, following the death of her father in the American Civil War, was sent to Detroit, Michigan in search of better opportunities.
In Detroit, Deno met Johnny Golden, a jockey who had ridden for her father, and together they worked their trade on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers until 1863, when they went their separate ways with a view to reuniting in San Antonio, Texas at a later date. Reunite they did, but not until six years later, by which time Deno was a house gambler at the University Club and had met Frank Thurmond, whose family owned the establishment.
Thurmond subsequently killed a man during a card game and headed to Fort Griffin, in West Texas, where he was joined by Deno, who became a house gambler at the Bee Hive Saloon. In that capacity, she once reputedly won $3,000 from John Henry ‘Doc’ Holliday and, in so doing, provided the inspiration for the fictional character Laura Denbow, played by the ‘Queen of Technicolor’, Rhonda Fleming, in the 1957 film ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’.
Eleanor Dumont, also known as ‘Madame Moustache’ because of a growth of dark facial hair on her upper lip in later life, was a notorious, if slightly mysterious, gambler in the American Old West. Born Simone Jules in 1829, Dumont claimed to be a French refugee, but may have hailed from somewhere in the Mississippi Delta, possibly New Orleans. In any event, during the California Gold Rush, or shortly afterwards, Dumont had the resources to open her own gambling establishment, ‘Vingt-et-un’ – billed as the ‘best gambling emporium in northern California’ – on Broad Street, Nevada City.
Shannon Elizabeth, born Shannon Elizabeth Fadal, is an American actress, probably still best known for playing Russian exchange student Nadia in the ‘American Pie’ franchise. However, having played in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in 2005, in which she finished just outside the money, and cashed, albeit for small amounts, in several WSOP events in 2006, Elizabeth proclaimed, ‘Poker has become my second career’.
Canadian professional poker player Kristen Bicknell reportedly began her love affair with Texas Hold’em at a college poker night while a freshman at the University of Ottowa in 2006. Thereafter, she started playing poker online under the pseudonyms ‘krissyb24’ and ‘krissy24’ and has been prolific in that sphere ever since, with over $1.7 million in total online earnings, at the last count. Bicknell collected her first live cash, just $845, at the Turning Stone Poker Classic in New York City in 2006 but, having subsequently turned her attention to live poker, she has since accumulated over $3.7 million in total live earnings in her career to date.
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